Review on Equipment Part 2: Rods

For the second part of my equipment review series, it only makes sense to review rods second (especially if you happened to go buy a new reel after my last review and now need a rod for it...doubtful). The purpose of these reviews are not only to help people on the fence decide which products to consider but also to help everyone stretch their dollar the furthest. So without further adieu...


I'll start with my smallest rod...my 5 weight. Its a 8'6" 3-piece White River Hobbs Creek. I bought it as my second rod, one that again, didn't cost much but was slightly above the baseline, beginners rod, the Dogwood Canyon. Its a great rod and has served me great for the past 4 years. I love it but may soon replace it with one of the new 2011 G. Loomis or St. Croix rods. It has great action, sturdy build and makes for a great fight with trout and panfish alike. Heres the info from the website: "Hobbs Creek fly rods strike a fine balance between attractive, high quality components, and a pleasing price. Designed around our own easy casting IM-6 blank, these rods feature a components package normally found on much higher priced rods. Walnut reel seat inserts, aluminum alloy fittings, oversized stainless steel snake guides, and a high grade cork grip are standard. Rods measuring 8' and over are equipped with dual stripping guides. 4 through 6 weight rods feature a Western-style reversed half wells grip." Its a great rod and I'd recommend it to anyone looking to start out or for a great priced rod starting at around $90. 

My second rod is my 8'6" 6 weight, 3-peice Pflueger PFY. It was my beginner rod and honestly, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It has terrible action and is made of cheap material. I used it for about 2 weeks before I got my WR 5 wt. Enough said. 


My third rod which has recently moved into the spot of "favorite rod" is my 9' 4-piece St. Croix Legend Elite Ultra 8 weight, awesome rod, amazing action, great strength, beautiful build, all built by a great company. I use this rod for steelhead, salmon, and Bay fish. Heres the info from the website: "It’s not enough to have a silky smooth backcast, you must be equally adept at turning a phrase as well. As astute at recognizing a touchy situation as you are at identifying a hatch. Master that and you can successfully navigate through fly fishing’s trickiest moments thus finding yourself enjoying considerable time with a Legend Ultra® fly rod. Its award-winning design of high-modulus SC^IVgraphite featuring our exclusive ART™ and IPC® technology, combined with slim-profile ferrules and top-grade components, make it the perfect tool for mastering advanced angling arts. And no doubt, sometimes you’re going to need a little art." And here are the specs:

• Integrated Poly Curve® (IPC®) tooling technology.
• Advanced Reinforcing Technology™ (ART™).
• High-modulus/high-strain SC^IV graphite.
• Slim-profile ferrules.
• Fuji® Alconite® stripper guides with chrome frames.
• Hard chrome, single-foot fly guides on 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 wt. models.
• Hard chrome snake guides on 6SW, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 wt. models.
• REC® nickel-silver reel seat with a stabilized bird's-eye maple insert on freshwater models.
• REC® hard-anodized, aluminum reel seat on heavier-line models.
• Super-grade cork handle.
• Two coats of Flex Coat slow-cure finish.
• Rugged rod case with handle and divided polypropylene liner.
• Lifetime limited warranty backed by
  St. Croix Superstar Service.

My final rod is my Custom-built 9' 12 weight, 4-piece Indigo rod built by long-time Chesapeake Bay fly-fisherman Neil Drumheller. I actually haven't been able to bring any fish in on this rod YET so I'll send you to the website for a review on this one...BOOM

Hope this helps a bit, if you have any questions or suggestions for my search for a new rod...they are certainly welcome!

Tight Lines...Morgan

Whats in Your Box...

I have about five different fly boxes. Each one has it's own selection of flies based on what type of fishing they are made for. I tend to be a pretty organized person so I guess thats why I do this. All of my fly boxes are the simple Bass Pro White River Fly Shop fly boxes. I have three large (8" x 4.5") ones and two medium (5.75" x 4") foam floating ones. Your selection of fly box is entirely personal preference, I chose these because they are cheap (me being frugal), good quality, and get the job done. The floating ones were my first two because I had no idea how many flies a fly fisherman really has and because I have a tendency to drop things in the water. So, heres the breakdown of my fly boxes...

Box 1- Med. Floating Fly Box
This fly box contains all of my terrestrials and egg/spawn patterns. I've got them organized first by classification (terrestrial or spawn), then by type (ant, beetle, cricket), then by pattern (brown ant, black ant, high vis ant), and then by size. I keep a lot of San Juan Worms in all different colors and sizes as well as foam beetles and ants due to the fact that trout in the Breeches tend to go coo coo for terrestrials in the Fall. I also have a few Cicada patterns for the upcoming seven year cicada hatch on the east coast.

