Kris Kent takes us through some of his rod collection and tells us why he now prefers the slow action of a fly rod in his hands these days
When I came back to angling and took up fly fishing fibreglass rods were so yesterday and cane rods were for old farts and fuddy duddies. When I asked people what rod to buy they all said a fast actioned carbon fibre 9’ 5 weight. Which is what I did. In those early days I bank fished the big reservoirs of North Yorkshire, Fewston and Swinsty, and broad open beats on the Wharfe. Those early rods put out a longish line well enough but something didn’t feel right. I put it down to the fact the rods were cheap so I invested in better rods, some a bit longer, some a bit shorter, but all were relatively fast rods that were fashionable at the time. I enjoyed my fishing and did well enough but I still wasn’t happy with my rods. ventually I took the plunge and bought a Sage. It was an XP, 10’ 5 weight. I loved it. At every opportunity I would slip it from its reassuringly solid aluminium tube, extract it from its green fabric sock and string it up. It delivered a long line effortlessly. I took it everywhere with me. In New Mexico I fished the San Juan with it for big powerful rainbows and it delivered day in day out. The American guides also loved it. One made me a very generous offer for it but I resisted.
Bitten by the Sage bug, over the last eight years I have amassed a large collection of Sage rods, and reels. Including more XPs and the XPs replacement the Z-Axis. But over the last eight years my fishing has changed. Having lived in Yorkshire and Scotland for a number of years I moved back to West Berkshire, where I was born and raised. I joined Cotswold Fly Fishers and started fishing on the Windrush and the Coln. My existing rods were fine on these quite open rivers. But I also started to fish on the Leach. This is a much smaller stream with heavy cover and limited room for back casts.
I also got invites to fish on the upper Meon, the Loddon and the Lyde. These too are small, intimate streams where my arsenal of long fast action Sage rods were unsuitable. So I started to buy much shorter rods and lighter line ratings. I started with a Hardy Marksman 6’ 2 weight. It was a great rod but not, for me, in the Sage league. So I bought the more medium action ZXLs and some TXLs. I bought some second hand SLTs and even a few of the old LLs, Light Line series. I ended up with line ratings from 000 to 4 weights. Each rod was different but what I liked about all of them was that they had a much softer, slower action. This made for a much more relaxing fishing experience. It meant that I didn’t have to energise the rod with big back casts. I could flick line out with a simple roll cast effortlessly. On tiny streams I hardly cast at all in the traditional sense of the word. The lighter lines cut through and wind and landed more lightly on the water spooking fewer wily wild trout.
And it seemed to me that I wasn’t the only person who seemed to be interested in these slower rods. Several manufacturers were launching more traditional actioned rods, such as Hardy’s Classic Lightweight series. I was up in Bakewell a few years back and popped in to The Bakewell Fly Fishing Shop to have a cup of coffee with the legendary Peter Arfield. Whilst chewing the fat I noticed that Peter had a new Hardy Glass rod. These rods combined carbon fibre with fibreglass technologies to produce an even slower softer rod. I snapped up a 5’ 2 weight. t got tested on my next visit to the Meon to fish with Denise Ashton, fundraising supremo at The Wild Trout Trust. I don’t think I’ve laughed so much when fishing, the rod was such great fun. Denise loved it too and went out and bought one for herself, to quote Denise “I fish with a glass-fibre rod (Hardy) for my small stream fishing, because I feel I can actually cast around corners with it!”
On another visit to Peter’s magical shop in Bakewell I noticed he had a cane rod lurking beneath the glass counter. After discovering the joys of the slower softer rod I had been toying with buying a cane rod. As with fibreglass cane seemed to be making a comeback with more and more small artisan rod makers like Luke Bannister popping up at fishing shows as well as the big companies like Hardy starting up production. The rod whetting my appetite in Bakewell was a John French cane rod made by Richard Holman in Leicestershire. t was beautifully made, so once more Peter separated me from my hard earned cash. The rod was a belter and caught me several nice wild brownies on its first outing on the Lyde. But in some ways it was far too nice, I felt I should save it for special occasions.
So I found myself looking around for a rod that had the action of a cane or fibreglass rod but with all the conveniences of a modern carbon fibre rod and which I could use for my everyday fishing. Did this even exist?
