Fly Rods
Fly rod is an essential piece of fly fishing equipment without which fly fishing, as we know it, would be impossible. One may describe fly rod in several ways, depending on the material it is made of, the fly line rating, the fishing technique as well as the fish one wants to catch and the length of the rod itself. Please keep in mind that you need to take into consideration all of these parameters when choosing your fly rod.
Regardless of whether you are looking for a fly rod for salmons or trouts or you want to buy a saltwater fly rod, you will have no difficulty finding something in our shop.
We offer fly rods from various manufacturers and with different parameters: Taimen, Sage, Scott, Loop, Hardy, Greys.
What fly rod
Fly rods - AFTMA
AFTM rating refers to the type of fly line that a given fly rod should be used with. The rating itself was created to describe the weight of the lines and specifies the weight of the first ten yards of the line. This parameter is provided for all fly rods. Based on the rating we can group fly rods into the following types: Ultralight fly rods - from AFTM 000 to 2, light - from 3 to 4 AFTM, universal from 5 to 6 AFTM, strong from 7 to 9 AFTM, very strong - above 9 AFTM.
Fly rods - material used
Nowadays, the most popular on the market are fly rods made of graphite. Sometimes you can encounter fly rods that are made of composite combining graphite with another material - such designs are rare, though. You may also come across tonkin fly rods which are made from glued bamboo canes) or fiberglass rods.
Fly rods - action - range - speeds
When it comes to action, fly rods can be divided into a few groups: slow, medium and fast rods, as well as the intermediate speeds. Fly rod manufacturers attain fly rod speeds basically in two ways: on one hand through an appropriate blank taper - i.e. wider handle means a faster rod: on the other hand - through usage of a material with specific elasticity. In general, the more elastic the graphite is, the faster the rod is. Of course, modern high-modulus fly rods may have slower action – such rods are very slim (thin) at the handle. Likewise, low-modulus rods can be relatively fast – the difference, though, lies in the shot dynamics.
When it comes to fly rod action, it is generally assumed that fishermen should choose their rod based on the pace of shots that they prefer.
Fly rods - fishing techniques
Dry fly rods - usually slow action up to medium fast rods with 2-5 AFTM ratings, 7-9 feet long. The standard is a rod with rating 4 and the length of 8’6”.
Nymph and wet fly rods - typically medium to fast action, 4-6 AFTM rating, 8’6”-9’6” long
Short nymph rods - usually medium fast to ultrafast action, 9-10 feet long. For French technique - as long as 11”6” in 2-5 AFTMA rating. The standard is 9’6” rod in rating 4, and for French technique - 11’ in rating 3.
Streamer fly rod - action similar to nymph fly rods whereas the length - from 9’ to 9’6” in ratings 6 to 7 for trout, 8 to 10’ for pike and taimen.
Saltwater fly rods – usually fast action, not longer than 9 feet in 8-16 AFTM rating. The standard – bonefish: 9’ in rating 8 or 9, tarpon: 9’ in rating 10-12, marlin and sailfish: 8’ to 9’ in rating 14-16.
Two-handed salmon fly rods – action usually from medium to fast for lengths of 12’6 to 16’ and AFTM ratings of 8 to 12. There are essentially two standards: one is salmon fly rods in rating 9 and the length of 13 to 14 feet and the other, which is more popular: 15’ for 10-size fly line. It is common practice that if one uses shooting heads, the rod should have fast action.
Fly rods – river size – one usually uses shorter rods when fishing on smaller rivers, whereas on bigger rivers or lakes longer rods are used.
Fly rods – all-purpose
. Universal fly rod is generally considered to be #5 with the length of 9’ for lightweight fishing and #8 with the length of 9’ for heavy fishing.