For my first few attempts at fly fishing, I borrowed an old rod from my buddy that his dad left him and strapped on a 50's era Pflueger Medalist that I found behind the garage of the house I just bought. Aside from what little I gleaned watching a few YouTube clips and whipping a piece of yarn around in the backyard I had next to no idea what I was doing. Don't get me wrong, I still have next to no idea what I'm doing, but I have learned a little since then.
First off, the borrowed rod was 6'10" fast-action Browning graphite rod. Given the area and what I know of my friend's dad, this rod probably made a lot of sense for him. The relative shortness and fast-action would be perfect for delicate presentations of small flies on small pocket water in the area in and around Oneonta, NY. As a novice, I found it very difficult to control, specifically in that I wasn't able to effectively load the rod, and I felt zero connection with the fly line. As I grow in skill and my feel improves, I actually find this rod fairly easy to use as long as I don't need to cast very far, but that comes as no surprise as it's not what it was designed to do.
As a novice learning to cast on my own, that old Browning was definitely not what I needed. I did a lot of reading on the subject and it seemed to me, most folks recommend starting out on a medium action, 5 or 6 wt rod in the 8'6" to 9' range. I mentioned in my previous post that I love L.L. Bean's Ultimate Book of Fly Fishing. Well, based on that book, largely positive online reviews, and on Bean's ridiculous "no questions asked" lifetime warranty I took advantage of an early spring 20% off fishing sale on LLBean.com and ponied up for my very own Streamlight Ultra outfit.
I opted for the 9' 5-weight outfit as a good starting rod and I went with the 4-piece so it would pack more easily. The aforementioned Browning is a 2-piece and while it's 2 feet shorter, even that is a bit unwieldy when broken down. While not even close to their top-of-the-line model, I continue to be extremely impressed with the quality of this rod. I could go into more detail about "alconite stripping guides" and fancy reel seats, but you can read all the hype on L.L. Bean's site if you're interested. As a novice, all you really need to know is that the rod looks and feels great and that if you screw up and slam it in your trunk or wrap it around a tree, L.L. Bean will send you a new one FOR FREE. OK, I suppose you might want to know how it casts too.
I can honestly say, my casting improved immediately. Suddenly I was able to easily feel the rod flexing and loading on my casts. That difference alone brought me to the next level as it allowed me to more easily flex the rod and control my acceleration when casting. The medium action makes the rod much more forgiving which gives you a fighting chance when trying to form your loops. As the line straightens out, on a back cast for example, the rod's action allows it to flex to a greater degree and more slowly than the old Browning, and that gives you a lot more time to pause and then accelerate into your forward cast. When you're new to casting and the motion isn't second-nature yet, that extra time is really going to pay off and help you train your body on how to do things right.
Again, I'm no experienced fly caster by any means, but with this rod I can easily execute a 45' 4-part cast with solid accuracy and casting a dry fly 60-70 feet is more than doable. As my skills improve, I do notice that the rod seems a bit willowy when faced with a heavier streamer or a lot of aerial line, at that point, it flexes a bit too much, but I suppose that's where your double-haul comes in. And if you regularly need to cast large streamers more than 60 feet, you're going to need a heavier outfit.
If you're new to the sport and looking for a quality rod to start you off right, you can't go wrong with a Streamlight Ultra. Hell, if you're an experienced fisherman looking for a quality rod to take trout fishing and you're not looking to spend a fortune, you could do a lot worse than a Streamlight Ultra.
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