The Fives - 2021 Edition

Recently I have written about my current lineup of 4- & 6-weight rods and reels. I am equally smitten with my 5-weight rods, which have also changed quite a bit in the last year. 4- and 5-weight rods are the perfect fishing tools for my fishing, which is almost entirely made up of stream fishing for trout and lake fishing for panfish. Sure, I occasionally break out a 3-weight for those trout and panfish, and sometimes haul out a 6- or 7-weight for bass, but 99% of the time I use a 4- or 5-weight. Here are my fives:

The Fives, from shortest to longest...

I got this 6'6" Cortland FR-2000 glass 5-weight a few years ago, thinking that it would be perfect for stalking some of the small, overgrown local creeks, searching for carp and things like that. In the rare times I have done that, it has been perfect. It is also perfect for small brook trout creeks, too.

Cortland 6'6" FR-2000 glass rod

This 7' Phillipson Registered Epoxite 5-weight is as sweet as they come. It is one of the rare Phillipson rods made with a spigot ferrule. Did I mention that it is sweet?

Phillipson Registered Epoxite

I've got another Cortland FR-2000 glass 5-weight. This one is 7'6" in length. If you haven't tried any of these older Cortland rods, you really should. Much like Fenwicks, I have never cast one I didn't like. Their baby poop colored Pro-Crests were awfully nice, too, other than the color scheme...

7'6" Cortland FR-2000 glass 5-weight

If you read my previous post you would have seen my Scientific Angler System 4 rod, a 7'2" 4-weight. I also own their System 5 rod, which is a 7'7" 5-weight. Both of them are equally smooth and powerful.

System 5 glass rod & bluegill

My 8' 5-weight Sage SFL580 rod is also quite powerful. I can cast weighted Wooly Buggers with it all day long, which sounds like the makings of a great day, if you ask me!

Sage 580SFL glass rod

Another 8-footer is my old yellow Scott Pow-R Ply glass rod. I think I have written before that I wasn't sure about this rod when I first picked it up. It felt awkward and tip-heavy. Oh, and weird, too. But once I put a reel and line on it, it morphed from weird to luxurious! I don't know what happens exactly, but some kind of metamorphosis takes place. Then I take the reel off and it feels weird again. It's the weirdest thing, if you haven't already figured that out...

Scott Pow-R Ply glass, surrounded by its friends.

I got this 8' Winston 5/6-weight last year. It likes a 5-weight line the best, so it belongs in this post. Just like all my brown glass Winstons, it is silky smooth.

Winston 8' 5/6wt glass

I really wasn't looking for a graphite rod of any brand, but this Winston Pre-IM6 8-footer kind of fell into my lap. At first I had no plans to keep it, but it's too sweet to let go of. Besides, I am a Winston Man now. And Winston Men can't sell off their Winstons, can they?

Winston Pre-IM6 Graphite

Larry Kenney was one of the brain wizards in the Scott Rod Company back in the day. After his time at Scott, he started his own company, and builds high-end glass rods to his own specs. This 8'3" 5-weight is just as sweet as any of my Scott rods. 

Larry Kenney 8'3" 5-weight on a favorite stretch of water...

I just got this beautiful 8'6" 5-weight from Bozeman Rod Company. As I wrote in my 4-weight post, Bozeman rods were made by Dusty Smith, who now sells his rods and blanks through his own company, the Livingston Rod Company. I wonder if there is also a Helena Rod Company and a Kalispell Rod Company...

Bozeman 8'6" 5-weight

Last but not least is my beloved Sage 586LL that I have owned for 20+ years. As smooth as graphite can be. It doesn't get as much use these days, but it has caught fish all over the USA. What a rod!

Sage 586LL and a battered Mushroom & Swiss Bugger

I don't have as many reels as I do rods, and I never will, because rods are just plain cooler than reels. But I do have a few, and here are my 5-weight reels:

First up is a Martin LM56. I had no idea about this reel, until I realized it has a cult following amongst fiberglass fans. Before that, the only Martin reels I had owned were a couple of the old tuna can models, the 61 and 63. This is just my opinion, but those old Martins might be the worst fly reels ever made. I love my LM56, though, which is known as a poor-man's Abel.

Next is my Ross Evolution #2, which purrs ever-so-smoothly. And last but not least is my Ross Cimarron #2. I am toying with the idea of adding another 5-weight reel to my reel bag. We will have to wait and see what happens I guess...

This is kind of fun, so I will probably write another post about my 3-weights in the near future. That will be short and sweet!