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September 07, 2020 4 min read
Article by David Southall
For many years I was a lover of short light-line rods for virtually all of my fly fishing. In the late 1960s I even used a 7’ 4/5 weight rod built from a Hardy’s Fibatube glass fiber blank for pike fly fishing on a local canal where most pike were under 7lb, whilst in the late 1990s I still used the same rod when fishing for small still water rainbows. However, over the last 20 years I have found myself fishing more & more with long rods (conventional ‘western rods’ of 10’ to 12’ & Tenkara rods of 11’ to 14’ 6”). I sometimes still fish with very short rods, including a couple of cane rods, one a 5’ single piece 3 weight & the other a 6’ 2 piece 3 weight.
So why have I changed & what are the pros & cons of short & long rods?
Short rod advantages:
Long rod advantages:
When I first started fly fishing in the mid 1960s there was no such thing as a fast actioned fly rod & fiberglass was just starting to take over from bamboo as a rod making material. From the mid 1970s till 1998 I had a break from fishing, having become enthralled by rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering & then mountain-biking. On my return to fly fishing I discovered that the big trend was for stiff, fast action carbon fiber rods. I never fully took to them, although the rods that I bought were certainly faster actioned than my old cane rod & fiberglass rods. In recent years I have tended to move back to softer, more progressive actioned rods for my fly fishing. So what do I see as being the advantages of each type of rod?
Advantages of stiff fly rods:
Advantages of soft rods:
Rod-choice is a very personal thing, however in my opinion a good rod should be capable of efficiently casting accurately & effortlessly at both short & when necessary long range. It should be capable of protecting the chosen tippet strength from the power surges of a big fish, yet should not seriously overpower the typical size of fish that I catch. It should be as long as possible for the conditions in which I am fishing & it should be a subdued colour with a matt finish to avoid scaring the fish during casting. The new Sunray Microlite rods fit all of these requirements.
Safety
The basics of tackle
Language of casting
Sensory awareness
Fly line weights, lengths & tapers
Rod lengths & weights
Leaders & tippet
Tackle to practise with
How to hold a fly rod
Circles 8's & straights
Remove all slack
Plane of the Cast
Triangle Method
Stance
Overhead Cast
Stop & Drop
Retrieving the Line
High Back Cast
Breaking The Wrist
Shooting the line
Loop Shape
Slipping the Line
Stroke Length
The Forward Delivery
The Shelf
Drift
Drift Versus Breaking the Wrist
Creep
Backslash Forwardslash
Speed Ramp
Body Movement
Intro to the Double Haul
Tackle for the Double Haul
Single Haul
Double Haul
Double Haul Fast Track
Cast Trajectory
Late Haul
Hauling Grip
Double Haul for Accuracy
Line Trays
Offset Alignment Guides
Overhang
The Lift
Pick Up & Lay Down Cast
Roll cast
Energy of a Roll Cast
Intro to Spey Casting
Switch Cast
45 Degree Single Spey
Backhanded Cast
90 Degree Single Spey
90 Degree Snake Roll
45 Degree Snake Roll
90 Degree Double Spey
The Running Mouse
The Silent Spey
45 Degree Double Spey
45 Degree Snap T
90 Degree Snap T
45 Degree Circle Spey
90 Degree Circle Spey
Body Movement
Spey Cast Hauling
Beating Obstructions Spey
Corkscrew Pick Up
Snap Pick Up
Roll Cast Pick Up
Double Spiral Pick Up
Snap Pick Up Variation
Aerial Spey
Cast Stringing