Help me build a rok solid fly set up.

[thinhorn_AK]

The new Ross reels aren’t great, I had a few and got rid of them. Loose spool/frame fit, plastic internal parts. Not great for a 400 dollar reel.

These guys are right that for most trout fishing, the reel just holds your line so with that in mind, you don’t need to spend a lot and if you do, don’t get a Ross. I also would never use a lamson unless it was one other higher end salt water reels like a m8, they are low quality, cast metal spools and frames, I’ve seen many of them fail.

What you DO get with a more expensive reel is made in the USA quality and something that’s machined rather than made of cast metal. The cast metal reels can break if you drop them, it happened to me with a redington behemoth.

The best trout reel out there is probably a Galvan rush light, maybe a torque if you think you’ll want to step up to bigger fish at some point.

I’d also skip the 5wt rods all together and get a 6wt, far more versatile, better for throwing streamers, Maybe even a 9’6” version.

TFO makes a fairly good rod but they are delicate and break. They don’t do warranty stuff but they will sell you another rod section fairly cheap which is a better “warranty” plan than most companies have, if you break a tip, they just sell you one and ship it out. Other companies make you send your rod in, pay a fee and wait quite a long time. Echo is also a decent option for an affordable rod.

Just get a good line like an SA infinity or a Rio grand/gold, watch some videos about knots and leaders, those tapered leaders you can buy are a ripoff when you can buy a bunch of leader and tippet material and tie better ones in 2-3 minutes.

Then just practice a lot and focus on your back cast, most people don’t really load their rods right and their cast sucks.

If you are set on TFO rods, the LK legacy is the best one in their lineup. The redington vice could be had for ~250.00 which is a good price for that rod. The echo ion xl is about 300.00 whip is also a solid option.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

The new Ross reels aren’t great, I had a few and got rid of them. Loose spool/frame fit, plastic internal parts. Not great for a 400 dollar reel.

That's a shame because the older ones were so great. Not sure what their last good reels were before they were bought by 3m, maybe the evolution?

 

[thinhorn_AK]

That's a shame because the older ones were so great. Not sure what their last good reels were before they were bought by 3m, maybe the evolution?

It’s absolutely a shame. I grew up with Ross reels and back then they were THE reel to have we had cimmerons and gunnison on our sage rods. I’m not sure when they started going downhill but I can say I bought an animas 5/6wt in 2020 which had a lot of slop and wobble in it, I sent it back and it came back better but not the way it should be. Then about a year ago, I got another animas 7/8 and it was the same thing. I used it for a bit and the wobble on the spool was so bad that it would lock up against the frame. I sent it back, it got fixed and I sold it for about half what I paid for it.

Most recently though I was chasing winter steelheads and we had a particularly good day, I think at the place I was fishing out of, about 20 fish were caught between 5 people. One guy though was using a Ross animas and those fish smoked his drag, he couldn’t get any tension, it was just ruined. It wasn’t a huge deal because there were other rod/reels but it still sucks.

I like to buy stuff made in the USA and don’t really like cheap gear so I really honestly think the best trout reel available right now is the Galvan rush light, I know I was saying I wouldn’t buy a lamson (and I really wouldn’t) but I think in the 4-500 dollar range they have some made in the USA models which might be good. That said though, there really isn’t anything out there to compete with the Galvan rush light for the price, quality, warranty and spending $$$ on a family owned/operated USA business.

Past that I guess the Abel vaya is good but it’s strange, it’s a click and pall reel that has a drag, I have one but I havnt used it enough to say if I like it or not. I do love my Abel rove but that’s like 800 dollars and way more than you need for trout fishing (great for big fiery steelhead though).

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Danielssen makes a solid option but you have to order from Sweden, not a big deal though, I got one last year and I think it’s a solid choice, I believe it was just under 300.00.

Danielssen dosent really advertise and they sell direct so the cost is lower, it’s an awesome bang for the buck option, I got an f3w 4-7 and it balances great on my 7wt Scott centric, has all the drag and capacity you’d need for any trout situation, the frame is fully caged too of that matters to you.

I’m not a huge TFO fan but a to LK legacy 6wt 9’6” with a Galvan rush light or a Danielssen and a good line like an airflow power taper 2.0 that will load that rod well would be an excellent choice for under 1000 dollars.

