Please recommend a flyrod for small river bass...

Getting back into fly tying and fishing after a lengthy absence I would appreciate some help and a recommendation for which rod to buy.

Considering a 5wt 9’ to 10’ medium-fast rod primarily for nymph fishing 10” to 14” bass in a wadeable small river environment.

I am looking for a light rod to fill a niche in with my current fly fishing gear which consists of a 7wt 8 ½’ medium-fast rod and an 8wt 9’ fast rod that I use for lake fishing largemouth and smallmouth bass. I plan on purchasing a 3wt ultralight outfit for panfish in the very near future.

I understand that these modern rods require extra care due to the extremely stiff materials used in their construction and that they are going to be VERY sensitive to impact damage and scratch damage/failure because of the low resin content of the rod blank.

Been doing a lot of research and I am concerned because it seems that all brands of rods (regardless of price) have many negative reviews due to tip breakage or even catastrophic failure of the rod itself. The only thing that I can think of is that in the attempt to minimize rod weight the manufacturers have gone too far and that people are overstressing the rod in trying to cast farther than it is designed to.

Any comments on rod durability/reliability or is it just necessary to pack a couple of extra rods for back-up?

Thanks in advance!

Vana2

There's lots of good 5wt fly rods out there. They're not as sensitive and breakable as you think. Check out Redington and Temple Fork. Both of those rods have an extremely good warranty system and a wide array of products at a very good price. I've never had a fly rod break on me and I fly fish almost every day

I'm surprised that you worry about rod breakage. The only fly rod that I've had broken was when my wife threw the baby carriage into the trunk on top of it. I fixed it with a wood dowel and epoxy and continued to use it for years.

I presently have 2 inexpensive Berkley rods and have no problems with them and would recommend them.

My experience with reviews is that about 80% of people will leave one if they are upset and about 10% of people will leave one if they are happy.

If you're that worried about breakage, go cheap. Get yourself an Okuma rod.

They run about $100 most places, and they're a decent rod.

Agreed that breakage is rare.

Re: a small river bass rod, go for a 4wt fast action rod. As long as you're not doing the chuck and duck with big bass bugs (which you likely don't need in a river) it will have the guts to fling out small to medium poppers and streamers, nymphs etc and will double for trout. My all time fav smallmouth fly rod is a 8 ft 4wt sage XP. Rocks. Short is nice for getting around in rivers and surprisingly I dont suffer for distance. Many WF lines like the SciAngler Mastery GPX are 1/2 weight large anyway so you are not far off a 5 wt . I have always found a 5 or 6 wt to be excessive for the average smallmouth.

For a panfish rod there are tons of options but the St. Croix avid or imperial 6' 3wt is a riot. Hook a 2 lb smallmouth on that and you'll wet the wrong side of your waders. It also wont leave you feeling overpowered on a bluegill.