Noodle blank for wet fly rod

[Vlad]

I wonder if anyone attemped to build a wet fly rod on a noodle blank... Noodle rods are used for steelhead fishing with super light lines (like 1-4lb or 2-6lb). I handled some noodle blanks in the past, but never built a rod using a noodle blank. They are very soft in action, and would handle fly lines in 2/3/4wt range. Cabelas sells a decent noodle blank for $50 (bottom of the list):

http://www.cabelas.com/link-12/product/ ... 105a.shtml

This 11'6" blank could make a very nice ultralight switch rod for dedicated wet-fly fisherman. Trout streams I frequent are just too small for such a long rod, but it looks very tempting.

[letumgo]

I've built a fly rod for steelhead based on a noodle rod blank. The rod design was based on an article I read by John Nagy. My rod was built on a 10 foot St. Croix noodle rod blank (I think a Generation III blank). I think I put a 5 or 6 wt line on this rod. The casting action is VERY slow, sort of like a slow lob-cast. I didn't like casting flies with a noodle-rod because casting it just felt "mushy". I stopped using it after a single season.

On the plus side, the 10 ft length made high-stick nymphing relatively easy with this rod. The light action of the rod helped absorb the shock of a quick run from a steelhead after a hook-up. I could easily fish a light tippet (6 lb test) tippet without fear of breaking off a steelhead during its fight.

I haven't tried fishing soft hackle flies on that rod. Maybe a weight fly line (3 wt) would improve it's casting performance?

[John Dunn]

Hi Viad
My very best friend(just passed away) used a noodle rod blank for years. He was a all around fishing guy that loved soft hackles, He was a very good fly fishermen.

John Dunn

[Vlad]

Thanks for all replies.

Mike, I have seen those Harrison blanks on the web. On this side of the pond, there are some other options for 10' or longer and faster rods/blanks.

[Vlad]

I have no problem using long rods on small streams, although I usually use a twelve footer ( actually it's twelve feet four inches, because that's how the blank turned out). This requires a little practice to use, especially in confined spaces, but it works fine.

I don't doubt that. You can certainly use 13' rod on 10' wide creek... I used light 7' fly rod in the ocean-everything can work, but sometimes just to a point. My question is: how much fun are such long and fast tapered rods on average small stream 12" trout?