Box 2- Med. Floating Fly Box
This box contains all of my streamers and Wooly Buggers. I have this box organized the same way as the first box (all of my boxes are organized this way if you haven't caught on yet). I have a lot of patterns I do use and a lot I don't use in this box so I tend to put the Buggers on the other side of the box away from the streamers so I can grab a few and throw them into one of my other boxes if I intend to use them that day, saves space. I have a few salmon/steelhead patterns I make every once in awhile and unfortunately haven't had an opportunity to use yet. I also have a lot of Clouser Minnows in this box too.

While at Messiah, I attended a good amount of classes ranging from fly tying to casting technique at the Harrisburg Bass Pro. Bobby Clouser Jr. is the head of the White River Fly Shop up there and taught a lot of those classes. As many of you know, his father, Bobby Clouser Sr. is not only in the Fly Fishing Hall of Fame but has created some of the best fly patterns known today including the Clouser Minnow, Clouser Crayfish, Clouser Swimming Nymph, etc. The man is "the best" smallmouth bass fly fisherman alive and the apple didn't fall far from the tree. This man is a walking book of knowledge about fly fishing in its entirety. It was a great privilege to learn from him and if your ever fishing a stream up near H-Burg and see a 5'10", 250 lb man with a powerful mustache talking in true Lancaster tongue, you know you've spotted him. Anyway...

Box 3- Large
This box contains all of my dry flies, every size, color, and variation...enough said. Just know, there are a lot of flies...Adams size 12 to Zebra Midge size 24.

Box 4- Large
This box contains all of my nymphs, wet flies, and a few experimental flies I've tied that I intend to try out next time I'm on the stream. I'm not much of a nymph guy unless I have been throwing perfectly tied replicas of whatever is hatching and fish simply aren't rising to it and I feel as if they are feeding on whats under the surface. So, I don't carry many nymphs but I do LOVE soft hackles, especially in the Spring at Allenberry, the trout tear them up. The Olive or Mustard Yellow size 18 seem to be favorites.

Box 5- Large
This box contains about 70% of my saltwater flies. I primarily have Striper and Bluefish flies such as larger Clouser Minnows and their variations like Half & Halfs and Deep Clouser Minnows as well as Lefty's Deceivers and Snake Flies or Zonkers. I also have some Shrimp, Crabs, etc. for other saltwater species.

When I finally get my desk here and am able to unpack my bags of tying materials, I plan on making and putting up some tying videos as well as fix up my collection where its hurting. If you tie yourself and would like those videos let me know, I'd love to hear from my audience, if I have one, and get some suggestions (even for future posts and such). That's it for now...hope this helps you at least organize a bit.

Tight Lines...Morgan

First Post

The first post is always awkward because it's tough to find a good start to a blog...I guess. So I'm just going to wing it and if it's awkward, so be it, I tried.

I'll use this as a continuation of my about me section since I was given a word limit...typical for me due to how much I usually talk in person.

Anyway, to continue what I started, I fished all types of species and tackle all around the East Coast, from the Florida Keys all the way up to Nantucket Island off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass., from Tarpon to Bluefish to Sharks. I loved saltwater fishing. Then I went off to college near Harrisburg, PA where I learned about freshwater trout fishing, a sport that had me “hooked”. I had freshwater fished before as o most people for largemouth bass and panfish but the concept of stream and creek fishing was totally new to me. Soon after putting my first Rooster Tail on my brand new Bill Dance Edition Quantum rod and not to long after catching my first few trout, I learned about fly fishing. Type of fishing I’d heard about but had never really seen. On my next trip to Bass Pro, I entered into a drawing and won a beginners fly rod, a Pfleuger 5/6 wt. rod with a few flies. After finally getting the casting technique down and hooking up with a few fish, I decided I had to further my knowledge in the sport and read more about it. I purchased the Orvis book on fly fishing and started to watch Youtube videos about the sport. Soon thereafter, I bought a 5 wt White River Hobbs Creek rod and G. Loomis Venture 5 reel along with a fly box, some Rio line, a leader, some flies, and a chest pack. Next thing you know, I am (after spending more money) tying my own flies, have caught hundreds of fish, and have added two more outfits to my collection of over 10 fishing rods (which include fly, spinning, trolling, etc). Currently, I am taking on the beast of saltwater fly fishing. I'm slowly learning how much more amazing fly fishing is through realizing how diverse it is within itself as a subcategory of the overall sport of fishing. Being on the water is paradise to me and fly fishing has made it that much better. This is my blog of stories, knowledge, and the pursuit of adventures and memories to talk about until the day I die.

Tight Lines...Morgan