By The Numbers - Light Rods Fished

Of the rods I fished in 2023, a 3wt rod in 7'6" length or shorter was on the water, casting to trout, a full 45% of the time as compared to my rods in other line weights. Yes, I shared in an earlier post that a Winston WT 7' 2wt rod was fished more than any of my other fly rods. True. However, in view of only considering line weight as a factor versus a specific rod, my quiver of 3wt rods went to the stream more often than the WT 270 fly rod.

My 2wt rods in 7'6" length or shorter were fished 32% of the time during the year. And, I'm not surprised considering home waters have areas where short rods in light-line weights are a better fit for such trout environments. Combining the time I fished short 2wt and 3wt fly rods, I now realize just how much I rigged those rods up during this year's trout season. A full 77% of the time.

I'm just going to say, a 2 or 3 weight fly rod in 6'6" to 7'6" lengths are a fabulous way to spend a day on a little mountain stream, while fishing for the Leetle Fellers. I'm doing just that 77% of the time and I wonder why today's rod companies don't offer more models for small stream fishing...there is a multitude of us small stream fishers around the globe.

Click on photo for larger view

POST NOTE: Thinking back over this year of fishing, I've decided to plan a few more trips to larger waters in 2024. I have some amazing 4wt and 5wt fly rods that should be used more than what they got this year. I'm thinking specifically of my MBR 9' 4wt, BIIt 8' 6" 4wt, and WT 8'6" 5wt fly rods.