I have another question for you guru fly dudes. I have a 7'9" rod and I have found I had rather have a 9' to help my keep my line off the water so I don't have to deal with 99 different current speeds at once in the mountain streams of the smokies. My question is are roll casts and aerial mends easier/more efficient to do with slower action rods.

There's a orvis store about 40 minutes from my house and I'm looking at maybe a 4wt 9' moderate action or maybe even a slow action if roll casts are made better with them.

The 9' 4 Wgt Rod is one of my favorites for fly fishing Colorado rivers and streams. And I prefer the moderate action for making mends while steam fishing with nymphs and also for roll cast with dries.

Fast action, stiff rods are made to sell to people that cast in parking lots. If you want to fish, use medium to slow, as you go down in the size of your water...

Seal Billy-
For fishing narrow water- stuff you can almost jump across I think a longer stick works best . I'm a fan of slower/medium action rods as well. If you're looking at Orvis you might try out their Superfine Fiberglass rod pretty sweet imho . Something to keep in mind w/ Orvis their rod rating is a little different from other rod companies- they base the listed line weight on a weight forward line- so an Orvis 6wt would be somebody elses 5wt ,etc . I was at a flyfishing show a few weeks back and tried out a redington Classic Trout 8'6" 3 wt very nice rod for the money- just thought I'd pass that along . MJ

Much thanks gentlemen. I havent been at this long but am learning quickly with the help of you guys. Y'all confirmed what I thought about it. Now if I could get enuff time to go.

I fish a lot of mountain streams here in Southwest Virginia, and I have fished the streams in the "Smokeys". I am a little different than many in that I like a fast rod on a stream with trees and mountain laurel. I find a slower rod has a larger loop which is harder for me to "shoot" the line into tight spots under the tree canopy. A faster rod with a tight loop allows me the a quick flat line presentation.

As far as length, a 7'-9" rod you have should give you enough length in my opinion. I use 7'-0" #3 for most of my mountain stream fishing but have used rods from 6'-0" to 8'-6" at times. Getting a good drift without dragging the fly is much a matter of good measured approach to each pool, and avoiding the "tailout current" as much as possible.

Now the slower action 9'-0" rod is a great tailwater rod in my opinion and is the rod I like on the South Holston and Watauga rivers when fishing small flies on light tippets. I don't know exactly where you are in Tennessee, but if you continue fly fishing you will want to experience the South Holston river, and the other great tailwater in your state. You have some of the best fishing on the east coast.

Buy the 9'-0" rod and give it a try in the mountains and if you don't like it know that you have a great tailwater rod ready to go.

A man cannot have too many fly rods.

Bingo! Everybody has their own idea about what works best for them, and they're all correct. I would beg/borrow/steal as many different rods to try out as a means of narrowing down what will work for you in a given situation- then go to the fly shop and open your wallet.

Personally, on a tight little stream I like a short fast rod for zinging a fly into small target that likely has a tree limb two feet off the water. A medium action rod is what I reach for if "normal" casting is the order of the day.

I taught myself to cast 30 years ago with an old Orvis split cane 5 foot for a 5 weight called the "Mighty Mite". (I swapped a guy a Ruger single action for it, based on a vague notion that I would like to try fly fishing.) Little did I know how much of a specialized rod that was and how much I was handicapping my newbie self with it. But I persisted, and to this day I still prefer short-ish rods. But my-o-my how I could zing dry flies into coffee cup-sized pockets under alder branches- after about 10,000 hours of frustrating practice.