Not been fishing long and I have a question;

I have a Wychwood SLA 9.6ft number 7 rod with a matching wychwood reel 6/7 and some WF7F line. The rod feels crisp and nimble in may hands and I can accurately cast to 20 foot or so.

I have recently bought a Bob Church Hanningfield 10.5ft 7/8 rod off e-bay. It has the cheapest number 8 reel I could find on e-bay and some WF8F line. When I used it for the first time today, it felt slow and cumbersome in my hands, almost floppy !

Now heres the thing. Using the Bob Church rod, I can cast reasonably accurately to about 40 foot ! I thought I must be just casting really well today, so I got my Wychwood back out and I was back to 20ft ! Back to the Bob Church, back to 40 foot !

By the end of 4 hour fishing day, I've come away preferring the cheap rod. I can cast further and I caught more fish with it.

Does anybody have any idea why I fish better with the cheaper rod and consistently cast further. Is it because of the weight or length? or is it because of the line? I know it may be hard to answer, but if anyone knows why, I'd love to know.

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Theres nothing so gloomy, sad or drear. As to stand at the bar in a pub with no beer.

You can spend a lot of money on a rod but if it doesn't suit your casting style, you can't cast worth a damn
Always better to try before you buy with rods

Also, different action rods can be more suited to different casting styles

Maybe the Bob Church one suits your casting style better at the moment

Do you think being 6ft4 means the bigger rod is easier to use ? Or is that just **** ?

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Theres nothing so gloomy, sad or drear. As to stand at the bar in a pub with no beer.

Could be a timing issue.

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http://www.rutlandwaterflyfishers.co.uk/

I'd say it's the extra length combined with your height done it. As above diff actions suit some and not others. If you are tall enough and physical enough the 10'6 is probably going to launch the plot further. Exaggerating slightly if the rod were 40' long and you could physically handle such a beast, it's a sure bet it's going to chuck it a long way.

That's a very basic explanation and later technique will improve your distance further with less effort, but for now that's probably what caused the extra distance.

Chris.

Best advice Ithink would be for you to have a lesson with an instructor take both rods with you and they will be able to tell you why (having watched what your doing)you are better with one rod.I think its probably that your timing is better with the Bob Church as mentioned above.I dont think the size will make a great deal of difference in this instance as there is only 1aftm between the two.
Steve.

Wish I'd have known before I shelled out on the Wychwood.

Although in saying that, I'm perfectly happy to use the Wychwood. Its just from now on, the Bob Church will be the first rod I use in a days fishing.

Out of interest, how many different kinds of 10.5ft 7/8 rod can there be ? I presume there are rods with different stiffnesses etc etc.

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Theres nothing so gloomy, sad or drear. As to stand at the bar in a pub with no beer.

First of all a lesson is the best advice, it helped me improve my casting after just one visit after wasting £££ on rods when it was my technique that was at fault.
My 10 pence worth is that I think you are not casting with enough line outside of the rod tip to load the rod. You really need 30ft to get the rod loading. Also, with only 20ft of line out you will have difficulty shooting line as the thicker portion of the WF fly line will still be in your rod rings. Try marking your fly line at 20ft, 30ft and 40ft, it helped me learn the loading zone.
Best of luck and get that lesson booked!

If the wychwood rod feels crisp in the hand then it probably has a fastish action . Maybe the Bob Church rod has a slower action which may be more suited to your casting style - allowing you to load the rod properly - hence the extra distance and more enjoyable fishing . Personally , I favour rods with a medium action as opposed to the fast action rods so popular these days. hope this helps