On a trip to Bennett Spring awhile back, I did something that I had never done before. You see, I find myself getting more "set in my ways" and "less willing to change" as I get older so I have been forcing myself to try new things. This is an effort to evolve and improve my fishing skills and just become a more well rounded angler rather than just rely on the mantra of "it has always worked in the past". This desire to explore new things and keep things interesting in my fly fishing is what pushed me to use an 8 foot, 4 weight rod for trout.
Now I have no doubt that there are at least a few folks reading this that are laughing right now because that might be their favorite set-up at a Missouri trout park. I haven't discovered how to turn coal into diamonds or found a cure for world hunger here. However, to understand a little about the evolution that I mentioned later, it is important to understand where I am coming from first.
For years, I used to trout fish with a 6 weight. I know, this is overkill but in my younger days I wanted a rod that would cast further and had a faster action (probably because I stunk at casting). I only used 9 footers too. I also subscribed to the idea that overkill was greatly underrated. That was until a couple of years ago.
I finally decided that I needed to become a "real" fly fisherman and bought myself a 5 weight. I wanted to feel more connected to the fish during a fight and to acquire more "touch" with my casting. After about a year and a half of LOVING a 5 weight, I thought to myself, "if a 5 weight is more fun than a 6, then what in the world would a 4 weight feel like?" You may recall a post a while back about a rod that Redington donated to the middle school fly fishing club that I sponsor. Well it just so happened that this particular rod was not checked out by a student on the weekend that I went fishing so I decided to hit the water with it. On top of being a 5 weight, it was also 8 feet long. It was a "Classic Trout" model as well if you are curious and with a name like that, I was pretty excited to hook a few fish. I wanted to see what casting a 4 weight felt like and what fighting a stocker rainbow felt like.
This was the first weekend that Bennett flooded last year. Nuts! Nuts as in darn it!
On that particular weekend, my buddy Busch and I were struggling to find and catch fish with the water up and moving fast until one evening and the next morning when conditions started to improve. When we did finally find where they were and what they wanted, that was also the moment that I fell in love with a 4 weight, and specifically the Redington Classic Trout.
Now keep in mind, that this rod was like my first real girlfriend. I will never forget it and for a long time, all others will be compared to this particular make and model. Wow! Did that get weird or is it just me. Anywho, this was my first 4 weight experience and it was amazing. The casting seemed almost effortless and I was shocked at how far I could cast. I was expecting a significant drop off in my casting distance as compared to a 6 weight. However, it donned on me later that I was comparing a cheaper and lesser 6 weight to a finely tuned and crafted 4 weight. I was expecting to feel like the difference between a moped and a Harley, but it wasn't that at all. I was still getting good distance but without wearing myself out.
When I finally did hook into a fish (which took awhile because I was having so much fun casting), I finally felt the BIG difference and it was exactly what I was looking for. First of all, the rod bent DEEP into the rod and I could almost feel it into the cork. Now while the water was up and the was some pretty good current, we are still talking about stocker rainbows here. Along the same lines as the bend, i could feel every head shake, twist, and turn. When I hooked into a 14 inch brown, it didn't take long to identify it because of the sensitivity of the rod.
While fighting the fish was fun and my casting distance didn't fall off too much, I was surprised at how fast the rod still seemed to load. I had a lightweight (and cheap) fiberglass rod a while back and it seemed to have less sensitivity AND a slower action. This Redington however, loaded quickly and gave me the sensitivity I was hoping for. I guess it just goes to show that you get what you pay for sometimes.
I gotta say, that it was hard on Monday morning to put that Classic Trout rod back in the rod rack that houses all of my clubs rods, but I am so happy that my students have a quality fly rod at their disposal. This rod is a fine piece of craftsmanship that my students will be able to enjoy for years to come and it wouldn't have been possible without the kindness and generosity of the good people at Redington. I just might have to return the favor by going and picking one up for myself!
