How about a little feedback? I have permission to get a new rod for Christmas. I need a rod for Steelhead. I am really getting into float fishing and have only a 8'6" rod for that. I have a 5WT fly rod which is too light for Steelies but great for all around lake fishing and smaller river fish. I am focusing on Steelhead right now though so want to get a rod geared for that. What do you think...

By the way, I have the reels for the float rod but not the fly rod...I might be able to 'sneak' in a new reel.

Man, Just buy a new float rod and be done with it..... Or you could just tell the little lady that you're the bread winner and that you work damn hard to put food on the table and that you just might go and buy both rods because YOU WEAR THE PANTS!!!!!!! Hell, its worth a try.

Get the float rod.
Don't get a shorty
10.5 perfect
Front drag reels get it done

Team Gooosinator???

FJ...out.

Check out the Rainshadow IST1264F (10-17 lb), and the IST1265F (12-20 lb). Both are two piece, & 10 1/2' long.
I think you will get more use, and be more productive with a Float Rod, than the Fly Rod.
Just my opinion. Enjoy whatever you choose.

TJ,
I use both types for "float" fishing. Although the fly rod (11' 6'') is fun, it takes a while to master andis not suited for all situations. Get a normal float rod and see how you like it first. You can allways have a two hander made out of an inexpensive blank from anglers workshop or wherever. A friend of mine uses a 10' 6'' mooching rod with a fly reel and is actually better at controlling his bobber jig/wieghted fly setup than I am. He shelled out 50 bucks for the rod and it is comparable to a 9 wt.

Hey TJ, first off I think you should look around and find out where you "misplaced" your 'nads. "I have permission to..." please. I'm with LittleZZ get both rods if that's what you want. The next thing you'll be asking us is weather you should spend your vacation in July at the quilting convention in BFE or in Alaska with the rest of us men.

Hey man, I feel your pain. I was in school last year and money was real tight. For my birthday I bought a 10'6" 8-10 test, lamiglass on sale at fishermans marine for $125. I found that I didn't enjoy float fishing as much as I thought. The good news was that it also made an excellent spinner rod, due to the extra length. Secondly it makes an excellent summer steelie/silver salmon drift rod. I would definitely go with the float rod. I have an 8 weight steelie fly rod that I have used very few times. I like the satisfaction of nailing more fish on bait.

At one point I would had to agree, go with the Float rod but Now I would have to say Fly rod all the way. I know people say and told me that you will have better luck with conventional gear but I am starting to disagree more. I still use and like my baitcaster but I look forward to using my Fly rod. I didn't catch any more with my baitcaster (because I must suck ) so I use my fly as much as possible with same results or better. Even on small rivers with lot of trees you can still cast to where the fish are. heck if you like to float jigs you don't even need to buy another rod just get a strike indicater and a egg sucking leech and viola , best of both worlds.

I may have a complete outfit that you may be interested in. Iit's a custom built 7/8 wt with all the goodies. I sent you a private message with al the details and my phone number. If youu're already a fly fisherman and know how to cast, then the transition to movinng up to 8wt is no problem. Run a greaseline and you'd be doing sorta basically the same as float fishing, except no true bobber/strikeindicator on the endof line. Ii'll agree, it's much easier to run a spinning rod/float over a fly rod if you're new to th game. But if youu already flyfis and enjoy it, then stay that way. Flies can be just as/ if not more productive then most anything else (and this is cooming from a diehard gear fisherman). All jigs are, are heavily weighted marabou flies.

Well, good luck with whatever you decide. Check your private messages and let me kknow if you're interested.