4/5 weight rod for coarse fish ?

[Jeremy]

Hi all,

I did a fair bit of searching, but couldn't find the answer I was loking for ..

A while back, I rediscovered fishing and went nuts buying stuff and ended up with a Masterline 7/8 weight outfit with a view to flinging flies at small bass and pollack as well as reservoir trout.

This year I'm determined to actually wet a line or two, but the fishing I have easy access to is the river Avon - which is within cycling distance so I thought it would make sense to practice on coarse fish in between casting lessons ...

Am I correct in thinking that a dainty 4 weight rod and (weight - forward ?) line would make more sense than clumsily sploshing about with my 8 weight - albeit with a generous leader ?

And if so, is there a low cost rod folks could recommend ?

thanks...

 

[Shrek]

Yes, a #4 line would make much more sense.

As for a low cost rod, if you have a look on eBay (that is if you do "shop" there) then anything by Greys would be good, you might well pick up a cheap GRX rod as they are "so last season, darling" but a perfectly good rod.

These are good rods:

Greys G-Series

Dependant on your budget, you might get a good rod and reel deal with some places.

 

[Jeremy]

Thanks, they certainly look the business .. maybe a little more than I want to spend right now, so I'm looking at the Masterline XL #4/#5 7 foot rod...

What difference would an extra foot make in practice - they do an 8 foot version ... since access is limited, lots of trees and stuff .. would a shorter rod make presentation easier or harder ?

Another silly question, is there any reason why I shouldn't use a #4 line on a "wide arbor" reel intended for 7 / 8 weight ?
(rather than buying yet another reel ?)

One thing I notice is that the lighter lines are more expensive ...

 

[Shrek]

Shorter rods are much easier to cast with when there are lots of trees and bushes around.

Personally I wouldn't use a #7/8 reel with a #4 rod as it would upset the balance of the outfit. There may only be a couple of ounces difference in weight between them, but when you're putting them on a rod that only weighs 3 ounces if makes a lot of difference. I don't think a river reel needs to be all that fancy and treat it more as a line reservoir than anything else. To this end, I never spend more than ?10 on them as they don't need to be fancy.

As for lines, I've sent you an email on that.

 

[Jeremy]

Thanks mate.

Excellent advice all round