If you had to use one rod only, which one would you do battle with?

[Troutbum from Griswold]

As I have said before, I have a rod for every fishing situation. I love all of my rods. Some get used more than others. There are days that I bring 2 rods with me. One for dry fly fishing which is my Sage SLT 3wt and my Winston WT 10ft 4wt for nymphing. Some days I might start out dry fly fishing and then nymph afterwards or vice versa. Depends on when the bugs are hatching, their activity etc. If I am going to throw a little bit of everthing that day, drys, nymphs, streamers,, I bring one rod only. I bring either my 4, 5, or 6 wt depending on what water I am fishing, size of the water, conditions, etc. If I could only take one rod to fish with day in, day out, all conditions, all size water (except brooks, small streams), I would have to say I would take my Sage SLT 5wt or my G.Loomis Streamdance 6wt. They both are great rods. Both are 9 foot 4 piece rods (All my rods are 4 piece). They both can handle drys, multiple nymph rigs with splits shot and indicator, streamers of any size. They can do it all!!! I am curious, if you had one rod to use, what would it be and why? ???

[Nymphmeister]

At the moment, my all around stick is my Sage XP 9 1/2' #5. It's a great nymph rod, and it will toss streamers no prob, and the extra length softens the tip enough to fish dries and cushion the tippet. I mostly nymph though, so I lean toward a slightly longer rod, often a 10' #5. For Joe average, a 9 footer might be the rod, prob in a #5, or maybe a #6 if it has a more moderate action like a Sage SLT or a Winston BIIx. Strol-Eye loves his 9 1/2' #6 Winston BIIx, even tosses small dries on it sometimes. It works great with streamers, and is beautiful for throwing yarn and double nymph rigs. I cannot wait to get a new Sage Z-Axis, I think they are the nicest series of rods I've ever seen. Another rule of thumb for me when picking the rod of the day is time of year and water level. March & April are really windy on the Housy, so I often nymph with my #6 XP. Higher water also dictates bigger flies and heavier tippets, so again I'll go heavier under those conditions. Conversely when I'm fishing in the Summer on the Farmington, I'll use a 9-10' #4 as my all around stick- wind isn't a problem, and I'm often fishing smaller flies and a little bit lighter tippets(although not as light as most other- rarely below 6x, usually heavier), often fishing in shallow water too. The 4 weight gives me a little more delicate presentation, and I think maybe it's a little easier to get a drag free float (the line is thinner & more supple, so it affects my leader less during the drift).

[Troutbum from Griswold]

NM,
I feel the same way. As I mentioned, depends on what the fishing conditions call for etc. But, if you could only take one rod and only one, what would it be.......

[SherpaB]

SCOTT G905. a very close second would be my Albright EXS 8.5 4wgt.

[SlowNDeep]

I would prefer to take my Sage 9' 6wt SLT, but because I'm afraid it would break again , I'd take my TFO TiCr 9' 6wt. Handles sink tips and heavy Streamers, it's a great nymphin stick, and I'll leave the dry fly fishin to the rest of you girls.

[Troutbum from Griswold]

OOUUCCHH!!! Sounds like someone has dry fly envy

[TightLines]

Opie.....you're right, someone does have dry fly envy.....

I'll weigh in on this question as well. Everyone has very good answers and justifications so far. For my go-to all around battle Rod I use a 9' 5wt Thomas & Thomas LPS. I can throw small streams, turn tandem nymphs and also present 22 dry flies on 7x. Each aspect suffers slightly compared to the perfect rod for each situation, but that's my go-to rig. Of course, pro-staff sponsorship helps with that decision....for the record, it used to be a Winston BIIx 9' 6wt.

[Troutbum from Griswold]

Curious, Why did it used to be a BIIX?

[SlowNDeep]

Tightlines, I live about a mile from T+T. I have that LPS 8'6" 5wt and dont really like it. I do really like their HS rods, I've fished the 9' 5wt and have a 9' 10wt. They are great rods, but for some reason dont get a lot of representaion around here anymore.

PS Dry Fly Envy? you gotta be kidding

[TightLines]

Opie....it used to be a BIIx but I've since been sponsored by T&T. The BIIx is still a fine rod in my opinion but I really like the feel of the T&T better....all subjective but it doesn't hurt when you get them free also.

Predator, expect big things from T&T in the near future. They were purchased by Sharps of Aberdeen and are re-tooling their marketing/advertising and presence completely. They've always made fantastic rods and that isn't going to change but expect a lot more press and advertising in the near future.

They are going after Winston pretty hard and I'll be honest I think they'll win a lot of converts.

Oh, and yes the HS is an awesome stick. I have 12 of their rods and the only one I really don't like is the paradigm series.