General Fly Rod question

[TonyMuljat]

Getting back into fly fishing and had built rods in a previous life. I had been taught that rods of 2 pieces (for a standard size) were preferable to 3 or 4 piece rods. Having to do with the action, etc.... It seems like a majority of rods I see nowadays are 4 pieces. I used to think of those as convenient for backpacking or travel. Is there another reason for the seeming abundance of 4 piece rods versus 2 piece?

[JAWallace]

Yes, Mr. Muljat, there is a reason :D. Multi piece fly rods are built much better than multi piece spinning rods and the action is the same as a one or two pice, and we use them for travel because they fit in overhead bins. Like, oh, if you want to fly down to Mammoth or somewhere with your brother and some of his friends.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

A very small percentage of fly fishers prefer 2 piece rods now.

I think that over 90% are buying 4 piece rods lately.

The fact is that not many 2 piece rods are made anymore.

I guess that people like the convienence of the shorter 4 piece fly rods.

Also with the new composites they can build a very good casting rod that is very light now in 4 pieces.


20 to 30 years ago we had mostly 2 piece rods and then we had some 3, 4 and 5 piece rods for back packing only because they sucked.

.

[Darian]

Aside from those reasons already mentioned, I have a slightly different take on why there're so many 4 piece rods out now.

IMO, the motivation for moving to the current designs is that the travel industry infiltrated the fly fishing industry. Nearly every fly shop has a travel agent/staff for local and worldwide destinations. The travel industry wanted to make taking rods along without a lot of hassles. This requires shorter rod sections to fit in travel bags/overhead compartments. At first, these 4 section rods had ferrules that were made of metal and gradually migrated thru several iterations of ferrule designs and materials, improving to the present designs. This ferrule design impacted the rod action in a negative way. Newer ferrule designs are more flexible. With minor differences for each mfr's model, all blanks are made from the same materials and on the same mandrels using the same processes.

Altho one/two piece rods would not fit in overhead compartments or almost any travel bags, they're still a very good choice for casting/fishing. A one piece rod is best but with an even larger problem for travel. Evidence of this is that every year on trips to Baja, I see conventional gear guys taking one piece rods along in "bazooka" (extendable) tubes that're checked into the baggage sections on aircraft. They have the choice of buying multiple section rods but choose to pay the extra baggage fees to use their choice of rods.

Over the years, I've built/bought and used one, two, three and four piece rods for different fisheries and find for myself the only real reason for owning multiple sectioned rods is convenience. :cool:

[JAWallace]

I love the cheap TFO Lefty Kreh IM6 Signature series rods, and those are 2 piece. I thought the Professional series was a soul-less thing with no fishability. I use my 6 wt. Signature when a fast 6 is too much for the fish and a 4 is a little light. Great old school feeling mid-flex rod that casts bass bugs well. That and the BVKs are great deals and fun to fish. I sold an older lower end Sage to buy the 8 wt. BVK and like it a LOT better.