I am looking to build a 9-foot, 6WT rod. Would you say most people prefer a moderate action rod blank for nymphing? I have an 8 1/2' St. Croix Imperial 5 wt., which seems too stiff for my likes. I am looking for a blank that's not stiff, but not whippy. Anybody care to throw a few suggestions my way? Thanks

Bruce-

There is no one perfect rod for any application. Clearly, you need at least a half dozen nymphing rods. With that said, a lot of this is personal preference but since you asked...

95% of the fishing I do is nymphing under an indicator. I often throw split shot or 1/125 oz. microjigs, and some rods definitely do better than others for that application. I personally use a #5 more often than a #6 but again that's just my personal preference. Since this type of fishing is often ugly, I like a rod with a lot of reserve power so that I can muscle out an ugly cast and keep my rig from collapsing or tangling if I sort of get caught in an awkward position (like after missing a fish, which happens more often than I'd like to admit). You tend to fish in close a lot, so a rod that has a tip that loads well is very helpful. For every cast I throw, I probably throw 5 mends so you need a rod that does that with some feel as well. A soft tip with reserve power basically means a fast action rod in my opinion. It also helps if the rod is fairly light, because you can wind up high sticking all day.

Good rods that come to mind for this application that I have personally built and fished include the Lami XMG50 4-pc 9' #6 and the St. Croix SCV 9' 5-pc #6. Great rods that come to mind are the St. Croix SCIV 4-pc 9' #6, T&T Horizon 9' 4-pc #6, and the Lami Perigee 9' 3-pc 5/6. Not sure if you can get that Perigee blank any more - and they have a large butt diameter which limits your seat choices if you don't turn your own - but it's a great blank. I bought a ton of them when I heard they were being discontinued and the only objection anyone who's fished them has had is that they don't come in 4 or 5-pc configurations. The SCIV 9' #6 is also one of the best streamer rods I've used if you are going to do double duty. I believe I bought all of these blanks at Custom Tackle Supply.

In terms of set up, make sure you test your guide placement with the line you plan on using so that your first guide in isn't too far from the tip. It's terribly annoying when you have a loop/bulge form in the line between the tip and the first guide when you are trying to shake out line to feed downstream to continue a drift below you. Often people just do static deflection for the guide placement, or if they test they only test the first ten feet of the line in their garage. In atual combat conditions you are almost always feeding out the section of line (a wet, slippery line mind you) behind the front taper which is much skinnier and more supple than the tapered sections. So what works for the tip section of your line is too far apart for the rear section and if you don't test it on some water with the right section of line in the guides you don't realize it until it's too late. For what it's worth, I also think your line, leader and indicator set up have at least as much to do with your success as the rod if you are going to be hardcore nymphing. If your rig is hingeing on you, it doesn't matter what rod you use...you are going to spend the day picking tangles.

I hope this helps. But as Dennis Miller used to say, that's just my opinion - I could be wrong. Good luck!

Bill

Hi Bill: Thanks for the opinion. Here's another question: Do you think a stiff rod can contribute to breaking fish off? As I said before, I have an SC Imperial that I won. It's stiff and I blamed it for breaking tippet off more than I ever have before. On the hand, I was wondering if the tippet was using at the time was old and brittle.

I have two favorites that I use on larger waters fishing a two nymph set up under an indicator. As Bill states above I prefer a relative fast action. Prior to my rod building days I settled on a G Loomis, 10', 6# GL4 as my prefered rod and continue to use it today with improvements. It now sports ceramic guides and I never cared for the built in fighting butt.
I find now that my first choice in most cases is a Dan Craft 9', 5# FT unless I feel the longer rod is an asset for the conditions. The FT handles a 6# line with ease as it has a slightly higher ERN than the GLX. The FT has plenty of reserve power and the supple tip helps in playing the fish with light tippets.
I too use these rods for streamer fishing with good result.

Stan Grace
Helena, MT
"Our best is none too good"

Bruce-

I'm no physicist and what I'm about to say may be able to be disproven by science in a lab. But in my opinion and based on my experience, I believe a stiff rod can cause you to break fish off - or miss them entirely. Back in 1994 or 1995 when I was living in Nashville, Loomis came out with the GLX fly rods I bought a 9' 4-pc #5 the day they arrived at my local fly shop. I put an Abel reel on it and left two days later for a three day trip on the South Holston river up in NE Tennessee.

That rod cast like a dream and was light as a feather. But I broke off more fish that first day on the river with it than I had broken off in a season. I was fishing new 6X tippet (Orvis Super Strong, I think) and size 14 sulfurs. I knew it wasn't the drag on that Abel (which was set as light as it would go). I repeatedly broke fish off or lost them up close because the rod just didn't have enough give - there was no cushion. But it was my beloved and I wasn't about to be untrue. You can't fish 6X on an 8 weight (at least I can't), and while it was before the CCS I'll bet that rod would test out at well over 5.5 which probably explains the breaking off of fish.

But there was an even weirder phenomenon. On the third day of that trip, I was swinging soft hackles downstream below me between hatches. I was getting bit hard and regularly (by fish) and I could not hook a one of them. I finally got so frustrated, I went back to the car for a Scott and immediately began catching those same fish fishing the same way with the same reel, line and leader. I had the same experience fishing soft hackles about two weeks later on the Caney Fork - couldn't hook those fish downstream with that GLX but switched to a Lami fiberglass and did great. After repeating this experience about four times I just quit taking the rod out. It was a sweet caster but not a great fishing tool.

I'm not sure how to explain this. Perhaps the rod was so sensitive that I was feeling the strike much sooner than normal and taking the fly away from the fish? But even when I did not strip strike at all I couldn't hook the fish. Weird. I ended up selling the rod to a buddy (Gerry Fierling) who moved out west and used it as his favorite big water nymph and hopper rod for years until he broke it on a trip to Alaska. But he also had trouble losing fish with the rod and never went lighter than 5X with it. (Loomis' service department replaced the rod quickly for a minimal fee, by the way.) So in my experience I think yes - a stiff rod can cause you break off fish (or pull the hook out).

Bill choice of the Perigee 5/6 was one I also would have suggested. Angler's Workshop, Custom Tackle and others now have access to the blanks again through Lamiglas, and I think they are a little cheaper than the original retail.

Man, I just built a rod for most of my nymphing and general trout fishing. First off, try to use a blank that is at most a moderate-fast action. Moderate is best for most nymphing you'll do, unless your throwing big yarn indicators or large nymphs. Blank brand, length , price, etc. is all personal; just look for a "slower" type blank. Second, I'd advise you go with a 5 wt. instead of a 6. I don't care how many rods you have, at some crucial time or another you'll leave the rod you need back at the house or break it the day before your trip ( believe me, I know! ). A 9ft., 5 wt. will suffice in many conditions. If you decide on a moderate action, it can do the job you need it to do in most cases. Since nothing's predictable, I like a rod that I can fish a size 24 midge larva on or throw a streamer if my 6 wt. is not with me. A moderate action also allows you to fish lighter tippets, which is extremely important if the fish call for tiny stuff. The only time I go to a faster action rod is when I'm streamer fishing or stillwater nymphing with a long a$$ leader and a large indicator. Out here in California, nymphs make up 90% of our catch in most areas, so I've done a lot of nymphing. I prefer the medium style balnks because their versatile. You should have a fast action rod, no doubt; their best for situations that require fast reactions or lots of power. But the rod above will do almost all your nymphing.