Hi Wine, I have a Heddon 14 in mint condition that I have fished a few times, a very slow rod. It the time they were sold they were marketed as a "lake" rod, what ever that means! As I understood it they were a good trolling fly rod that had very smooth action with a fish on.
Making a banty out of it will speed it up a bit, but I havent found too many bantys that dont respond to a 6wt line very well.
IE: Feather river, did you check water temps? Drys typ start coming off when it reaches 40-42d (H2O temp). Justa a FYI, most trout waters have stonefly nymphs in them year round, at least out here in the west.