Hi friends, I have a orvis clearwater 9ft 5 wt I use at the larger creeks in the Poconos. Am thinking out getting up in the SGLs, smaller creeks and tribs to go after brookies. What would be the difference here between a 6 ft 6 in 3 wt vs a 7 ft 6 in 3 wt for these blue lines. Don’t want to get my line caught but would love some flexibility that I think the longer rod could offer. Any recs?
Fly rod advice for brookies in NEPA
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Bamboozle
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12" 😉
In all seriousness despite being a fan of 6'6" (and shorter) rods, longer is always better where you have room.
A 7'6" rod is practical at many small to medium streams and you will use it a lot more. Other than a few miserably tight places like Wolf Swamp Run, there aren't many small Pocono streams I couldn't fish with a 7'6" rod.
FWIW - I have fished more than a few Pocono "blue lines" with an 11 foot Tenkara rod.
Good luck!
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turkey
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I don't think there's a correct answer here. I will say I went down the ultralight line weight rabbit hole a while back but these days I don't fish lighter than a 3wt. A 6' 4pc 4wt is a nice spec if you're backpacking. A longer rod allows for more accurate dapping.
shortrod
Active member
I don't know the creeks in that area. I have fished many small creeks in west and central PA. You are asking the wrong question. The answer to your question is yes 7.5 and 6.5 rods are both useful I recommend both. The question you should be asking is: What is the lightest line weight that I can fish a small creek and not be too limited? The answer is 4wt. Hey, I have and love to use true 3wt rods on small creeks, but when I do I know that I will be limited; that a 4wt would be more practical.
wildtrout2
Well-known member
I only fish small mountain "blue liners" and my choice is a 7' 3wt, which I love. Seems to be perfect for the job.
Nocktavius
Well-known member
Before you run out and buy another rod- try to use your 9 footer and enjoy the extra length for mending and reaching across seams. I can’t think of too many places where I couldn’t roll cast a 9’ rod but a 7 footer would magically make things work. Specialized rods for brookies are kinda silly IMO and unless you’re fishing classic cane anything less than 7 foot you might as well just use a spinning rod.
shortrod
Active member
I disagree with everything Nocktavius said but will just address this sentance. If you can roll cast with a 9' rod you are not on what I would call a small stream in PA. It's funny when people say that they where on a small stream because they had to roll cast. I have fished I great number of truly small streams and a roll cast is not a cast that I employ often. Why? Because a roll cast requires much more space than a real small stream offers. On a small stream, often the only space availible to work with is low in the stream channel. My most used cast on a small stream is a side arm cast with the backcast going low down the stream channel. I too often am too concerned about where my backcast is going and not worried enough about having the room to get the backcast there in the first place. So I compensate by using shorter rods than troutbert or Joe Humphreys recommend. But that is my problem.
Kms
Well-known member
I don’t know if you’re new to fly fishing, but shorter rods are more difficult to cast. 9’ to 7’6” not so much, but under 7’ it takes some adjustment and maybe some practice time to get it down.
wildtrout2
Well-known member
I agree with this for the most part.
I totally disagree with this. I QUITE OFTEN use a roll cast on the small freestones I fish. Again, I use a 7' 3wt. I also use a side arm cast a lot of the time as well.
Nocktavius
Well-known member
I guess what I mostly meant to convey was that there’s no need to go buy a fly rod specific to fishing for brookies- especially if you haven’t done a lot of small stream fishing. But you’re far more likely than not to win the smallest creek fished pissing contest against me since I tend to prefer catching trout larger than the minnows some people use as bait.
gfenlikestolosepasswords
Member
8' 4wt in graphite. if your knees are so bad you can't squat so well then buy a 7'6".
winky lil 3wt fiberglass rods are not the right answer.
winky lil 3wt fiberglass rods are not the right answer.
Experience helps of course, but even with experience, very short light rods are just INHERENTLY not very good for fly casting. Because physics.