 

[SleepyJones]

Go into a pawn shop and get a rod man. Work on skill instead of being shop-a-holic. Entomology knowledge is the most important thing about fly fishing. IT'S NOT GEAR, don't be a slave to marketing.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

It’s absolutely a shame. I grew up with Ross reels and back then they were THE reel to have we had cimmerons and gunnison on our sage rods. I’m not sure when they started going downhill but I can say I bought an animas 5/6wt in 2020 which had a lot of slop and wobble in it, I sent it back and it came back better but not the way it should be. Then about a year ago, I got another animas 7/8 and it was the same thing. I used it for a bit and the wobble on the spool was so bad that it would lock up against the frame. I sent it back, it got fixed and I sold it for about half what I paid for it.

Most recently though I was chasing winter steelheads and we had a particularly good day, I think at the place I was fishing out of, about 20 fish were caught between 5 people. One guy though was using a Ross animas and those fish smoked his drag, he couldn’t get any tension, it was just ruined. It wasn’t a huge deal because there were other rod/reels but it still sucks.

I like to buy stuff made in the USA and don’t really like cheap gear so I really honestly think the best trout reel available right now is the Galvan rush light, I know I was saying I wouldn’t buy a lamson (and I really wouldn’t) but I think in the 4-500 dollar range they have some made in the USA models which might be good. That said though, there really isn’t anything out there to compete with the Galvan rush light for the price, quality, warranty and spending $$$ on a family owned/operated USA business.

Past that I guess the Abel vaya is good but it’s strange, it’s a click and pall reel that has a drag, I have one but I havnt used it enough to say if I like it or not. I do love my Abel rove but that’s like 800 dollars and way more than you need for trout fishing (great for big fiery steelhead though).

That is interesting to hear. A reel that costs that much shouldn't be getting smoked by a steelhead run. I had one of the first Animas reels that I bought back in 2017 but I sold it because it wasn't better than my 2nd gen Cimarron 2 which I'll probably still be fishing with until I die.

 

[Austink47]

My two cents a 6cm tikka in a Rokstok is not a 9ft 5wt with a cheap reel, that is a 30-06 ruger American. The 6cm tikka for me is a 10ft 3 wt. echo shadow with a Lamson reel.

That is my 95% fly rod. I can euro nymph, dry fly, indicator, and even throw small streamers with it. A bit unorthodox, arguably undersized, super versatile, people don’t quite get it, it is a lot of fun and you can’t argue with the results. Kinda like a 6cm.

 

[Rich M]

Dad made us a couple 5 wt gly rods back in early. 80s. Still use those.

Fishing back east. Size 12 hares ear, 12 hornberg variation, black and brown maribou in 8. Bivisible is my fav dry.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Dad made us a couple 5 wt gly rods back in early. 80s. Still use those.

Fishing back east. Size 12 hares ear, 12 hornberg variation, black and brown maribou in 8. Bivisible is my fav dry.

I grew up on 5wt rods too but these days with the gravitation towards heavier, more weight forward lines, larger articulated streamers I’d skip the 5wt all together and get a 6wt.

Unless you only ever want to fish dry flies but that’s not super cool.

 

[dgfavor]

Unless you only ever want to fish dry flies but that’s not super cool.

It's hard to explain how super cool I feel at the take-out at the end of the day when I smugly tell any random person that will listen to me that "I got skunked...but, ya' know, I only fished dries". It's like passing on a 360 bull because he's too close to the road. Goosebumps right now. Gonna go tie up a dozen Purple Chubs to calm down.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

It's hard to explain how super cool I feel at the take-out at the end of the day when I smugly tell any random person that will listen to me that "I got skunked...but, ya' know, I only fished dries". It's like passing on a 360 bull because he's too close to the road. Goosebumps right now. Gonna go tie up a dozen Purple Chubs to calm down.

Growing up all I ever did was dry flies, on 5wt rods. When I first moved to AK I got to go on a guided trip for free through work. I thought I knew all about fly fishing until the guide handed me a 10’ 7wt rod with a giant streamer on it.

I’d never fished in water that deep, that cold or that fast, I landed 3 big rainbow trout, the smallest one was 26”.

That was like 15+ years ago, I never picked up a dry fly or a fly rod under 6wt ever again, and I’ve never looked back.

 

[Ferrulewax]

I grew up on 5wt rods too but these days with the gravitation towards heavier, more weight forward lines, larger articulated streamers I’d skip the 5wt all together and get a 6wt.

Unless you only ever want to fish dry flies but that’s not super cool.

I would agree on a gravitation towards heavier lines, but I think this further supports the utility of the 5wt as the de-facto go to rod in the west. A modern 5wt is built to handle line weights from a "true to size" line, all the way up to something like a rio grand or even an SA Titan taper which is effectively a 7wt line. Modern 5s are more like 6wts were 10-20 years ago. Here in the east, a 6wt was a "big fish rod" with 5wts being the "normal rod" for trout fishing. Now a days a 5wt is a big water rod, with a 4wt being more general purpose for our smaller fish and fisheries.

