By John Juracek

A number of readers have inquired as to what fly rods I fish with. Here are some of my choices, with a few notes appended. My rod collection reflects the demands of the various kinds of fishing that I do. In any given instance, my choice of rod is dictated by the fishing conditions. I’m wedded to no particular brand nor any particular type of action.

Naturally, not everyone shares this philosophy, and that’s okay. But I dislike accepting tradeoffs, being forced to fish a rod for any reason other than that it’s ideal for the type of fishing I’m doing. So again, the choices I make reflect this sentiment.

Akimaru 8-foot 4-weight

Shuichi Akimaru is a Japanese bamboo rod builder that I befriended years ago on one of his yearly trips to attend Nelson Ishiyama’s bamboo rod gathering on the Henry’s Fork of the Snake. His rods are wonderful pieces of craftsmanship, with a unique ferrule design and understated aesthetics. This rod is fairly soft in action, ideally suited for the dry fly and small (unweighted) nymph fishing that I do most often. It’s built from Watake bamboo, a slightly different bamboo than many rod builders use. The action is a result of discussions I’ve had with Aki, striving for a butt-bending, tip-resisting rod that meets the needs of my fishing. This casts smoothly, fights fish well and protects fine tippets–all essential needs for me. It feels very light in hand and is delightful to fish with.

Montana Brothers 9-foot 4-weight

Montana Brothers is a relatively new (2021) rod company based in Bozeman, Montana. It’s owned by two former colleagues of mine from Blue Ribbon Flies, Doug and Dan Daufel. Their long-term interest in developing fly rods culminated in 2021 with the release of their first two rods, both 9-foot 4-weights. The 904L model is very full-flexing, the 904M somewhat stiffer. I own and fish both but much prefer the 904M. The impetus behind these rods was to improve upon the 1980s Fenwick World Class 9-foot 2 and 3-weight rods. (Those were wonderful rods that collected a cult-like following among hardcore anglers when first introduced; I was among their ardent fans.) Montana Brothers has succeeded in improving on the Fenwicks, and both rods are a delight to fish. I choose the 904M for most of my fishing because the range of its sweet spot (30-45 feet) is a bit longer than the 904L’s (10-35 feet). For the bulk of the fishing I’m doing these days, that makes for a better fit. I don’t believe that any better 4-weight rods exist today than these Montana Brothers rods.

Tim Anderson 8-foot 6-inch 4-weight

Tim Anderson is a bamboo rod builder from Lafayette, California. He’s a meticulous and excellent craftsman, always experimenting with some aspect of rod building. This rod is designed to meet the needs of the Henry’s Fork and other waters with similar conditions, and is loosely based on G.E.M. Skue’s “W.B.R.” rod taper. Though fairly long, it is hollow-built and therefore feels quite light in hand. Partly due to the bamboo and partly due to the taper, it possesses a great deal of self-weight momentum. That makes for very smooth casting at any range between 10-50 feet. Like the other rods I’ve listed, it also manipulates line well and protects the finest of tippets. Tim does not sell his rods, and I’m unaware of any similar rods being made.

Sage ZXL 9-foot 5-weight

This Sage model is a fine distance rod. It can cast 50-100 feet comfortably. I do very little fishing that requires casts of those distances, but some of our lake fishing occasionally qualifies–Hebgen, Henry’s, or Yellowstone for instance. Truth be told, I spend more time with this rod casting on the practice field than on the water, working on my casting skills. But whenever it is necessary to cast long or to generate the highest line speeds (fishing in big wind, for instance), this rod works well. Sage no longer makes the ZXL series, but they can still be found by poking around the internet and secondary markets.

John Juracek is a fly fisherman, writer and photographer from West Yellowstone, Montana. For twenty-some years he was a partner at Blue Ribbon Flies, a local fly shop, and is currently the head casting instructor at the School of Trout and Anglers Academy. His writing credits include Yellowstone: Photographs of an Angling Landscape, Fly Patterns of Yellowstone, Fishing Yellowstone Hatches and Fly Patterns of Yellowstone, Volume Two.

He is considered one of the sport’s expert fly casters and instructors and offers casting lessons for $100/hour at [email protected] or (406) 640-2828.