Best 3 wt mountain rod taper

[Marc of Riverdale]

Looking for a taper that woukd best be suited for the small to medium sized trout streams in the Smokies. 3 wt. 7 ft preferably. Dries and wet flies.

[bluesjay]

Hi Guys, Garrison 193 clone........

Jay Edwards

[PT48]

Thomas 6' 8" or Winston Leetle Fella 7' (if the taper is available).

[PT48]

Oops!

[3creeks]

+1 for the FE Thomas 6'8". I really enjoyed fishing mine in the high country of Southern Utah this summer.

[jim royston]

The FE Thomas 6"8" is a great little taper.

[3creeks]

I built two FE Thomas 6'8" rods a couple of summers ago for my son and I, and I used the taper from the Howell's book with some minor modifications. This thread on another site provided the backdrop for those changes. It has some information about other light tapers that you may find interesting as well. http://www.rodbuildingforum.com/index.p ... opic=17783

Basically I moved the butt swell out so that it begins in front of the grip and I bumped the tips up to .060. The statement that it wasn't much good past 35' wasn't true in my case, anyway, as I was able to fish it up to 50' and better. I really enjoyed the rod immensely.

[munsey w]

Bogart Yellow Rose. You can find it on David Rays taper library. 7' 2 or 3 wt available great taper!

[headwaters]

And, although HE wouldn't mention it, Munsey also builds some FINE 3 wt mountain taper rods!

[spruce grouse]

There is no best - just many great ones and personal preference.

[Umpqua Tom]

I picked up a yellow rose from Chris Bogart at Shenandoah rods . What can I say besides I love it perfect mountain rod in my opinion

[Eddie Southgate]

Orvis 7-3

[Marc of Riverdale]

And, although HE wouldn't mention it, Munsey also builds some FINE 3 wt mountain rod taper rods!

Wondered about his rods. Thanks!

[Brier549]

You can’t find a better rod maker or person than Munsey.

[firehole]

Brackett made Winston 7' 3/2 3wt 2 3/4oz. According to Glenn this is his favorite 3/2 3wt. I'm sure he could built the rod under the Sweetgrass name. I own one and it's a fantastic med-fast action.
Dennis
Click to enlarge

[DonT]

Another vote for the T&T its really nice with the 406 DT3.

[Flykuni3]

All good suggestions. I have several 3's I like, but here's a question: why not a 2 line? I have Munsey's 7' for a DT2 and it rocks; the T&T TTT at 7' for a DT2 is also a rocker, and impreg'd (hard to find). There may be surprisingly large trout in a "mountain stream," and some 14"--15" might lurk, but I've handled them on 2-wts (with a little terror). Most mountain trout I've encountered are small and fast, 4"--12'. And of course fun.

I used to fish my four wts all the time, but these days find myself going as lite as possible on small streams. This fellow was taken on an old and soft Leonard 38L, DT3, and the small 'bow put a bend in it, it was great fun. Woulda been funner on a DT2.