2-Piece Rods

[skyriver]

My primary 5wt is a 9' 2 piece. And one of my 2 musky rods is a 2 piece. All my other rods are 4 piece.
I prefer the casting of the 2 piece, but it's a minimal difference for me. And if you travel at all the 4 pieces are better.
And I think Evan nailed it. It's the shipping that made 2 pieces unpopular. I get it.

 

[Draketake]

@Dr. Magill,

Timeless, old school tip. Wipe/roll the male end of your ferrule connection on your nose. The grease helps to get the ferrules apart after use. Or if you use lip balm, wipe against your recently doctored lips. Carmex works great.

Back to the OP post...........I terribly miss 2 piece rods.

Have fun.

Bob

 

[O' Clarkii Stomias]

I have a bunch of 2-piece rods from the 80s and 90s, and while I guess I prefer the simplicity of 2-piece rods, I really like the modern graphite of my 4-piece rods. The modern ferrules are so much superior to the old ferrules that it seems when I'm fishing and old 2-piece, I find myself checking the ferrule tightness way more frequently than I do my newer 4-piece rods. I can comfortably fish a new 4-piece two hander all day long and not worry about checking the ferrules, where back in the day we'd tape the shit out of the ferrules and still check them frequently, and re-tape them between morning and evening fish sessions.
As far as ferrule maintenance, this is the shit:

 

[Peyton00]

All my gear rods are 2pc and 1 pc rods.
Fly rods are the only rods I own in 2-3-4 pieces.

 

[Tim L]

2 pc all the way. I don't notice the performance difference, especially since mine are 30 yrs old. But the overall convenience is well worth it both on and off the water. That said, if a newer 4 pc is good bang for the buck I'm not against. I was more than happy with the early Rajeff rods (esp the service).

 

[up2nogood]

The rod I fish the most a two piece Sage XP .

 

[Matt B]

Come to think of it, I don't think I have more 4 piece than 2 piece fly rods now because of my preferences or anything, it's just what's available. And, when I recently bought a used 2 piece rod on here, the shipping did come into the consideration for the seller and buyer. 4 piece is much easier to ship (and store in tight spaces, though maybe to lesser degree) than 2 pieces. The rod was a good enough deal, and gas (and my time) expensive/valuable enough for a trip to pick it up, I just ponied up to pay to ship it to me. Nothing wrong with 2 piece rods at all though. You're right, it's not a big deal in the truck or most cars.

 

[onefish]

Another 2 piece fan, mostly for break down and storage convenience. My 4 piece rods only get broken down to 2 pieces. I have a 3 piece rpl that is my go to rod for beach fishing for coho. I love the rod for fishing, I HATE the 3 piece rod for breakdown and transport.

 

[GAT]

As with others, I like my remaining 2 piece rods. I've never found space to be a significant problem when traveling so the shorter rod case is no biggie for me. I ended up buying four piece rods because that's about all available these days. But my two piece Orvis and Winston rods are still two of my favorites to cast.

 

[up2nogood]

Everyone needs to own a Ram Megacab .
I can put as many two pieces rod cases as I want behind the backseat, plus a lot of other stuff. Out of sight , and easy access.

 

[Salmo_g]

When 4-piece rods first became widely available, I stuck with 2-piece rods because I didn't fly anywhere to go fishing. So 2-piece rods were no problem for me. Then I got the opportunity to use air travel for fishing trips. Then 4-piece rods became a lot more important, so I now have quite a few of them. The casting and fishing difference between 2 and 4-piece rods is inconsequential to me and doesn't play a role in rod selection.

 

[Dave Westburg]

3 piece bamboo rods fit nicely in the Alaska airlines overhead bin and my Sharpes 12-14' rods are three piece but I prefer 2 piece otherwise. The extra ferrule adds weight and my guess is it makes the rod less lithe.

 

[Parabola]

I’ve always fished a 2 piece, I really wish there were more of them available.

 

[Brian in OR.]

All my four piece rods are two piece rods. I leave them strung up in half in a two-piece rod case that way they’re ready to go

 

[rattlesnake]

The casting and fishing difference between 2 and 4-piece rods is inconsequential to me and doesn't play a role in rod selection.

Agreed. I have 2,3, and 4 pc rods. The older rods you could tell the difference but not so much anymore. Like I have some of the old st croix clouser rods. The 2pc is much softer than the 3pc but I like them both, just with different lines.

I’d likely buy more 2 pc rods if more were available.

 

[Wayne Kohan]

All my four piece rods are two piece rods. I leave them strung up in half in a two-piece rod case that way they’re ready to go

My favorite and most used rod for several years was a Sage 586 VPS 4 piece that I built myself. I broke it down into two pieces usually and kept it stored in my boat in the garage. Did that all winter and it became a 3 piece rod as the ferrule between the top two pieces got stuck. Tried everything to unstick it over the next 3-4 months, attempted every maneuver on YouTube. Was excited after a day of fishing when it finally let go, but it was the rod breaking. So based on my limited experience, I would not leave 4 piece rods as 2 piece rods unless you keep your rods in a temperature controlled environment.

 

[FinLuver]

As we age, I suspect counting to two is much easier than counting to four; hence, the fondness for two.

 

[Tom Butler]

I like my old 2 pc. rods. I don't mind 4, they all fish fine to me. I'm probably not good enough to notice. I set up each day, and breakdown, clean and put away after every outing. A 4 pc. is a bit more fiddly. I can easily fit a10' rod in the Volvo, so that's not an issue. My 8' Steffen is a 4 pc. Nice little package and an awesome rod. I'd of brought it with me to Seattle and fished on the way, but Mom and I got too much planning to do.

 

[Buzzy]

Ex industry insider tip:

Main reason for 4pc popularity isn't necessarily for ease of travel, it's for ease of shipping. Fly rods aren't purchased in the same kind of bulk as gear rods so packaging that isn't as long makes it much more economical.

Huh! Interesting, not something I would have considered - I thought "travel" was the main reason for shorter rod pieces (4 V. 2) so your comment debunks my understanding. Your comment makes sense from my perspective as I've traveled on an aircraft with fly rods exactly one round trip. On that particular trip, with Alaska Airlines, I saw tubes carried on that were five feet long (Alaska bound); I think AA was generous since my guess is 90% of the travelers were either hunters or fishers. Given your comment, Mr. B., it would be nice to have more two-piece rod options as I hardly ever break my four piece rods into four pieces, they're always in my "two piece" rod bags.

 

[Bugmeister]

I’m surprised no one has brought up one piece rods on thread yet so I will chip in: my trusty one piece hardy zenith 4 weight casts so beautifully. I suppose if I drove a tiny car that transportation would be tricky, but as it is not a biggie. Such a great rod.