I recently returned to my home state of Virginia after a long hiatus, finding myself in quarantine after fleeing Brazil upon being released from a work assignment as the COVID situation began to rapidly deteriorate in Rio. As such, quickly packing up a family of four for an indefinite period of time, I had limited packing space. As any fanatic, it was impossible to head out without a brace of rods in hand, and a box or two of flies. I could make space for one rod tube, and plan to cram two rods into the tight tube. But which rods should I pull from the quiver to hold me over the next 4-5 months or so until our shipment arrives from Brazil? Decisions…decisions… Having an unclear immediate working future, if my current employer would be unable to find a new assignment for me, I would have a bit more time on my hands and places to explore while searching for a place to land, as we have no roots. I knew I would be in Virginia for at least 3 weeks, with abundant opportunities to chase native brookies, smallmouth on the James, carp, musky, largemouth and if I play my cards right and time allowed, I trip into the Chesapeake Bay. Apart from Virginia, I suspect we will be heading down to Houston at some point in the case that I do receive a work assignment, with promises to chase redfish in the Gulf and bass on the Guadalupe or Colorado. If a work assignment with my current employer isn’t in the cards, my wife and I would be exploring a few places out west, namely Colorado and Washington, with plently of opportuntities to take a road trip inbetween with stops in Montana, Idaho….whever the road may takes us. So…what to turn to?

I don’t have a large rod inventory, but do reckon I’ve got enough to cover most situations that I should find myself over the next few months, presuming that I chose wisely:

• 4WT, 8.5′ Orvis Clearwater
• 5WT, 9′ Sage One
• 5WT, 9′ Orvis Streamline
• 7WT, 9′ TFO BVK
• 7WT, 9′ Talon Highlander III (out of commission with a broken tip)
• 9WT, 9′ Orvis Hydros
• 10WT, 9′ Redington Predator
• 10WT, 9′ Orvis Helios 2

Chasing musky with flies the size of my forearms or having the opportuntity to sight fish to massive cobia in the Bay would be a bit of a longshot for me to line up, and thus the 10WTs fall off of the list. I figure I need the horsepower of either the 7WT or the 9WT for heaving bass bugs, staving off a carp run or dropping a crab in front of a tailing redfish. When it comes to casting, I am generally comfortable with a lighter line size for a more delicate delivery versus having something heavier to hammer through higher winds. I find a sore shoulder the day after casting flies too bulky for a given line size is a problem best dealt with a shot of whiskey. Apart from chosing a rod, I do have a larger depth of lines that I can turn to in the 7WT over the 9WT. The 9WT I am really limited to a floating bonefish line and a type IV full sinking line. My 7WT selection includes Scientific Angler’s Mastery redfish, their bonefish floating line, an old WF-F line to chase bass with, and SA’s FI Sonar Titan clear and HS2S4 lines that I use for trout in Patagonia and smallmouth in Texas. This being the case, I opted for the 7WT TFO outfitting with a Hatch 7+ with the SA Sonar Titan clear and a spare spool outfitted with the Mastery redfish.

When it comes to chasing trout and panfish on dries, it was a tougher decision on which rod to turn to. I greatly enjoy both the Sage One and the Orvis Clearwater. The Sage One has enough power to deliver medium sized foam bugs and frog imitations for a run down the James chasing warm water species, as well as comfortably serving up cicada flies as it we’re expecting an abundant appearance from them this summer of 2020. The 4WT Clearwater doesn’t have quite the accuracy for me as the 5WT One, but has a softer delivery as I have a tendency to overpower the stiffer One at times, and would be more manageable in the smaller runs in Shannondoah National Park. I have fished the 4WT on the larger rivers in Patagonia firing size 4 fat alberts underneath willows without any issues when lined up a size to 5WT with SA’s GPX line, cutting into winds fairly easily. I do however prefer the One when running nymph rigs, either dry-droppers or with a bobber; the backbone it provides more accuracy and delicacy when delivering weight and bulk over the Clearwater, albeit at the expense of likely spending more time up close and personal with rhododendrons attempting to retrieve both fly and leader in the wonderful Virginia mountain streams. This choice proved to a be a bit more challenging to make than the 7/9/10. I ended up packing the Sage One 5WT together with the TFO Mangrove 7WT, outfitting the One with Ross’s Evolution LT 1.5, lined with SA’s 5WT GPX. Now this may not have been the brightest decision to equip myself with two rods that are closest to each other within the spectrum at my disposal, however given what I am planning to chase, here’s hoping that I can get by trouble free. One thing is for sure, it will be better than sitting in front of the computer working!

Have any of you been through something similar? What did you choose and did it work out well or did you have regrets?

Tight lines.