Hi Guys! This is my first post. I had a great backpacking trip to a hike in only stream in GSMNP in May. My FF70-4 was the star player for the trip and without this forum I would never have known about old Fenwicks or martin reels. So I want to Share photos as well as the beginning of my journey to understanding vintage glass a little better than before.
I ordered A FF756-4 earlier this year after I couldn’t stand the curiosity anymore based on reading on this site. I was enamored with it very quickly. With a peach DT6 and a 67SS it makes a great mid power trout rod, mine seems to be well suited for big foam bugs, heavy weighted dropper nymphs, and smaller trout streamers. Ive even done some lighter small stream nymphing with it. With a scientific anglers wf6f frequency magnum and a 67SS the rod becomes a great choice for creek/kayak bass and maybe mousing for trout.
Even though I couldn’t be more pleased with the FF756-4, I knew I wanted a 4-piece Fenwick for small stream trout fishing with more traditional flies (12-18 dries, 16-18 nymphs, etc). I wanted a more delicate, softer, slower rod with a more supple tip. I found a FF70-4 in excellent condition on Ebay and got it on the way to the house.
The FF70-4 casts every trout line I have between 4 and 6 weight acceptably (rio creek 4wt, Cortland peach dt 5 and 6, rio gold 5wt, rio gold 6wt, sci ang vpt 6wt and sci ang frequency magnum 6wt) but really excels with the rio gold 6wt line. I was initially disappointed because I thought I wanted it to be a 4-5, not a solid 6wt. Its comical now how wrong I was.
After fishing the rod for 2 full days in a trout paradise (remote GSMNP stream) I caught fish from 4” to 14”+ including a WNC slams of wild fish both days. The rod is plenty delicate for 6x tippets with angry 14” Trout and is also supple enough to keep the little guys from slipping off of barbless hooks. The truly excellent thing about the rod is that it casts larger flies with ease. For instance, I fished most of the 2nd day with a size 10 royal Wolff with a euro style 16 jig nymph hanging off the back. That would have been a “lot of fly” for my 3 wt Douglas rod to push through the air but the FF70-4 is quite at home doing this. Its not as capable of pushing foam and bass stuff through the air as the FF756-4 but is perfect for summer time small creek fishing where the fish want the biggest thing they can get into their mouths. It casts well with just a foot of line out all the way through the longest cast youll ever make on a stream you would bring a 7’ rod to.
So – to wrap it up the FF70-4 is a beautiful caster out to about 35ft, it has a very soft tip for the largest and smallest of fish, it will cast a size 10 Wolff or similar with a lightly weighted dropper all day, and does just fine with smaller dries as well. It’s the perfect small stream rod, especially for summer time. I just couldn’t be any happier. I would have never figured any of this out without you guys!