think I found my new small stream fly rod.

[DCG]

I used to own a couple of nice Banty Fly Rods...the term Banty is the classification for fly rods around 5 feet or shorter in length. I am a die hard tight quarter brookie fanatic and I fished these two rods (one a 3wt Bamboo 4'4" long, the other a 4'8" 0wt) a lot. I learned a few things the few years I fished them....they work very well in their intended application and very poorly in all other applications. I too could get over 20 foot casts with the 0wt (I used a Sage QDT 000wt line on it and the tiny Dennison reel only held 1/2 of it) and I could get over 30 feet with the Bamboo 3wt (I used 1/2 a DT 4 on the tiny Forbes reel which loaded better with short casts), anyway, the rods really do perform good in tight. I could hold the rod at a 45 deg down angle and make short cast under brush.

Ok, back to reality. The problem was, they do roll cast poorly as Flygoddess said and in many conditions, a roll cast is all you can do. I had to crowd good water to get close to fish then I would end up spooking the hole. I went back to my 6'9" 4wt bamboo or even the 7'6" 2wt carbon rod for all my tight quarter small stream fishing. The rod was not too long to get int tight places with, yet I could back cast better, getting the line up above bushes behind me, or if needed, I could roll cast....then if I happened onto a beaver pond, I was well armed...where a short banty rod, while cool, would just leave you undergunned. so to speak.

But banty rods are cool and you ought to try it...your opinion of them might end up being different.
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