I've fished a lot of different rods in the last year as I've been learning what I do and don't like about glass and the different types of actions and tapers available to us lucky fly anglers. I could go on about several of the rods that have earned a permanent place in the rotation but I wanted to make a post about my go-to rod and hear which rods you all find yourself using the most.

I am lucky to have a bass pond at work and at home, as well as some excellent bass rivers within easy driving distance, so even though I love trout fishing, most of my fishing is for Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass and I end up catching a number of Bluegill as well. Back in the Spring, I picked up a ********* Western Glass 8'9" 7wt 4pc from Bill at W. Jude Fly Rod Co. and it has become my go-to rod. I use it almost every day, either from a canoe, wading or from shore. I usually rig it with an older Hardy Marquis 8/9 and a Rio Gold WF7F. This combo balances nicely and allows me the flexibility of fishing everything from little dries up to modest Clousers and larger, unweighted streamers (such as flatwings) with confidence. The rod loads with only a few feet of line out but can also shoot 60-70' (and I'm sure further in the hands of a more skilled caster) with great accuracy. Even the Bluegill and smaller bass I catch put a decent bend in the rod.
The rod has proven to be an excellent fishing tool and a lot of fun to cast. It's gotten to the point that I just leave the rod rigged on my front porch. Bill's craftsmanship is top-notch and Dusty's taper design is eminently "fishable". I enjoy this rod so much that I have a second one on the way from Dusty.

I will post some photos when I get a chance... in the meantime I'd love to hear what your go-to rod is; not necessarily your favorite or your nicest rod, but your "daily"... what sees the most use on your home waters?

Cheers!

BRMTN, These 3 rods described below are my go to rods, depending upon the type of fishing I'm doing. I could probably be happy fishing these the rest of my life if they were the only 3 rods I owned.

Since you are in SW VA we may fish some of the same waters. I live close to the New and like to canoe and wade the easier floats below Claytor. Also fish a number of the tributaries plus the Roanoke, the James, etc. I get down to fish the SF Holston a couple of times a year for trout. Always wanted to try the NF for its quality smallmouth. My go to bass rod is a Steffen 8'6" 7/8 wt 3pc. Terrific rod, but unfortunately no longer available new. I'm currently using it with a Golden St Aiden and a Scientific Anglers WF8FBBT and spare spools with a 30 ft 250 grain sink tip and a DT7F. I really haven't used the sink tip for serious fishing, just played around to see how difficult it would be to handle. With the DT7 makes a pleasant dry fly rod as well. This is a rod that gets a good bend from bluegill and smaller bass. I'm planning a couple of trips to use it for trout this fall on two of the larger in state waters, the Smith and the Jackson.

My go to rod for the mountain trout streams is a 7'6" 3wt 4 pc Vladan Milenkovic Unstructured Glass Old Empire Build. This has a semi-parabolic action that Vladan designed to mimic the action of a Paul Young Perfectionist. I can't speak to how accurate that description is - I haven't fished a PHY but Vladan's rod is terrific. I do have a Barclay 70p and the actions of the Barclay and Milenkovic are similar. It's currently mated with a Lamson LP1.5 Lite that I picked up 25 or 30 years ago and spooled with a SA Mastery XPS DT3F that's held up remarkably well.

My go to rod for most other trout streams and smaller bass streams is a glass Cortland Leon Chandler Signature 8' 5/6 wt 2 pc. This rod has some serious mojo. I pair it with a Caps Classic Trout spooled with a 406 DT5F

My primary rod on the Gallatin River (by my house) is a Barclay Tailwater Special...8'2" 4 wt. When I travel over the hill to the Madison, it's a ********* Rod, 8'9" 5 wt. If I go to the spring creeks in Paradise Valley, it's another *********, 8'6" 3 wt.

This year it has been Browning Silflex 9222960.Have had a great time with this rod,a 6 foot 5/6 weight .I fish it with a 6wff i think was described as a bass line.Great roll caster and a regular cast will go out to 50' or so.Short enough to leave assembled, being a 6wt it is a good all round pond rod.

I'm lucky enough to have a variety of water to play in. One small stream is heavily stocked with large trout many exceeding 20". Here my Epic 476 3 piece is the go to. The tip is soft enough to accurately place dry flies and the butt is powerful enough to pull these fish out from cover without worrying about breaking the rod. On another small stream with smaller trout, I mostly use my Sage TXLF 7'10" 2 wt. For bass, my Epic 686 with an Orvis 7 wt Bank Shot line is the ticket for tossing streamers or bass bugs. For upstate technical trout fishing I mostly use a Sage X 9' 6" 5 WT. Then there are the two handers and salt water rods...

More "heavier" line weights than I would've guessed so far.

Here are a few photos of my *********. I'll try to remeber to snap a pic next time I land a fish with it... Last LMB I caught measured from the butt to just passed the script. Tonight I didn't get to fish (even though I could see plenty of rises on the pond), I was busy playing goalkeeper against my kids... 3 on 1 is hardly fair but we had a good time







Cheers

Fenwick FF806-4 until I finally built an FF756 blank (FL96) that had been sitting in the back of my rod cabinet for about 20 years. Paired with a peach DT5F it's all I need.

Can't say that I have a "go to" rod for everything, but go to rods for specific types of fishing.

Still the ones I grab the most ( in order of wt and length) are my:
Kabuto 662
7' 3wt Yomogi
Kabuto 8033
863 ********* Western Glass
Wojinicki 8'6" 5wt
Epic 686

Depending on the size of the water, conditions, where I'm fishing and what type of fishing, I'll usually have 2-3 rods with me.

I am primarily a warm water guy, my go to is old school, Fenwick 7 1/2 for a 6 which I overline with a 7 line. I fish full sink and floating lines depending on the conditions.

7'1" Cabela's prime. After the spring runoff.

I do have certain fisheries where I'm tied to one specific rod and others where I tend to spread the wealth.

Trout: almost always my Steffen 8' 5/6, unless I'm streamer fishing.

Bass: BAG 7wt, Fisher 8'6" 6/7, Dan Craft 9' (now 8'11") 7wt graphite all get their fair share of play.

Steelhead: Primarily my Seele 8'8" 8wt, but my Steffen 7/8 sees some action and I suspect that my Orvis H3 8wt will get into the mix here too.

Tiger Musky: Epic Bandit & TFO minimag get most of the action here, but I'm having a North Fork Composites 10wt built, my Seele 8'2" 12wt & a new Whuff 11wt graphite that will all see action.

Short answer? With the exception of trout fishing, nothing gets too much preferential treatment.

Cheers!
Randy

I have two. One for small streams and creeks. The other for the larger rivers like the Gallatin etc.

1) The lighter rod would be the Larry Kenny 794 4wt.
2) The heavier rod would be the Russ Peak 8"9" 5wt. "Zenith".

I went on a trip a bit ago and took a half dozen rods, using only two: Steffen Bros. 8' 4/5wt and Orvis SFG 764. I was fishing still water, and had I tried a small creek I would have broken out my Steffen 7'3" 2/3wt.