Need a new rod

I currently use a 5/6 wt rod with 5 wt line for trout, bass, and panfish. The rod was just meant to be a starter rod and has become a bit clumsy for what I need from it.

I'm looking to upgrade to a 3 or 4 wt rod with a lot of back bone and a lot of flex. The length that I would like it to be is between 7-8ft. I'm leaning closer to 8ft, but it will be used in close quarters on smaller trout streams and to cast under trees for smallmouth. Potentially large smallmouth, hence the needed back bone. The rod will have a Pflueger Medalist or another classic style reel mounted on it and won't run heavier than 4 wt line. Any suggestions on a good light wt line are welcome too. The final preference would that it can break down into 3-4 pieces for travel.

I'd like to stay on a budget, but I may just go for something nicer as the rod will see a lot of use and prove it's worth. I welcome testimonials to companies or setups that have worked well for others. I can usually find a deal if I get an idea of what company to look for. My regular go to fishing brands don't produce the quality of fly gear that I'm looking for.

I changed it... Didn't realize that I had to allow PMs. I swear I've gotten them before.

flex (as in slow action) and backbone are not usually not compatable traits. a slow action rod is meant to bend all the way to the cork, fast rods only in the upper 1/3. why do you want something with a lot of flex? for what you are describing you should be looking at somethin in the med-fast to fast catagory. a 4wt is the lightest i would go if you are considering bass and i would lean more to a 5wt, especially if you throw weighted nymphs, streamers or poppers for bass a lot. for small stream trout a shorter 3 or 4 wt is a better choice in a med-fast action. you are not going to get a rod that will do both things good. pick which you will want to do more and lean that way.

Let me rephrase that. Instead of back bone think overall strength. Blank, reel seat, pole, guides, and tip. Mostly, I'm looking for something well balanced. My rod currently is unbalanced. It's too stiff with the strength to stop what I catch with it. It works fine for bringing fish in, but not for working on my cast from different positions. With it being too stiff I'm kinda just whipping the fly where I want it instead of delicately bringing it down.

Maybe I'm just a perfectionist.

I get where you are coming from man. For stream smallmouth where I am not throwing heavily weighted flies the Cabelas Stowaway seven and a half foot 4 weight has done a fantastic job for me the last 10 years (broke the original after 8 years and am 3 years into the new one). It can throw a small Clouser pretty well, but not a whole lot more. It also can over line to a 5 weight pretty effectively.

The reason I like it is because it is a rod that is fun to fight a 9 inch trout on, but has landed me several bass in the 3-4 pound range. And what a hoot a bass like that is on the smaller rig, it's really like having a steelhead on, I have had some fantastic runs from a couple fish.

The rod is a powerful caster, and can handle my higher line speed throwing style. it's pretty accurate too, and a surprising good roll-caster for such a short light rod. If you check out the reviews section, you will see a high score with a small sample. When I bought my second one a few years ago there were something like a hundred responses, with a similarly high score. Goes for a buck fifty these days.

One more thing - I own Scott STS, Sage FLi & RPLX, St. Croix Legend Ultra, Orvis Power Matrix & Rocky Mountain, etc.... This rod fishes as good as any of them for a fraction of the price. I will however say that a buddy and I have both broke theses rods before, so they are probably not as tough as the higher end gear and don't have that amazing warranty of course, but Cabelas will stand by their product if anything happens early on. Best of luck.

Cabela's Stowaway 6 Fly Rods

Our lightest, highest-quality ultrapackable fly rods. At 15" to 18" long, these six-piece rods are small enough to fit in a suitcase. Don’t let the extra pieces fool you – these 30 million-modulus graphite rods generate the smooth-loading performance you’d expect from two-piece rods. The responsive moderate/fast action suits a wide range of abilities and techniques. The tip flexes easily for accurate short casts, while the powerful butt section has the backbone needed for longer casts in windy conditions. With an even number of sections, the rods can be broken down into two pieces for easier accessibility between trips to fishing holes, or broken all the way down for packable convenience. High-grade components include woven graphite reel seats for lightweight strength; lightweight chrome snake guides and SiC stripper guides; and AA cork grips. Alignment dots for quick, easy assembly. Rod tube included.