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Background

Possible Solutions

The Test Subjects

Test Results

Summary

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Background

Fly rods have traditionally been much longer than conventional fishing rods. The reason? In general, people can cast farther with less effort using a longer rod. When I was growing up, the norm was an 8 or 8 1/2 foot long fiberglass rod. When graphite came along, the market shifted to 9 feet as the de facto standard for single handed rods. And now, with the growing popularity of two-handed and Spey rods, rod lengths over 10' are not uncommon.

But longer rods are not a perfect solution for all fishing situations. Longer rods are harder to stow in a boat, and are more susceptible to damage by things like car doors and ceiling fans. Improperly designed long rods can also be inefficient fish-fighting tools, due to the potentially longer lever arm (right).

The operative words are "improperly designed". I think it would be the consensus of people who actively fish both conventional and fly gear that a properly designed fly rod can be, for the most part, just as good a fishing-fighting tool as a conventional rod.

However, there is one aspect of offshore fishing in which a long rod is a definite disadvantage: landing the fish! This is especially true if you are fishing solo.

What's the problem? When you get a big, strong, fish close to the boat, the rod will be deeply bent, and under a lot of pressure. Unless you have nearly killed the fish through exhaustion, it will still be actively trying to get away, and any lessening of pressure will give it an opportunity to break you off.

So you wind, pump and wind until the fish is as close as you can get it. With fly gear, the leader may be almost completely inside the rod tip.

But what you find is that even with the fish reeled up to the tip, it's not close enough. The extra length of your fly rod prevents you from being able to reach the fish to land it, unless you "high-stick" the rod (pull it back so far that the rod forms more than a 90 degree angle to the line). This kind of angle is very bad for graphite rods because of the potential for breakage. Oddly enough, older fiberglass rods are much more resilient, and usually survive this type of stress.

If you are fishing with a partner in a small boat, the usual approach is to lead the fish to one end of the boat, then back away towards the other end. This allows you to draw the fish close to the side of the boat, where your partner is hopefully waiting to grab it (see our La Jolla fishing video with Capt. Scott Leon and Nick Curcione).

Sounds good in theory, but in some cases you can't back up far enough, and other times something bad happens when you move around (again, see the video).

Conventional tackle fishermen can have similar problems. Trolling outfits for larger boats often have heavy (130 - 400lb test) mono leaders that are 15 - 20 feet long, and connected to the main line with a swivel. Using this type of rig, the fish can not be reeled closer than the length of the leader. However, since the leader is extremely strong, the mate usually just grabs the leader, and hand-lines the fish in. (Editor's Note: Like most generalities, this last statement is a gross oversimplification of real life. Safely leadering a big offshore fish requires more than a little bit of skill. Even experienced mates get injured or have accidents. This step should not be taken lightly!)

Even with heavier leaders, many conventional tackle fishermen, especially those with smaller boats, have switched over to wind-on leaders (where the shock leader is spliced into the line without a swivel), much shorter leaders, or no leader at all. These kinds of rigs allow conventional tackle fishermen to wind a fish almost up to the rod tip, if needed. Since conventional rods are short compared to fly rods, reaching the fish is easier.