Mike Connor caught this redfish with a custom-made 7-foot, 10-inch fly rod. Photo by Mike Conner
The standard 9-foot rod works fine for most saltwater applications, but writing in Florida Sportsman, Mike Connor makes a convincing case for using shorter rods in specific situations. A short rod can be light, fast, and accurate for when you’re trying to cast in a tight corridor, tuck a fly under the mangroves, and so on:
I’ve owned and fished rods from 7-foot, 4-inches to 8-foot, 4-inches in cramped quarters, such as mangrove creeks—sometimes tunnel-like—in the Everglades, that snook and baby tarpon call home. Casts are normally shorter than 50 feet, and call for accuracy, and that’s where short rods excel.
I learned early on that the relative stiffness of shorter rods helps with loop control, too. And casters with good casting fundamentals can cast more narrow loops which helps buck a headwind.
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