Nowadays 6wts are now almost exclusively sold with full wells grips and fighting butts instead of the traditional reverse half wells, which I think is telling of how the 6wt's use case has changed in the last 20 years. 6wts are mostly marketed as streamer, warmwater, and even light waltwater rods these days- rather than as a do it all trout rod.

I don't think that a beginner should already be worrying about articulated streamers, and I would be suggesting a 7 or 8wt for them anyway.

I think that living in AK would certainly steer one towards a 6wt, but in the lower 48 I don't think that constitutes a general purpose rod anymore.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I would agree on a gravitation towards heavier lines, but I think this further supports the utility of the 5wt as the de-facto go to rod in the west. A modern 5wt is built to handle line weights from a "true to size" line, all the way up to something like a rio grand or even an SA Titan taper which is effectively a 7wt line. Modern 5s are more like 6wts were 10-20 years ago. Here in the east, a 6wt was a "big fish rod" with 5wts being the "normal rod" for trout fishing. Now a days a 5wt is a big water rod, with a 4wt being more general purpose for our smaller fish and fisheries.

I don't think that a beginner should already be worrying about articulated streamers, and I would be suggesting a 7 or 8wt for them anyway.

I think that living in AK would certainly steer one towards a 6wt, but in the lower 48 I don't think that constitutes a general purpose rod anymore.

Yeah I thought about it a bit more after wrote that, I’m also thinking from an Alaska perspective where the only use for a 5 is for grayling. I do like big dirty streamers enough though that if I’d was helping somebody get started I’d start them there. Heck I do t think I even have any floating lines anymore other than the ones for my saltwater rigs.

Right now my streamer rods are a 7wt and an 8wt, the 8 is also a 9’8” rod that I use for steelhead.

 

[Ferrulewax]

Yeah I thought about it a bit more after wrote that, I’m also thinking from an Alaska perspective where the only use for a 5 is for grayling. I do like big dirty streamers enough though that if I’d was helping somebody get started I’d start them there. Heck I do t think I even have any floating lines anymore other than the ones for my saltwater rigs.

Right now my streamer rods are a 7wt and an 8wt, the 8 is also a 9’8” rod that I use for steelhead.

The average lower 48 trout is likely smaller than your grayling.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

The average lower 48 trout is likely smaller than your grayling.

For sure, remember when catching a 14” fish was time to bust out the camera, now I’d be sort of annoyed if I had to stop fishing to get it off the hook.

 

[2ski]

Get expensive line. The rest can be cheaper.

Not mentioned yet but I like a sling pack. Fish pond. Patagonia. A couple brands make them.

 

[Rusty Shackelford]

My two cents a 6cm tikka in a Rokstok is not a 9ft 5wt with a cheap reel, that is a 30-06 ruger American. The 6cm tikka for me is a 10ft 3 wt. echo shadow with a Lamson reel.

That is my 95% fly rod. I can euro nymph, dry fly, indicator, and even throw small streamers with it. A bit unorthodox, arguably undersized, super versatile, people don’t quite get it, it is a lot of fun and you can’t argue with the results. Kinda like a 6cm.

I fish with this exact same combo. I haven’t touched a 5wt in years. 99% of time time I’m using my 3wt and when I get a wild hair I’ll use a 9’6” 6wt Echo Trout to throw some real meat.

 

[el_jefe_pescado]

You would be very pleased with a Lamson Guru S for the money and durability. As others have said, buy a quality fly line (Rio gold or SA amplitude would fine) and learn to clean/maintain it properly.

Then go fishing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sndmn11]

Airflo because it is PVC free

I do find value in a quality reel's drag; the last reel I bought was a Lamson Remix. A person can buy a good frame and then spools as they add different rods if they plan ahead on the biggest size they may need. I've caught too many dozens of 24" trout in 2wt and 3wt rods and 7x to count, and a smooth drag with the right rod angle was the how.

I think 9' rods are dumb. 10'+ gets you more ability to mend, a stronger butt to move fish, and a lighter tip to protect tippet. It will also be easier for stillwater stuff.

A person could do anything trout related with a 10'6" 3wt. My first choice is a 12' 3wt.

 

[svivian]

That's a shame because the older ones were so great. Not sure what their last good reels were before they were bought by 3m, maybe the evolution?

The first batches were good even after the 3m buy out. However management was so bad it ran out the two good engineers they had who had previously been designing the reels. Then they went the route of keeping old reel designs and cheaping out on some of the internals.

If you look they really haven’t put out anything that new in the last 5+ years