Hamish reviewed his Scott S4S 4 weight a few months ago here. I thought it was about time I reviewed my Scott A4 956/4 (6 weight 4 piece).
As a beginner who has only been fly fishing for around 18 months, the A4 has provided a steep, but rewarding, learning curve. It’s a relatively fast rod, which has forced me to concentrate on technique, line management and control. Until I learnt how to haul, I found it difficult to load the rod sufficiently to get a high line speed, which is particularly important in windy situations. While this might sound like a downfall for a beginner, it has actually been great in terms of forcing me to focus more on hauling when necessary, achieving tight loops, good technique and presentation.
One of the interesting (and educational) things about it has been going back to a slower rod. It feels so much easier, but I can’t achieve the same line speed and accuracy, so there are some tradeoffs. I like this rod as it has forced me to learn good technique, and there have been a few occasions where I’ve impressed my friends with accurate side casting when confronted with overhanging trees and vegetation. The faster rod allows me to whip a fly over short to medium distances with the rod almost horizontal – which is definitely a desirable feature. A slower setup would mean that the flyline would lose momentum and gravity would win while presenting flies using the sidecast.
Admittedly, I have found it difficult to roll cast – perhaps this is a result of a lack of practice, but I’d like to attribute it partly to the difficulty of loading the rod under a short line! Excuses excuses…
I highly endorse the Scott rods. I got mine from Rene at Manic Tackle Project. Check them out at http://www.manictackleproject.com/.
In a few months I’ll review the Scott 10 weight S4s…once I catch a few fish on it 🙂 Hamish has christened MY rod with an 8kg longtail tuna…insert expletive here. Needless to say, the rod (and Hamish) performed beautifully.
In the meantime, here are a few of the results from the Scott A4 6 weight.
