THE BEST FLY ROD

[kermit]

[BSAGuy]

Sounds good to me. Thanks for sharing this.

[Hellmtflies]

Thanx! Agreed that each person has his or her own preference regarding a rod. But what is glaring to me here is the mention of a rod to be fished and not cast. Those two things seldom complement each other. There are rods that fish well and those that cast well but seldom do both equally well.
IMHO and observation of this writing.
Mark

[rsagebrush]

So what your saying is the rod has to not cast well to fish good?? Sorry I would have to disagree with that assessment completely.

[BigTJ]

+1. Casting well is a basic prerequisite for a rod to fish well.

As to Hewitt’s essay I believe EC Powell’s approach was better. Match the rod action to the type of fishing and angler’s casting skill rather than only have one action type to do everything.

John

[driftless angler]

To me, Hewitt seems to be describing the action of many Orvis bamboo rods. For the most part they have thicker tips and more of a "mid-flex", which would form Hewitt's circle. I'm sure the impregnating process helps, but the Orvis rods rarely seem to take a set compared to more tip flex rods - even new tip flex rods.

When having a backyard shootout where I string up some rods and compare side by side, my Orvis rods never win the distance contest or tightest loop, but sure seem to come into their own on the stream - pile casts, roll casts, mending, dry/nymph/streamer.

[Hellmtflies]

When having a backyard shootout where I string up some rods and compare side by side, my Orvis rods never win the distance contest or tightest loop, but sure seem to come into their own on the stream - pile casts, roll casts, mending, dry/nymph/streamer.

Here is an example of rods that fish well but don't necessarily cast well.