WTB: 3wt rod, 8' or shorter

[Hirdy]

G'day guys,

What do you have in the way of spare, unloved 3wt rods floating around? I'm after something to chase herring, gars and mullet, and maybe some trout/reddies on the dams. It's meant to be a bit of fun, so I don't want to outlay huge sums on a rod: thus the "used" market seems the best bet for me.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Sam de Beer]

Hi Graeme,
One of the problems with 3#s is that they are not designed for saltwater, so the reelseat and lock-up rings ussually start corroding quite badly.

I built my own salt water three weight on a generic blank using a saltwater reelseat and stainless snake eyes. I am using a small bar-stock alluminium reel on it with nothing (non-anodised alliminium, brass, copper and or steel) that can corrode, in it.

For a line I used a Rio slik shooter as a shooting line and 6m-10m heads from old lines - floating, intermediate and two sinkers - as shooting heads. It works quite well and I use it most of the time on the Swan and at Mandurrah. If you are going to use shooting heads on it, I would recommend you look for a rod with a fast action rather than a slow action soft presenter. The fast action and the shooting heads will also help you in windy conditions. Get a second spool for a full length floating line for fresh water purposes.

Hope it helps.

Sam

[Hirdy]

Thanks Sam.

I was looking into getting a TFO BVK 3wt (to match the 5, 7 and 9 wts I have) since they have salt-resistant components, but the sticker shock this time round was a bit much. The local distributors have upped the price again, so a rod costing about $200 in the US now costs over $300 here. Good thing we have a favourable exchange rate, eh?

If I end up with a used one, I'll be spraying the reel seat with Inox after every trip. However, I do like the idea of building my own rods and might end up down that route anyway if a used one doesn't show up. It won't be much cheaper than the BVK, but it will be my own work.

I'll probably end up with two reels: one for floating line and one for intermediate. A shooting head system in a 3wt doesn't apeal to me in the same way it does on the heavier rods I've got. I want a delicate presentation from this setup.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Stephen Winsor]

Graeme,

you can get BVks from the states for $224 delivered! cause I almost bought a 3wt the other day as a 2nd bream rod for summer! but decided I needed to invest in a decent vise first so thats my next purchase a 3wt rod!

[Sam de Beer]

Graeme,
You can get a rod kit for a 3#, 7'6" to 9', from Mudhole for less than $120 + postage. Or you can get blanks (7'6" - 9') from $80 to $90, plus a handle for $21, reel seat for ±$15 and a set of guides for ±$10 - 15.


Sam

[Hirdy]

Graeme,
You can get a rod kit for a 3#, 7'6" to 9', from Mudhole for less than $120 + postage. ....
Sam

Ooooh! I like that idea. I'll look into it now. Thanks very much Sam.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Hirdy]

Got my 3wt now. Just a cheapy IM8 9' rod to see me through, but at $50, I'm a happy choppy.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Rohan]

Just to set the record straight, the price of the BVK series has remained unchanged since being introduced to Australia, (at $310 FOR THE FRESHWATER MODELS UP TO 6WT ), so if you add gst, import duty and shipping to that U.S price , it does not look that far out of the ball park, and Saltwater flyrodder members get 10% discount which would make it $279 with Australian Warranty. Anyway, glad you found a 3wt at the right price graeme, there are some cracker herring ( big for herring anyway ) at point reso at the moment, and better, there's hardly any snot weed there so far this year.

[Rudi]

Just to set the record straight, the price of the BVK series has remained unchanged since being introduced to Australia, at $310 , so if you add gst, import duty and shipping to that U.S price , it does not look that far out of the ball park, and Saltwater flyrodder members get 10% discount which would make it $279 with Australian Warranty. Anyway, glad you found a 3wt at the right price graeme, there are some cracker herring ( big for herring anyway ) at point reso at the moment, and better, there's hardly any snot weed there so far this year.

Do you have 7wt for me Rohan?

[Rohan]

Hi Rudi,
I have modified my last post , was specifically talking about the 3wt pricing but my wording was not clear. We have a 7 here, sorry didn't return your call but the guys wrote down the wrong phone number.