9' or 9'6" 5 wt for float tube trout fishing?

[Brad Juan]

I'm wanting to pick up another rod for my still water fishing. I'm settled on the Sage Pulse 5 wt, just curious if I should go 9' or 9'6". I will use this rod for both sinking lines and throwing indicators. I already have a few other 9' 5 wts. Just curious if the added length will be better out of my float tube.

Thanks!

[marks]

I recently listened to this podcast (https://www.askaboutflyfishing.com/shows/loch-style-fly-fishing/) with Devin Olsen as the guest. Devin is a competitive fly fisher and the podcast was all about lake fishing. He basically said "If you're in a float tube, you should be using a 10' rod" and he gave some reasons, such as an improved ability to keep line in the air and prevent it from hitting the water on your backcast.

Needless to say, I've ordered a 10' 6wt. :)

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

You need a light weight 10' rod so it would not be so hard on your wrist.

Unless you are throwing big, heavy flies you might consider a 10' #5 line?




In the 1970s many of use the Fenwick FF805 ( 8' #5 line) out of our old round "doughnut" float tubes

but we really enjoyed the new graphite rods when they arrived for the longer 9' #5 lines for "belly boating".

[Dave E.]

Here's my take on it after forty some odd years of tubing. I believe that several things that drove the long rod for float tubing mantra, don't exist today.

Back in the day, when float tubing really started to take off, there were no U or V tubes and certainly not any with inflatable seats or backrests. Some of the old round style tubes had the angler so low in the saddle that their shoulder would be blocked by the high semi-circular backrest. In some tubes, the anglers head would barely crest the backrest and gear pocket which limited the range of motion of the cast. Some of those old tubes were designed to have the angler sit in a semi reclined position. Take a rod out to the backyard and see how well you can cast while seated on the ground while doing crunches.

Today's large capacity float tubes coupled with fairly rigid inflatable seats raise anglers much higher than they'd have been in an old low slung web seat designs. With old round low slung tubes with web seats, getting a splash of water down the back of your waders was a pretty common occurnace, your butt rode down in the water and the waterline for many would be the laterial line of their thigh while seated. Some of todays high volumne tubes ride so high, that some anglers never get their knees wet, in fact with my Super Fat Cat & ODC's, I rarely had water above the upper calf.

Body size plays less of a role today with higher riding tubes as it did with the old low riders. It shouldn't come as any great surprise that a seated angler that's 5' 2" didn't have the same expereince in a high backed low rider as an angler who was 6' 3" did.

Your backcasts goes where you send it. If you have a weak stroke, a wide arching backcast lacking a stop, thats what's causing your backcast to slap the water. I've seen guys who can't keep themselves from slapping the water behind them while standing on the bow of a flats boat and several feet above the water while fishing from a ladder on pyarmid lake. Six or twleve more inches of rod isn't going to make up for those poor casting techniques.

Keep in mind that when you're in a float tube you have no ability to beach a fish. You can't physically distance yourself from a fish while trying to land it. Due to the semi-solitary nature of float tube fishing, you're not likely going to get any help landing a truly large fish. At that point a longer rod makes landing a large fish just that much more difficult. Ask serious large fish & saltwater anglers / boaters how they feel about 10 foot rods in their boats. Long handle nets, large fish and long rods can become an unwieldly system, the shorter your wingspan, the sooner you'll hit that wall. High sticking the rod becomes a major concern.

On the other hand, if 14" Rainbow wigglers are your quarry, you could probably get away with a switch rod.

Dave

[Jcolin]

I may be in the minority here but ive found, specifically for stripping streamers/nymphs, a shorter rod is better. I use a spey rod at pyramid lake, but only because i can cast further with less strain. i find the extra length to of a 2 handed rod a hindrance for consistently being able to strip set on a trout in a stillwater setting. I prefer 9’6-10’ rods for high sticking while nymphing. While working in Alaska i used an 8’6 8 weight and found it to be an excellent coho rod. Coho unfortunately very much prefer a stripped fly to a swung one, and the shorter rod, held low to the water, made a much tighter connection where i could feel the grabs, and keeping the rod low, strip set, compared to my 10’ 8 weight. I also prefer an 8’6 for bass fishing