There is a growing interest out there for LONG fly rods. Spey Rods, Switch Rods and now rods designed for Czech, Polish and French nymphing techniques. Extra long rods allow you to fish deep river swims, pick up line at distance for a clean strike and also provide better leverage when preventing that fish of a life time from detaching itself from the underwater obstruction you just can’t see.

When fishing rivers i have always used small length rods < 8 ft with a line rating of < 4 wt. It is until very recently on a guided days fishing on the River Wherwell that i was persuaded to try a 10 ft 2 wt fly rod. At first i found the additional length a slight burden when casting, and reminding myself to slow down the casting stoke; which being used to small fast action rods, took short while to master.

However, i was very surprised at the easy and additional line control that one could gain. The additional length allows an even longer drag free drift; which as they say, you don’t catch fish when your flies in the air!! I was also amazed at the line pickup at distance which provides a clean strike, which with a shorter fly rod would probably have been a pricked fish at best.

I do however see some limitations in the use of long rods especially on rivers where there is a lot of overhanging trees and foliage. I guess however the more innovative anglers amongst us would use the sling cast or bow and arrow cast to overcome these obstacles. I do however see a place for the use of long light weight fly rods as i progress with using them i may find that my < 8 ft 3 wt fly rods begin to gather dust.

Lets the debate begin!!!

I would be interested in other forum member’s views.

Kind Regards

A 'workman' over to take care of something for which I have no clue. Well, not quite true, I do know how to do/screw up the job.

Hire a Professional, and just get it done. Not sure how to do it right? Hire a Professional to show you how.

The 'rod,' the everything attached just needs to be in context for what your doing/what you expect. The best surprise is when you find out you "under estimated."

Those turn out to be memories.

fae

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"The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a
living are now outnumbered by those who vote for a living." -- Anonymous

interesting

thanks for the input

Kind Regards

Wise words from Fred!

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You "understand", a very good thing me thinks.

Fred

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"The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a
living are now outnumbered by those who vote for a living." -- Anonymous

I tend to use short rods on small rivers for all the reasons given above. I've never given a lot of thought to a longer rod but I guess it's horses for courses. On the sort of small rivers that I fish (all too infrequently these days) I think I would struggle with a long rod. I can see some of the advantages though and I would certainly like to have a chuck with say a 10ft #3. I can't help feeling that it may be a bit on the sloppy side though. Interesting to see what others think...................birdsnest

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Fear not if I steal from your side, as of yore, from paradise streams to fish Teifi once more.
BN based in Wolverhampton

No intent to be abrupt but is this really a subject for debate because as I understand it the choice for long or short rods go hand in hand with the variety of methods/techniques/requirements used world wide in modern day fly fishing unless I am really missing something.Shorter rods tend to be more versatile than their longer brethren overall but they fall "short" excuse the pun where the longer rod becomes the more suitable wand for the task in hand as your trip to Wherwell showed.There are and have been for some time situations where the length of rod is ergonomically suited to the method of fishing practiced taking into account mother nature's whims along the way.I guess you fish smaller rivers mostly hence your 8ft 4wt.Think you would find normal casting a close range dry fly on such rivers an uneccessary challenge with a 10 footer.You may also find the need for a longer handled net to avoid high-sticking the tip to breaking point.Just my take on it but always willing to listen and learn something new.

Best JP

JP,
thanks for your inputt.

everyone will have different views and opinions.

kind regards

With 40 years of casting, imho, longer rods tend to suit less experienced casters personally I find the extra leverage tiring and line control and speed of fly control slow, yes you can lift a longer line with ease, but if you learn how to switch roll, you can roll a full line up off the water, even when deep wading with a 6 foot rod, thenre cast the full line with no false casting to the desired spot with ease.
Longer rods are also more expensive and less accurate to cast with ,sorry but I think you need a casting lesson!