A fly rod is essentially a lever that gives you a mechanical advantage for throwing a fly line. If you choose a very short fly rod, that reduces your mechanical advantage.
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I use a 7 1/2 ft 4 wt. But I've been thinking that much of the time fishing small streams I'd probably prefer an 8 ft 4 wt. If I had one, I would probably use it a lot.
Nymph-wristed
Well-known member
My vote is for a 4 weight in the longest length you can get away with. Honestly, I like 9' for 90% of creeks you are thinking about, but I do have a 8'3" and a 7'6"
Word of caution, and why you might hear votes for stouter gear: I have broken a couple 3 weights on errant back casts or frustrated rips from foliage over the years. A 7' 3 wt in terms of taper and durability is not a 10 ft 2 wt or 3 wt, for example.
Word of caution, and why you might hear votes for stouter gear: I have broken a couple 3 weights on errant back casts or frustrated rips from foliage over the years. A 7' 3 wt in terms of taper and durability is not a 10 ft 2 wt or 3 wt, for example.
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Nymph-wristed
Well-known member
Word! I have fished many small creeks with a 10 footer. Unless you're a rhody masochist, you don't need short, short rods to fish most cricks in that region.
Bamboozle
Well-known member
To the OP...
Think about the above comment and what I said about using an 11 foot Tenkara Rod at MANY Pocono blue lines.
First off, with a Tenkara rod you are using a fixed amount of line which is most often the length of the rod. That means with an 11 foot rod, the maximum distance you can cast is around 22 feet. That doesn't mean you can't go shorter so at more than a few tighter Pocono blue lines I'll use 6' - 8' foot line.
That being said, I'll never forget the first time I fished a Tenkara rod at Hickory Run versus the many times I fished there with a conventional 6'6" 3wt fly rod. I got into more trouble with snags on my backcast with the 6'6" rod because I was lengthening my reach because I had a reel...
And could...
With the Tenkara rod, even though it was longer, unless I changed to a longer line I could ONLY cast 22 feet (or less) which was WELL within the normal distances I fish at those streams. That's also outside the range of backcast snagging tree limbs.
However, the REACH I had with the 11 foot rod allowed me to guide my fly DRAG FREE through channels and chutes that was impossible with my beloved 6'6" 3wt.
I'll also never forget the time I decided that there was no better rod for ME to use than an 11 foot Tenkara rod at places in the Poconos where I used to fish a 6'6" - 7'0" 3wt.
Bottom line, if you fished a 9 foot conventional rod and put your finger over the line so you only had 9 - 10 feet of line & leader past the tip top while false casting; as long as you had overhead clearance, I bet you would stay out of trouble better than if using a shorter rod and trying to overcome the distances by aerialiizing more line & leader.
IMHO - Reach trumps almost everything when it comes to fishing small rocky, obstruction laden streams.
While I admit to possessing more rods than brains and I would never want to deny anyone the pleasure & enjoyment of buying a new rod, try what you got FIRST to see if it is inadequate for the job before ascribing to a tackle formula for blue line fishing.
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wildtrout2
Well-known member
Another reason I like a 7' rod for small streams, is they're often tight streams, so negotiating through the rhodys and other assorted streamside obstacles makes it easier to deal with.
5footfenwick
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As someone who uses a 5-1/2 foot 6 weight. I second the notion small rods are not the easiest to cast. I like it. But I almost never use anything else to compare it to.
Only get a tiny short rod if you are sure you are gonna be fishing tiny little streams and just want the gimmick of a tiny rod for tiny fish on a tiny stream. Otherwise and a 7 or a 7-1/2 is better.
~5footfenwick
Only get a tiny short rod if you are sure you are gonna be fishing tiny little streams and just want the gimmick of a tiny rod for tiny fish on a tiny stream. Otherwise and a 7 or a 7-1/2 is better.
~5footfenwick
