I'm relatively new to fly fishing and I would like to build a 3wt fly rod I can bring with me on hikes and camping trips to fish smaller creeks/bodies of water I may come by. I already have 5wt and 8wt rods and I think a 3wt over a 2wt would be the most versatile to add to my portfolio?

I hope with the help of you guys to build a respectable small creek rod that is a good balance of cost vs performance. I strive to find the best blanks for my casting rods and I can generally notice the performance difference there especially w.r.t sensitivity, loading properties and weight. I'm assuming I wouldn't need to be as scrutinizing for a small creek 3wt especially considering I'm not very experienced with fly fishing yet.

I'm currently leaning towards a 7'0 rod as it should be short enough to help in heavy brush but I would be curious to hear others' thoughts on 6'6 or 7'6 as well. Ideally the rod (4pc I suspect) should be small enough to lash to my hiking pack, motorcycle.

I've read that single foot wire guides should work well and also need less wraps. I notice the top of the line Sage rods in 3wt still use snake wire guides though. If going with single foot, is there any particular brand? I'm OK with spending a bit extra if it means lighter guides and better responding tip. I think I can probably do size 1 guides all the way up?
I read that I should probably be able to get away with a single size 8 or 10 stripper guide?
I think I will go with a cigar shaped cork handle, I can't shape cork so I'll probably have to buy a ready made one.
I suppose a basic, lightweight real seat is fine. I read some people like downlocking seats for smaller rods? Is there any particular utility in the more expensive seats with wood inlays other than aesthetics?

Any idea if this would be a reasonable blank to build on: REVF703-4SB [batsonenterprises.com]

I don't have any particular budget here but I'm trying to optimize for price/performance as much as possible to end up with something I won't regret after half a season. I don't think I found anything from NFC around this length and weight unfortunately.

Unless you are using it inh some extrme cold conditions,I would go with 1/0 running guides, and that revelation would be an excellent choice.

I just built a REVF793-4SB and love it.
Keeping costs down i went with CRB LZR size 10 stripper and then went CRB single foot guides the rest of way. A size 4 then rest size 1. I put a snake brand tiptop and it casts great.
I went uplocking to move weight forward which on a 2-3 wt its very easy to be butt heavy.

I’d lean more towards Fiberglass in a rod that short and light. Anything between 6-8 and 7ft in a 3 or 4wt will be perfect. If you’re going to primarily going to fish dries on Brook trout creeks, 3wt, if you want a bit more versatile stick for small buggers/Ausable uglies, go with a 4wt. Plenty of good glass blanks out there to choose from.

In my opinion, Carbon blanks that short are just too stiff for the close in work. Casts 5 to 20ft. Glass will load in close as well as reach out if needed, 30 to 40ft on those small creeks.

Feel free to reach out directly, looks like you are in Central NY, I’m just east of you.

Just from an NFC perspective that I have built, the 4wt glass and 3/4 Gamma Alphas are delightful little rods. Great small stream rods.

I tend to go by the snake brand chart for most of my guide sizings. 1/0 or 2/0. I just finished a 6 with 1/0 and really like the way it casts.

Id suggest looking into a JP Ross Muir rod blank. In my opinion, JP Ross makes some of the finest small stream fly rod blanks out there. I’ve ordered parts from him before and he loves to talk with customers directly on the phone too. Great guy, great rods.

The Muir is a 7’ 3wt, 5 piece fiberglass rod blank, with aluminum case for $250.

JP Ross is rolling his own blanks now?

Chris,
What Bill Hickey said:

The CTS Quartz (Glass) 7'6" #3 is a dynamite blank.
Email me for my special RB.Org pricing.
Herb
CTS Rep

Pleasant surprise seeing all of these replies, thank you everyone!

Maybe some more background might help: my current arsenal is a 9'0 5w TFO Professional that I don't think I ever even used yet. I will be making a lot of trips to the Catskills as soon as things warmup and I can ride my motorcycle up. I also have a 9'0 8wt TFO BVK that I used for Striper surf fishing once and also for lake bass fishing. I probably only have less than 10 hours total using the 8wt. The rod I'm looking to build here is to bring along anywhere to see what I can get in small streams whether up in Canada, Catskills, ADK, or any other place I may find myself. As mentioned before, ideally it would pack really small for long multiday hikes, motorcycle, pack in carry on, etc.. and to get the most use out of it.

I haven't actually considered fibreglass but in my research some say it's great others say they just stick to graphite. I could go either way considering my 5 and 8wt's are already carbon so this maybe this is a good excuse for glass? I guess I should ask if 3wt would be ideal for a glass rod or should I go with graphite and build a glass rod in the 5wt+ range instead?

I haven't priced everything out yet but I don't think it would be prudent to overspend especially on my first fly rod build and the fact that I admittedly, hardly know jack about fly fishing. I've built 5-6 spin/casting rods already from UL BFS to MH/H frog rods so I'm sure I can do it but I also know exactly what I want in those rods and most of the available components. Also seeing beautiful $80+ reel seats is a bit unnerving as I don't know if it's something I should really consider or if I should just stick to something cheap and practical but I somehow feel as though fly fishing isn't about that and it's more of an art.

