While on the recently updated L Kenney Fly Rods website, I came across Larry's Writing page and found this article from years ago with a deep dive into his institutional knowledge on choosing a fly rod that should be required reading for anyone who is looking for that next new fly rod, poking around eBay, Marketplace or online forum for sale pages, or just cataloging for future use.
This is a perfect weekend read to take in point by point. Don't rush through it.
Thanks to Larry and Tomonori for allowing me to lift this article for the T.F.M. readership.
There’s no question but that today’s fly fisher has more good options
than ever before when it comes to choosing tackle. That bounty has its
built-in problem, however, since finding what’s right for you from a
large and often bewildering variety of choices can be difficult. Take
fly rods, for example; with a score or more of models intended for the
same purpose, how do you choose?
Magazine reviews that judge or
rank rods can be informative, as are the opinions of friends, guides and
shop employees. But those sources may reflect personal tastes that are
different from yours. Go by price? Price and quality are related of
course, but I’ll stick my neck out here and argue that, unlike back in
the day (whenever that was,) there are few bad fly rods out there.
Decent rods, good rods, and often excellent rods are available at all
sorts of price points. What you’re looking for, at the most basic, is a
rod for your style of fishing. You can worry about cost later. To find
what works best you need to get a rod, or rods, in your hands where you
can take a good look at it and put it through its paces. But what,
specifically, should you look for when you pick up a rod. And how can
you go about evaluating it to see if it works for you? Here’s my 21-step
plan. (A 12-step plan would have had better metaphorical connection to
fly fishing as an addiction, but I couldn’t make that work.) It mostly
applies to new and used single handed rods, but similar principles apply
to buying a spey rod.
1. If you can, start with a rod that’s
still in its case. Are the rod sock and case the right length for the
rod? If the case is too long, it may have come from another rod. If the
sections are significantly different in length – say more than half an
inch (exclusive of a fighting butt) – you’re smart to ask someone why
that’s so.
3. Are there enough guides? I want a
minimum of one guide for each foot of rod length, preferably one more
than that to distribute the casting/fish playing load evenly along the
rod. And that first guide, the ring guide we call a stripping guide,
shouldn’t be placed too far past where your non-casting hand will reach
when stripping in line or making a haul.
4. Are the guides of
appropriate size? Many contemporary rods have extremely large guides, on
the theory that they shoot line and handle bulky connections better.
Within reason, that’s true.
Stripping guides are described by a
number that relates to the distance in mm across the frame, so a #8 is
pretty small and a #20 is pretty large. Two stripping guides aren’t
necessary on lighter rods, but may make sense on heavier ones. My own
rule of thumb for stripping guides is: a single #8 for 2 and 3 weight
rods; a single #10 for 4 and 5 weights; a #12 for 6 and 7 weights, with
maybe a #10 above it; #16 and #12 strippers for 8, 9 and 10 weights, and
a #20 and a #16 for anything larger. In any event, look for a sense of
proportion between blank and all the components, with guide size
diminishing toward the tip. And if your rod is for a line heavier than 7
weight, look for a large loop tip top.
Snake guides, the wire
guides placed along the tip and middle of the rod, shouldn’t be too
large or too small. Snake guides are described by numbers from 1 to 6
that increase in height, diameter of the wire, and opening size as the
snake gets bigger. Snakes larger than #3s make passing knots and loop to
loop connections easy, but they also add weight, generally something
you don’t want out toward the tip of a light line rod.
Lots of
older glass and bamboo rods have very small snake guides along their
tips, which won’t handle some loop to loop connections, something to
think about when you’re buying a used rod. As a general rule, if it
looks funny it probably isn’t what you want.
5. Are the guides
oriented in line with the blank and the tip top? Are guide feet all
pointing north and south? If they’re not, someone did a crappy job of
aligning guides after they were wrapped and you shouldn’t be paying top
dollar for his or her mistakes.
6. Does the epoxy or varnish
coating on the thread wraps cover the wraps completely and evenly? For a
rod that will see use in salt water, the guide feet should be
completely sealed to prevent them rusting under the wraps. A clean
finish job not only looks better, but is one of the things you’re paying
extra money for when you buy a top line rod.
7. Does the cork
grip have a lot of voids with filler showing? Voids are natural in cork,
which is simply a tree bark. Voids can be filled with wood putty, or
cork dust mixed with glue, but you don’t want a lot of them in a grip.
Good cork is expensive and while some fill is probably inevitable but
you should expect high quality cork on high priced rods. On entry level
and even some higher-priced rods you’re going to get a lot of filled
voids, but if a void is right under your thumb when casting it will
drive you crazy and likely break down. Many rod companies buy preformed
cork grips that have been given a whitish wash to make the cork look
better and hide fills, so you’ll need a sharp eye. New composite corks,
made from ground cork and rubber or other synthetics, don’t need fill,
wear well, and are often placed at thumb pressure points on double
handed and some single handed rods. But the feel is different and you
might not like the look.
8. Does the grip fit you? Are the high
and low points – the grip’s hills and valleys, if you will - in the
right place for your hand, or do you have to stretch your grip
uncomfortably to grasp the rod? Personally, I like the high spot on a
Wells grip about a third of the way down from the top of the grip,
rather than halfway down as is done on many current rods. And while I
don’t like there to be a radical difference between diameters, I do want
a decent flare at the front end against which to press my thumb while
casting. Unless I’m fishing very light weight trout rods, a grip that
tapers down toward the front drives me crazy. You may have other
preferences. That’s why there are red heads.