My friend Paul is also a Sage nut and a fan of the slower action lighter line rods. He rang me one evening to ask if I’d heard anything about the new Sage Circas. Something about them being right up my street. I looked around on the usual retailer websites but couldn’t find anything about them so I went to Sage’s website and sure enough they had a new series being launched, the Circa. Sage describe the Circa as follows “In pursuit of fast, we reinvented slow. The CIRCA rod with Konnetic technology is a game changer in the slow-action style of dry fly fishing. Its hypnotically smooth slower tempo combined with crisp and precise loading and unloading of each cast results in unmatched accuracy and delicate presentations. The CIRCA is a perfect addition to your rod collection, allowing you to approach a river with stealthy, short-range accuracy.” But then they would say that, wouldn’t they? The various rod reviews on American fly fishing forums were all glowing so I thought I ought to try them out. Unfortunately at that stage no one was selling them in the UK, and weren’t planning to. Something about them being too niche for the UK market. So I called in a few favours and managed to get a couple sent over from the US of A. I went for an 8’9” 3 weight and a 7’9” 2 weight.
The problem with getting rods imported is that it takes time. I’d almost forgotten I’d ordered them when they arrived. One issue with the modern ultra-light rods is balancing them with a suitable reel. Fly reels don’t seem to have reduced in weight keeping pace with the rods. Luckily I’d just picked up a of Sage 3100 Series reel that perfectly balanced the 7’9” and one of my old 3200 reels matched the longer rod. For my small stream fishing I prefer either a Cortland Sylk line, supposed to emulate traditional silk lines, or a Luke Bannister line, the gentle front taper allows for the subtle presentation of dry flies and unweighted nymphs and at £18.50 is great value for money. I had to make do with testing them on the lawn to start with, I was immediately impressed. They shot line effortlessly, I could hit the same spot time after time and there was no rod tip wobble or bounce whatsoever. I did notice that I had to slow the cast down somewhat to get the rod to load and shoot properly. I couldn’t wait to try them for real.
My chance came a few weeks later. Howard Taylor had very kindly arranged a day for me on the Meon at Midlington. This is perfect light line fishing territory. It’s a small stream, closed in lower down and more open higher up. That day the water was low and very clear, it was warm for late September with a bright sun and light breeze.
There were a few upwings hatching off and I managed a few small brownies on dry fly below the bridge. Standing on the bridge eating my lunch I could see there were a good number of larger fish sitting below and under the bridge in the deeper water. I felt sure that some of them must have been sea trout from their size.
I meet a lot of people who think that softer, light line rods are for smaller fish. That they are too delicate for larger specimens. I have never felt this to be the case. Sure if I was targeting big brown trout on big rivers like the Eden I would step up my tackle. But I have caught plenty of good fish on light rods. In fact sometimes I think it is easier on light rods. I rarely have bigger fish run on me because I think they feel less resistance. The softer action also helps cushion takes and surges and prevents tippets from breaking. So long as all the tackle is balanced I feel perfectly confident casting to the lunkers.
Those bigger fish sitting below the bridge on the Meon weren’t rising so I snipped off the dry Dun pattern and tied on a small unweighted pheasant tail, one with a red collar. Second cast the tip of the fly line jagged forward sharply but when I raised the rod tip there was no resistance. Had I snagged some weed or had the fish spat out the fly? With softer rods you do sometimes have to strike a little harder to set the hook properly as the blank doesn’t transmit the energy so quickly down the fly line to the fly. So I made a mental note to be more positive with the next take. I didn’t have long to wait to try this out as on the fourth cast the line stopped and this time when I lifted there was a more positive response as a good fish moved away up stream, heading for cover under the bridge. The Circa hooped over as I applied side strain, the curve of the rod extending right down into the cork handle. The fish dropped back into the deeper water beside me before sulking on the bottom. With the rod held high I eventually brought the fish's head up and led it towards the net. As I got a good look at the fish the adrenalin started pumping. I am not a good judge of size and weight but it looked like a good three pounds of trout to me. Unfortunately as I slipped the net under the fish I must have dislodged the nymph and the fish surged away from me before I could lift the net. fter just one day on the Meon the Circas were firm favourites and have been pressed into service time after time, so far they haven’t disappointed me.
My friend Charles has also bought a Circa. But as he discovered these rods aren’t ‘all-rounders’. They are perfect for what they were designed for, dry fly and light nymphing on small streams. Charles tried fishing New Zealand style, weighted nymph fished under a large buoyant dry fly, with the Circa on his local stretch of the Itchen for Grayling. He struggled. He still loves the Circa and we can’t wait to get them out for the Mayfly on the Loddon but specialist rods are just that. I’ll stick to my Sage ESN 11’ 3 weight for New Zealand style, French leader and Czech nymphing but it will be the Circas for those small streams and spooky trout.
A useful explanation of rod actions can be found on the Orvis website:
http://www.orvis.com/news/fly-fishing/Understanding-Rod-Action/
Biography:
Kris Kent has been fly fishing and trotting for Brown Trout and Grayling for over 20 years in the UK, Europe and Scandinavia. He is PR Officer for the Grayling Society and helps out The Wild Trout Trust with their online communications and events.