Kayak fly rod

Happy holidays everybody.

Can anyone suggest a good fly rod for for fishing out of a kayak? Do any of you find that a shorter rod is easier to manage while kayak fishing? Been looking at some 8’ rods like the St. Croix mojo bass fly rod or maybe one of the mojo bass combos from cabelas. Fish mostly for bass but sometimes go for bluegill and perch if it’s slow.

Thanks

I use short fly rods from my Commander kayak, but I’m standing 98% of the time. I think a shorter rod is easier to manage and easier when landing the fish. I haven’t had a rod over 8’ in my kayak in years. I use my kayak mainly for inshore saltwater, but like to fish out of a Jon boat for bass, catfish and sunfish, also using short rods.

I like softer action rods for various reasons for the freshwater scene and sometimes even in the salt. I’ve had a lot of fun with the Cabelas CGR series and they are a deal when they go on sale. The 7/8 is a good rod for bigger deer hair flies and the 5/6 and 4/5 (I don’t think they make it anymore) are good with lighter, more aerodynamic flies. I haven’t tried the St. Croix. My wind rods are a 7/8 and 8/9 G.Loomis Short Stix. The CGR and G. Loomis are the opposites, with the Loomis rods being extra fast.

To me, long rods are good for deep wading and some guys like them when sitting in a kayak to prevent the fly from hitting the water on the backcast. Long rods might be better at distance casting and on the water mending stuff that’s done for cold water trout , but I don’t run into long distance casting out on the lake, marsh or bay or do a bunch of mending for local fish. Short rods swing lighter in general and have a lot of built in accuracy. Less fast rods let you keep the rod loaded longer to let you influence the cast longer. That’s my experience anyhow.

http://www.ginkandgasoline.com/fly-fishing-gear/graphite-vs-fiberglass-with-tim-rajeff-video/

Don’t over look fiberglass. There’s more and more of these showing up including some new shorter ones from Echo. Fiberglass protects tippets well and bends so well. When a big fish suddenly dives under your kayak, you will appreciate glass. It’s hard to break glass rods, too.

Thanks. That’s some good info. I have a diablo so I’m standing when I can.

I would second what karstopo had to say. In my opinion the people who think they need a longer rod to keep the backcast off the water, just need to learn to keep their backcast up. A longer rod makes it more difficult to bring the fish to hand without putting too much stress on the rod. Also as karstopo said the glass rod will flex a lot further without damage and will offer more protection for your tippet. Standing will allow you to use a longer rod more efficiently and safely, but there are times when standing is not a good idea. All of my fishing from a kayak is done while sitting because I am getting old and my balance is not as good as it used to be and my Native Ultimate is not as stable for standing as your Diablo, so I rarely use a rod longer than 7' when in my kayak.

Larry

One thing I’ve noticed about fly fishing for bass, catfish and sunfish on the oxbow by my house is that you don’t need to make long casts. I try to set up maybe 30 or 35 feet from my target which is the shoreline. It might be 50 feet or 20 feet, but most of the action is within 15 or maybe 20 feet of the shoreline. I don’t want a fast stiff rod with lots of power. It’s harder to control those and makes threading the line and fly under and between the tree canopy more difficult, that’s my experience. With the softer, slower glass rods, I’m adjusting my cast during the forward stroke while the rod stays in load to get just enough power to put the fly on target, that’s the idea.

And the nice thing with a fly set up is that I don’t have to reel up the line like with conventional gear. Just make a few strips in the target zone and cast and repeat. The wind is seldom an issue like in an open bay or marsh. When I’m on casting wise, I can generally get the fly with the same sort of accuracy I had using baitcasting gear.

I don’t think a rod has to be glass, but a lot of modern graphite rods are very fast and stiffer in their action. I saw where the US fly rod accuracy casting champ Chris Korich often uses old school first generation graphite more medium action rods in accuracy competitions.

http://www.sexyloops.co.uk/theboard/view...d33c6a1e#p33763

In the link he talks about why he uses the 40 year old first generation rods.

Yes. Shorter fly rod is definitely easier to manage from the kayak. I like using a Bass Pro Shops Dogwood Canyon 7'6" 5wt with soft tip for slinging bead head buggers from the bank or in the kayak. It's a relatively cheap $100 beginner's combo. I just noticed they have a 7' 4wt. I think that would be fun to fish too.