Streamer rod

[Gavin]

Winston has never mastered fast. Think I still have one. Sage, gets fast. I have slow rods too...Mostly bamboo. Tried to make a bamboo smallmouth rod that I would like...Several times. Given away to friends mostly. Will stick with 3-5wt bamboo under 8' if soft is the deal. I like the cannons in 9' 5wt and above...though the Sage SLT 9' 5wt is a pleasure to cast.

[snagged in outlet 3]

I agree.  Sage gets it on high end rods so did Orvis with the Helios. 

[Flysmallie]

What you need is a rod that fits your cast. I was traveling all over the country at the time and used my evenings trying out different rods. Really doesn’t matter if it’s called fast, moderate, or slow. You need something that works for you and the type of flies you want to cast. 

[Gavin]

The Helios, and that Hardy Nano, were not bad...Sage still kicks their asses IMO. Their new Sage 8-9wts feel like my 6wts in the hand. Will up to a new 9wt bf my next salt trip.

[Gavin]

Better have some good style if you want to cast long for more than a 20 minutes.. I can hit longer, but do not like to blind fish with 60-80' casts. That gets old quickly.

 

[Al Agnew]

In my opinion, you don't really need a heavy rod for Missouri type streamer fishing.  I dislike using rods heavier than a 7 weight, and really prefer a 6 weight for streamers.  I fish a lot out here in Montana on big rivers where the wind is very often a factor, and my streamer rod is a 6 weight Ross Essence 9 footer.  I do use a sink tip line when I'm fishing a big river like the Yellowstone...it just gets the streamer down in heavy current better.  But in Missouri I don't think it's necessary or even desirable, unless you plan to fish the White River tailwaters.  I have a Winstone Ibis (I think that's their cheapest grade) 7 weight in Missouri for bass fishing, but I don't really like to use it all that much.  I won it in a raffle, and I have to say it just doesn't really fit my casting style all that well, but it does the job good enough, no more than I fly fish for bass.

[fishinwrench]

I was whining about not being able to find a good bass bug rod that was truly fast and had enough balls to wrestle a 4+ pounder out of a rootwad.  

Trigg got sick of my bitching and brought me a Sage Bolt 8wt.   That sucker will DO IT !

Sage calls them something else now, but the rod blank that was the "Bolt" a couple years ago is probably the extreme end of the "fast" spectrum.  

Before that I had a 9wt. St.Croix Avid that was a brute.....but I broke it and they discontinued those.

[fishinwrench]

16 minutes ago, Al Agnew said:

In my opinion, you don't really need a heavy rod for Missouri type streamer fishing. 

Depends on what "Missouri type" means to you I suppose.  I throw pretty big stuff over logs, cables and around big rootwads and steel quite a lot.   I have to be able to stick him and keep his head out of the jungle for a bit.

The fast 7wt. that I use for white bass just won't cut it with the bucket mouths.   A 7wt. is all I ever use for creek/river Smallies though.

[Flysmallie]

Yeah a 6wt isn’t going to cut it for what I want to toss. Maybe that’s why some of you don’t have the best success fly fishing for bass. 

[Smallie Seeker]

Anybody gotten their hands on a G. Loomis Asquith yet? Can it really be worth the $1100 price of admission?