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Raybow |
Shortest, most flex, most ultralite spin fly? |
Lead | |
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What is the shortest, most flexable, and considered the lightestest in a spinflyrod. This rod would balance a Mitchell 308 and a Sized 2-4 weight fly reel.
Two piece rod is more desireable. Forgive me as I haven't done any research on this type of rod as there is probably much info on the web. I thought
I'd start here. As always, I appreciate yalls help and the info yall share here.............Ray..................
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freestoner.clarksclassicfl... |
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I'd go with the 5 1/2 ft. Browning 2-piece UL, with the glass ferrule. Don't remember the model number offhand. It's light action enough to cast a
beadhead nymph, and will most likely also cast a 4 weight line, or maybe even lighter. But since even the most light action spinning rods are designed with
enough stiffness to toss lures up to 1/4 oz., it could be tough getting one that will do all that well with 2-3 weight line.
There are also some 5 ft. and 4 1/2' rods out there- but the 4 1/2' ones are one piece- and in any event, I think that you'll end up preferring the extra length of a 5 1/2' rod for fly casting. |
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Raybow |
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Freestoner, is the Browning a fiberglass or graphite? Thanx...........
Ray................ |
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alpago |
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Ray,
I think it's 332955 . Freestoner is right, really fun to fish with wt4.
Al |
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freestoner.clarksclassicfl... |
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yep, that's the one.
Incidentally, I took my 2-piece 5' Garcia Conolon 2500D glass spinning rod out last night and did some lawn casting with a 5DT. I'd have to say that it didn't really load fully, and it's best with a 6-weight. That said, I still was able to cast it 40 feet or so with the 5DT. The rod wanted the leader and about 5-6 feet of line off the tip before it started working, but after that, the more line I paid out, the better it cast, up to about 35 feet. Getting it out another 5 feet required a lot more attention to timing, and beyond that point, it was difficult to keep the backcast from dragging, and the front cast started collapsing, the last few feet of line and the leader just piled up in a coil. At around 20-35 feet it worked pretty well in terms of sheer function. But the feel of a well-loaded rod was still lacking, which indicates that after a while, it would be fatiguing to cast it with a 5 weight, and there would be an increased tendency to dump casts. Timing is especially important with a rod as short as that, because the backcast doesn't have far to drop in order to hit the ground. |
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Horsesho |
Orvis Fullflex | ||
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The most flexible UL spin rod I have ever seen is a 5' Orvis Fullflex, 5' 2/1 , it's dynamite with a DT-4.
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pearow |
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I have a fenwick HMG graphite 4.5 feet, G-145; its one of the early graphites and is a noodle; I think theyre pretty hard to find-p-
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Raybow |
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Last week I bought a custom from a feller that Joe Robinson turned me on to and it is exactly what I was looking for. I can't remember the man's name
but he uses a St.Croix blank and builds them on a very limited time frame. Joe has infected me with the spin reel/rod that a flyreel (4# ish) will work fine on
especially the small trib's that run into these little rivers we have in the Tx hill country. I can't cast like Joe yet(probably never) but its a shoot
type of cast. Him and Dave Witlock and Lefty have been experimenting on types of rods and actions that the spin reel and fly reel would work equally as well in
this type of application. I have a rough draft of the book that Joe is going to publish before long. Its very interesting and eye opening even to the died in
the wool fly fisher like myself. Fishing 7x tippet as a fishing line from a spinning reel does take some finesse. This Spring I'll have both spin reel and
fly reel in my bag. What I like is the versitility on these little creeks for whites and crappie if we ever get some rain. The rod is six foot and I have it
loaded with 5x until I get the hang of this style of fishing. It is diferent and thought maybe there would be a glass rod with that type of acton which I'm
finding out is not there.(to my knowledge)
Raybow............ |
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middlemac |
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"It is diferent and thought maybe there would be a glass rod with that type of acton which I'm finding out is not there.(to my knowledge)"
Well, there's this... St. Croix 2 pc 6' XXL Ultra Light. A little longer; wonderful flex.
Hope your custom on the SC blank is a winner for you, let us know!
middlemac
Last Edited By: middlemac
12/18/08 09:28:08.
Edited 1 times.
