FLYMPH FORUM

I'm with Tim. Love the small streams.
I use a 5'6 3wt, 7'6 4wt, and have a couple of 8'6 and 9' 5wts. Nothing heavier, no big name brands.
But they work for me.

Allen 3wt 10'

For most of the week in Roscoe I fished my 10' 3 wt greys streamflex (first gen). Before leaving I had the pleasure of casting John Shaner's 10' 3 wt Hardy Zenith. I love my rod and don't intend to buy another...but if I were going to, that rod would be a serious want. I can't say if it was John's perfectly balanced reel to the rod (beautiful Hardy Cascapedia) or the long taper of the wulff fly line, but I can say casting his rod was sweet. In a way I was immediately aware that I was unaware of the rod. It was effortless casting and presenting the wet fly cast. The rod simply disappeared. I didn't expect such a difference and love the performance of my streamflex, but it was a nice surprise.

Much thanks, John.

W

William,

I have to agree with you about the Hardy Zenith. Jim Slattery put one in my hands recently and I was pleasantly surprised. Casting that rod was effortless. When it comes to graphite rods, I've been a Sage fan for a long time. There will be a Hardy Zenith in my quiver shortly. It's a rod I can't live without.

Ron,
Are you comparing the Zenith to the Sage "One"?
If so I would have to agree with you. Sage had a couple of good graphite rods that were supposedly surpassed by the "One" but I would have to say they missed the plot as far as I am concerned. It is possibly too specialised for my style of casting and the sweet spot is just to fine for me to hit all the time, but having had the opportunity to cast a Zenith for a day- it walks all over the "One" in my hand.
They are a beautiful rod for graphite, up there in price....... but perhaps worth it.

Jeff,

I have a pretty complete quiver of Sage rods, including the One and others, the Zenith by Hardy surpasses everything Sage has made in the last 10 years or so. No matter what casting stroke I used, or the distance I was casting, the Hardy performed beautifully. I don't want one....I NEED one.

I'm now using a Hardy Marksman Drifter(Gen 1), 11' 5wt. I kind of wish it was a 3wt at times but, when I think about it I'm glad it isn't simply because of the wind would destroy my drift attempts. The rod has a nice crisp action to it, not overly fast and not noodle like. I love it. Plus it comes with extension grips for when you switch hands during a drift and need that extra couple feet.. it's handy for sure.

I'd still like to get my hands on a nice glass rod, seems like a good time. Maybe a Greywolf rod or a McFarland since he's right up the road from me.

An Art Weiler reproduction of a Dickerson 761510 Ray Bergman model. Cast a 5wt DT peach with it.

Wet fly rods, choice determined by waters fished

Hardy Marksman 10' 5 wt. River rod
Orvis Superfine Glass 8' 5 wt. Small river rod
Orvis Superfine Glass 7'6" 4 wt. Small creek rod
Alan Kube bamboo anywhere the cane beckons

And for trout spey

Winston BIII TH 11' 4 wt microspey large trout rivers

All used to fish a cast of two or three wets.

I appreciate the great reviews of the high quality rods many of you have mentioned. The advice I was given by my early fly rod mentors was to buy the best rod I could afford. At the beginning, that meant something less than the Sage, Hardy, Scott, etc top of the line models. I know this may be a bit telling, but I settled for less expensive rods and have found I can catch fish with them just fine. A few of these lower priced babies are Cabellas Classic Trout... found in their bargain tent for $75-$115.. I bought a 9' 5wt first... liked it so well I bought a 8'6" 3wt and a 9' 4 wt. I still use them all occasionally. I did luck into a Helios 9' 5wt at a much reduced price, because I broke a Helios predecessor, which Orvis couldn't repair, so they offered me the Helios at 50% off retail... Its a very nice rod. But, it hasn't replaced the others. I was introduced to the Cortland Competition Nymphing rod by a fishing friend. Its 10'5" 3wt and has been the rod I fish with about 80% of the time. I can cast dry flies, swing soft hackles, and obviously it handles all forms of nymphing. At $249.00 that's a steal. I'm now at a place where I could splurge on one of the top rods, and the Hardy Zenith would be lovely, or a bamboo would be nice to own.. but I guess my cheapskate approach has not allowed me to yet pull the trigger on a $800-$3,000 rod....just sayin...

I'm a relative newbie compared to many of you in the fly fishing game. And before its all over, I may have one of those high ticket babies to pass down to my kids... but thought I'd share a view from the dark side...