I think my current takeaways from this thread are:

1. Look to 1/0 or 2/0 in single foot (less wrapping, thank God, and I doubt I'd be fishing it when it could ice up). But I read you may want to size up single foot sizes? No idea on who makes the best single foot or if that even matters considering they don't even have ring insert options like SIC, alconite, torzite, like Fuji guides have.
2. I was initially considering 2wt but then read that 3wt is a bit more versatile. Considering I already have a 5wt, I imagine I should just stick with 3wt? I don't even know what kind of fishing I'll be doing because I haven't really fished the fly yet for trout. In my mind, I'm picturing mostly dry but I imagine I'd need to fall back to nymph or whatever else is possible. Maybe you guys might have a better idea of what I might need for this instead of my 5wt in the Catskills, Arizona creeks, etc..?
3. Lots of good feedback on blanks so far:

The CTS recommendation is interesting as I've looked at their blanks before for casting rods but they are a bit pricey and the Air I think only comes in 7'6" 3pc light/medium. I also wanted to hold off on a $200+ blank until I got more experience with rod building. Regardless, it looks like a good candidate for a high end build here.

The Muir recommended by Evan is also quite intriguing since it's 7'0 5pc, ~$250 and seems to include decals, sweet tube (would save me another $40 at least) and I think from the description it might also include a reel seat? Also, a 7'0 in 5pc would be slightly more portable than a 4pc. Anyway, that rod looks pretty sick and I can picture myself being very happy with it. Almost seems a bit too good to be true ...is there any catch? I guess it's E-glass and not S-glass like the CTS? I wonder if it's also made in the USA?

@Tim I imagine you are referring to F380-4 or F486-4? They seem to be on sale which is a plus. It looks like their glass offerings only start at 4wt.

Chris,
CTS ' magic is, besides building a wnderful blank, is that they will design almost any configuration you want - for a fee. So, there are many designs that are not on the website that have been built for customers (who paid the design fee) that are now available to all builders without a design fee.

Just advise what configuation AIR you want.

As far as building on a premium blank for your first fly rod - that is a common misconception many have.
Building on a sub-par blank for practice is a waste of money. Once you fish with a rod built on a CTS blank - all you other builds will never see the light of day.
Additionally - if you are not happy with the outcome of the build - simplystrip it and redo.
I have mentored many new builders on crafting a fly rod.

Herb
CTS Rep

I concur with Herb, CTS makes some nice blanks, I own three and have sold a few more, fly and gear, my first rod was built on a G Loomis IMX blank, as good as anything out there at the time, I still fish it today, rod building at the start is relatively simple tasks done with attention to detail above all. I wouldn't go the cheap route, if I was in anyway confident that I had the basic skills to build something. It's not rocket science.

CTS has as stock offerings: 6-6 3wt, 7’ 3wt, 7’-6” 3 and 4wts, all are 4pc. Check with Herb for other offerings that are not listed on their site. Their blanks are among the best. They’re 8’-6” 5 and 6wts, awesome stuff if your in the market for longer glass.
McFarland Rod Company, made in PA, he has a decent grouping for short 3 and 4wts, his Americana E Glass series are very nice, you can order direct from him or Anglers Workshop does carry his blanks.
Greywolf/Steffen, made in Michigan, has both E and S2 glass, another quality blank. Shane has some of his own stuff and he is also producing the Steffen Brothers line of blanks.
Northfork Iconoglass, made in Washington, S2 glass, I’ve never built on their stuff, but the reviews are very good.

Difference between all the variations of Fiberglass material, in the grand scheme of things, it comes down to who is rolling it and the taper.

The JP Ross blanks, I seriously doubt he is rolling his own blanks, it’s possible he is getting some of his stuff from USA sources, but options are limited for 3rd party work and expensive. A 5 piece blank and the trimming’s included for that price, I doubt it is made in the USA, but simple enough to find out, call him and ask. I know from my own experiences with having my own tapers rolled here in the US what the costs are for most of the folks that will do 3rd part work, it’s not cheap when compared to sourcing blanks from Asia.

I don’t believe JP Ross personally rolls his own blanks Personally. His shop is fairly local to me and i don’t see where he has the size for an oven. That said, his blanks are made by a domestic supplier.

There’s 2 options for the Muir. One comes with the aluminum rod tube, cloth bag, and decals. Then for $100 more he provides a full build kit (engraved reel seat, handle, guides, winding checks).

I should also specify, I’m not associated with JP Ross in any way, I doubt he even knows I exist. I’ve only bought components from him, but I’ve handled his rods on a few occasions and they’re a great.

I was looking to build an Adirondacks small stream Brook trout rod and ended up using a RS Rev6’6” 2wt because it was cheaper than JP Ross and it was my first fly rod build so I didn’t want to mess up on an expensive blank. That RS is a great rod, but the fast action seems to “slap” smaller dry flies on the water rather than lay them. The Brookies don’t seem to care though, the natives seem to eat anything



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2023 09:31AM by Evan Cobb.