9. When you hold
the assembled rod by the grip and briskly lift and lower the rod tip
(“give it a whump” as Mel Krieger famously put it), where do you feel it
the flex? In the tip only, indicating a tip-yielding/butt-resisting
fast action? Deeply into the butt, indicating a slow, strong-tipped,
action? All along the rod, indicating a progressive action? You can
really only learn how the rod actually handles lines and flies by
casting it, so don’t give what you feel too much thought unless it
simply feels awful. Still, initial perceptions of rod feel will help you
find similar, or different feeling rods with which to compare it.
10.
Now attach your fly reel, and I mean the same one you’ll use fishing.
Does the reel line up with the guides when you mount it? Does the seat
hold the reel foot securely? Sometimes, despite industry efforts to
standardize reel foot dimensions, a slide band won’t capture the reel
foot, or a screw locking seat will let the reel wobble. You want to know
before you buy.
11. Now, string up the rod with a fly line. And
not the line the guy in the shop has in the cardboard box behind the
counter. Start with the line you plan to fish, but be prepared to switch
to something heavier or lighter. And rig up with a leader and fly like
those you’d fish on the rod in question. If you fish 16 foot 6x tippets
on spring creeks you won’t learn anything useful casting with a 7 foot
3x leader. If you’re fishing big flies, test the rod with a big fly. Cut
the hook off at the bend if you’re going to be casting where there are
people.
12. Do your test casting over water: a pond, a swimming pool,
a river. I can’t emphasize this enough. Lawns and parking lots won’t tell you enough about how the rod handles when actually fishing. Fishing shows with casting ponds are helpful here. But if you’re going to be wading deep or casting from a float tube, or if you fish in windy conditions, see if you can find a place to test the rod under those constraints. You may have to pledge your first born to take a rod out of a shop, but what’s more important? An heir or a perfect fly rod?
13. Start with very short casts – just a foot of line and the leader. A rod that can form a good loop and turn over a fly with little more than the leader outside the rod tip will generally do well at real-life fishing distances with dry flies and nymphs. If you fish pocket water you but can’t form good, controllable loops at 10 to 15 feet you may want a different rod.
14. Gradually extend the length of your test casts. How much line can you hold in the air, without a haul, and still maintain good loops and line speed? Enough to cover the water you fish? A haul increases line speed and takes some load off the rod, so casting without a haul gives you a clearer sense of where and how the rod is working. Be realistic: you’re not likely to be casting 80 feet to many fish; the sweet spot is likely going to be between 15 and 50 feet. Can you form loops of different sizes in order to vary presentation at the distances you plan to fish? If you can’t you may want a different rod.
15. How much floating line can you pick up off the water confidently without fubaring the cast? If you plan to fish large flies at distance you may want a different rod from the one you use for pocket water work. Some very light tipped rods haven’t the beef out there to turn over large flies. And strong tipped rods often haven’t the suppleness needed out front to form good loops short. Most progressive action rods – and that’s the majority of what’s out there – should do both jobs acceptably.
16. How well does the rod roll cast? A roll cast of some sort, or one of the other no-back-cast, change of direction casts that the spey folks use, is the answer to many presentation problems with single handed fly rods, even for small stream trout fishers. Try roll casts at 15 feet, then 20, then 30 and beyond and see if you’re satisfied. Roll casting is another reason you need to cast over water, by the way, as it’s not possible over grass or asphalt.
17. If you’re not satisfied with how the rod casts, but you still like its basic feel (or how it looks or what it costs), try a different line weight. If the rod doesn’t seem to be loading adequately until you extend a very long line, go to a heavier line. Conversely, back off on line weight if you can’t pick up line easily, or get acceptable line speed. Don’t freak out if the rod feels best to you with a different line weight than the manufacturer suggests. You may simply prefer a different feel than the rod designer. Rods marketed for “aggressive” casters generally handle a line weight heavier than what the label states. If the 5 weight rod you’re trying casts best with 6 weight line but you really want to fish a 5, string up that line on a 4 weight of the same make and model. Chances are it will handle your 5 weight. The fish won’t read the label.
18. If you plan to fish sinking lines, you’ll probably want to up-line a line weight or even two line weights over what’s inscribed on the rod butt. Why? Sinking lines are thinner than floating lines, therefore less air resistant, and thus move faster and seem to load the rod less. Note, however, that a sinking line will pick up differently – with more effort – than a floater. So don’t go overboard on a heavier line that your rod can’t move out of the water.
19. If you plan to use shooting heads instead of full length lines, or if you fish indicators and weighted flies on heavy tipped weight forwards, test the rod with them, again using a leader that approximates what you’d actually be fishing. Turning over a bit of fluff is easy: a weighted sculpin pattern, a big Clouser, or a stonefly with a balloon indicator is a different matter entirely. Uplining by one or two line weights with shooting heads is the rule since you’re loading the rods with only a 25-35 foot length of line. I prefer to upline one line weight (a #9 head on a #8 rod, for example, when wading, but by two line weights (a #10 head on a #8 rod) when casting from a boat. That extra height above the water makes a difference in picking up line and clearing water behind me on a back cast. And again, if you’re casting in a public area, be sure to cut the bend and hook point off your test fly.
21. Much of this same routine applies to evaluating double hand rods. Despite the line recommendations printed on the rod shaft, line choices here may be more difficult, so you’ll want to rely on the advice of the pros in a good fly shop, or on savvy friends to get you started. With any luck you’ll find someone who has a range of appropriate lines so you can dial in what’s right for you.
Ideally, you’ll test and compare a handful of similar length rods built for the same basic line weight in order to better sense and understand differences. The more of this you do, the more adept and confident you’ll become at discriminating between the good, the OK, and the merely well-marketed.Visit the
L Kenney Fly Rods website and keep an eye out on the
Larry's Writing page for new articles to be added in the future.
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