Fly rods

[shadowfly]

Hey guys just curious on what you all think regarding fly rod wt

 

what is your favorite wt ?

and

for steel head fishing or salmon fishing 8 wt or 9 wt.?

thanks in advanced

[MJL]

I have 2 fly rods, both 8wts (Sage XP, Sage LE). I use them mostly for steelhead but they also occasionally get used for salmon, pike, carp and smallies. Up until this spring, I didn’t really have a desire to fish for resident trout but may consider a 4wt for them in the future.

 

An 8 or 9wt rod will handle steelhead and salmon great. Though a 10wt has more lifting power if you plan on mostly using it for chinnies.

 

Beyond line weights, You might also be interested in thinking about the ‘action’ of a rod along with what flies you plan on casting and how far you’ll be casting them. With my Sage XP (Fast action), I can launch 2-3 inch clouser minnows a few meters into the backing when fishing off the beach without trouble and into wind as well. Harder to do with my other rod, the Sage LE (moderate action). I also get better accuracy at further distances with the XP. Conversely, I find I don't get the same feel and accuracy with the XP as I do with my LE when fishing the smaller eastern tribs because the XP has trouble loading on a short line without X amount of line past the tip (Probably would perform a lot better matched with a 9-10wt line on for those conditions).

 

Some people also live at preferred tempos…Example…If you talk fast, drive fast, walk fast, etc, you probably might enjoy casting faster action rods…If you talk slow, drive slow, walk slow, etc, you might prefer casting slow to moderate action rods better depending on the conditions. I love casting my Sage XP better than my Sage LE given the chance (I also like casting the extra-fast Sage TCR or newer TCX…No funds to own one though ). A few of my friends are polar opposites preferring cane and fiberglass whenever possible.

 

To summarize, you can have a slow, moderate, moderate-fast, fast and extra fast action 8wt that will feel like totally different rods and have varying amounts of power to cast and fight fish with.

 

The last year or so, I haven’t done too much fly fishing due to a wrist injury I suffered a few years ago. Casting single handed rods becomes painful after 15-20 minutes (ironically I can use a heavier 13ft float rod for 14 straight hours without problems mostly because I can tuck the butt under my arm)…I’m currently planning on building a switch/spey rod for this upcoming season…I can use 2 hands instead of just one…With that said, they perform slightly different than most single handed rods and matching lines is a little more complex. Wouldn’t be surprised if a 6wt spey had the same amount of backbone as most 8wt single handed fly rods.

[Dabluz]

Great answer by MJL.

 

For steelhead and salmon and pike, I would definately go with a 9 weight rod.

 

This way, you can get a 7 weight rod for trout and then a 5 weight for stream fishing.

 

This will mean that you have a good "spread" of rod weights.

 

Yes....you can vary the weight of your line a bit in order to fish specific conditions. With those 3 rods, you could play with just about any weight of line.

Edited January 10, 2010 by Dabluz