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JimatFFO |
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Mac, Is that the sister ship to the St. Croix 7090 XXL Imperial fly rod? I think I saw one a few months ago set up for spin use but it was for a bait caster.
Nice, either way. A little rod that I picked up this summer was a custom Garcia Ultra Light Royal Javelin. Looks like it's been fished very lightly, if at
all. It's 5' of serious noodle you could twist into a pretzel. Can't wait till next spring to try it out with some teeny jigs. I'll post up
some pics if I get the chance.
-Jim |
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warmriver |
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I have really enjoyed reading the posts on this topic. I had forgotten that a buddy and I had put fly reels on our ultralight spinning rods when we fished
brook trout streams together in the 70's in West Virginia. I will have to try that again if the wind and the snow ever do stop here in Idaho this year.
Looking through this year's Anglers' Workshop catalog I see blanks by Seeker that might be a lot of fun as ultralight spin-fly rods. They have an EGlass/Boron, 5 1/2', one piece, rated for 1/32 to 3/16th lures that might be really interesting, and building from a blank you could get a spin-fly handle to suit your own taste. Doug |
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Rockthief |
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THis topic reminds me to fish my Fenwick Legacy graphite 4'8". I will put a reel on it and post a photograph. It really likes a 3 wt. line as I recall
and is fun for panfish and trout. I caught a lot of fish with this rod years ago.
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Raybow |
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Middlemac. How big is that bass? Would like to know how long it took you to get him in. esp. with that terminal tackle in the pic
This kind of situation wanting a particular type of rod for dual purpose is why rod building would pay for itself. Those 40 dollar pops on 'adictive bay' would get kind of expensive. Ray............... |
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PeteStiles |
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Raybow wrote:Hey Ray - My wife gave me a Joe Robinson Special (built by Scott Wallace, who I believe built yours) for my birthday in June. I've been fishing it with a Mitchel 308 and an Alcedo Micron that Joe helped me rebuild, spooled with 6x tippet, of course. It's a blast to fish as a UL rod and makes a mighty nice little 3wt, too (I been using a click/paw Battenkill 3/4 with Hardy DT3). I'd love to hear what kind of fly/lures you've been using and whats been successful for you using Joe's system. I assume you're in the Austin area? Cheers, Pete |
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Fly Rod D |
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This is a great thread! I love the St Croix setup, Middlemac. The Browning rod is excellent too--Raybow.
I tried finding either of those rods online and found nothing. The St Croix 7080 XXL appears to be a super vintage rod? Looks like it was made in 1961? That would be a great rod, but I'm sure it is pretty expensive. Any other rods you guys are using for spin/fly setups? FRD |
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jgestar |
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Probably the easiest to acquire is the Fenwick SF74-4. These usually sell low on eBay simply because so many of them are for sale each week. If the price is
too high, just wait for a couple of days and three more will be up for sale.
Personally, I use spin rods for spin fishing and fly rods for fly fishing. Occasionally I will put a closed face, trigger spin reel on a short fly rod. It makes a slow action spinning rod, but the rod is just right when I swap over to fly fishing. Tom |
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middlemac |
yuhina tribute | ||
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Cr@p, I've not posted on Raybow's thread for months, sorry guys to miss the replies.
First- the St. Croix 7080 was a gift from mark (yuhina) who refused my offer to buy this rod he'd listed on the Sale forum. Instead, he sent it to me for free, shipping included. This is just one more example of what happens on this board when people meet each other, correspond, and enjoy fishing time together. Thanks again, Mark. The Kentucky bass was 16" length, no idea of weight. Casting 50' into a slough on the Coosa River in Alabama. He put a painful bend in the XXL, the daylight was about gone and I was worried he'd snap on the pickup several feet onto the dock. The floro jighead was a gift from my brother-in-law earlier in the day. It's also a blast for panfishing w/foam spiders and old-skool poppers. "Mac, Is that the sister ship to the St. Croix 7090 XXL Imperial fly rod?" <Jim@FFO> Jim I own three Imperial flysticks but this combo rod is unique to me, maybe WIKI has the answer.
middlemac
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jgestar |
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Nice fish! Is the drink for the fisherman or the fish?
Tom |
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