Fly fishing and fly rods

[lovemylegacy]

A 4weight rod will be sufficient for all panfish. Reddington has a very nice panfish flyrod.

[tvc184]

A 4weight rod will be sufficient for all panfish. Reddington has a very nice panfish flyrod.

A 4wt is a great small fish setup. For my all around single rod I usually carry a 6wt. It is light enough action on the rod to have some good fun fighting small fish but I can cast bass size flies much easier, especially deer hair.

[Dry Bones]

My cheapo currently is a 5 wt. I have had some success with it, but definitely think that a better rig would cast better. OR at least give me the chance to learn more. Is it possible to cast heavier bass flies with a 4 wt, or would that be asking a bit much?
Also if I went up to a 6 can you cast the little nymph and first emergent flies that I use for bluegill?

[tvc184]

My cheapo currently is a 5 wt. I have had some success with it, but definitely think that a better rig would cast better. OR at least give me the chance to learn more. Is it possible to cast heavier bass flies with a 4 wt, or would that be asking a bit much?
Also if I went up to a 6 can you cast the little nymph and first emergent flies that I use for bluegill?

I have caught pan fish and had fun on a 7wt. Surely a lighter setup adds more action if you want a more than one rod.

For bass and bluegills I dont find any problem very small flies. as They aren’t as skittish as clear stream trout looking to rise on a hatch. I can put on a non-tapered leader about 5-6 feet long and throw a tiny ant fly and kill the fish in a stream or pond. M

According to how fast the action is on your rod, you can move up a weight with some good (maybe even better) casting. Get another spool for your reel or but another (cheap) reel and spoof a 6wt line on it. You might find that moving up or even down a weight will give you more options without a lot of cost. A faster (stiffer) action rod can easily handle a heavier line and a slower action can easily go down a weight.

[jay07ag]

Yep, I use 4 wt. for trout and panfish and an 8 wt. for saltwater

[bowhuntntxn]

One 8wt rod and 2 reels. One for freshwater and one for saltwater. One 5 wt for everything else.

[Burnadell]

A 5wt is a perfect balance/compromise rod for rainbows and freshwater trout, panfish and even small to medium bass. TFO makes some excellent fods for the money, but so does Reddington, Echo and others.

[Dry Bones]

Thanks Burnadell, a few more options to look into.

[AtTheWall]

Here's how I view freshwater fly rods. 3 weight versus 5 weight, you will cast and cover more water with the 5 weight. If you fish tight structure, narrow streams and can cover for light winds.....3 weight will work. But in Texas, we have wind and many of our ponds and streams are a bit wider than the average high country trout stream. If you periodically fish trout streams 10% and 90% bass, perch, crappy, smallmouth, stripers, sandbass etc.....then the 5 weight will find more functionality.

An 8 weight for saltwater - lotsa wind along the coast in Texas. It's blowing more along the Gulf than not. You will find punching flies in the wind becomes more key than the class of fish you find using the fly rod along the coast.

Then there's the real serious fly rod for saltwater - the blank that is made specifically for saltwater only. These fly blanks have super thick blank walls from the butt up into the upper quarter zone of the fly blank. They are designed to handle heavy fish in super close quarters - during the land - as well as providing lift and hold as fish of the 15+ variety are close to land and or in deep water fighting vertically under the boat. I have an 8 weight and 10 weight which fish much more differently than a regular 8 weight that isn't saltwater species rated.

The true saltwater blanks are costly. I picked up my pair from a custom blank builder in Northern Colorado who cut his teeth building offshore rods in California during his early years. He got bit by fly fishing and went both ways in his fly blank offerings.

My quiver goes 3 weight to 10 weight. 3 is panfish, freshwater trout and tight fishing scenes. 30 ft casting stick.

5 weight - 50 - 60 ft casting stick.

8 weight - 60 - 80 ft casting stick

8 weight saltwater blank 70 - 100 ft casting stick. The power comes up thru the butt and it has more power. Technically it's probably more in tune to a 10 wt freshwater only build - not tuned with heavier butt walls.

10 weight saltwater blank 90 - 120 ft casting stick. It's probably more along an 11 to 12 weight freshwater blank. With a weight forward sinking fly line going down wind, you can zing over 40 yard casts with this monster.

I've fished the 10 in 20 to 25 mph winds and pulled it off. Lighten the tippet and leader and let the fly line and rod blank just carry the power thru the wind.

It's different along the coast to fish in the wind. South Texas - it howls a lot more than you have days to wait for it to lay down.

Stripping bucket and basket for the coast helps - jetty rocks, front deck on the boat and keeping the line up out of the surf along the suds.

On the flats boat, I have a weighted down stripping bucket that stands nearly 4 ft tall with a cutout to dump line into the bottom of the bucket. It's brutal at times dealing with the wind and you develop a low side-arm cast to cover with weight forward lines.

Then there is the difference between fiberglass and graphite. I have a pair of 7 weight fiberglass fly rod blanks that fish differently than graphite blanks of the same class weight. You can go lighter with these blanks and I fish 8 wt down to 5 wt fly lines on these blanks. They are more parabolic and require you to slow down and load and hold thru the cast differently. They fight fish very well since they bend more through the entire length of the rod blank. Both of these blanks are made by Blue Halo and the advances with graphite/fiberglass rod resins has brought the weight of fiberglass blanks down into super light weight in comparison to fiberglass rods of the past. Fiberglass will teach you to cast a more pure fly cast since you can't overpower the blank to make up for casting errors.

Yeah.....I'm a sick rod building puppy who cut my fly teeth on fiberglass blanks of the 70s. It's good for every fly fisherman to experience a true fiberglass blank, they are fun to cast and are very easy to cast since your timing is slowed down a bit.

[lovemylegacy]

A 4wt is a great small fish setup. For my all around single rod I usually carry a 6wt. It is light enough action on the rod to have some good fun fighting small fish but I can cast bass size flies much easier, especially deer hair.

I have an 8wt that I catch Reds and Bass. If you want to go in the gulf where you will encounter larger fish, go up to a 10 or bigger. Fish like Cobia, Jacks, Tarpon will require it.

[Kossetx]

Learning to cast is the key. I mean really learn to cast. After that, it works any way you want for the most part.

[Dry Bones]

Thought I would update this and then again when the rod gets here. After reading the warranties and reviews, and talking with as many people as I could I went with the 5wt Freshwater rod from "The Fly Shop" in Redding California.
I talked with John there and he was full of information and didn't seem to mind the questions of a newby. What really put me over the top besides knowing a few that are currently using the Fly Shop's rod is the warranty. Waiting on a new fly rod is almost as bad as waiting on a new longbow..

At The Wall, Thank you again for LOTS of good knowledge. Sure can't be first hand intel.

[El General]

There is an old fly rod saying that a rod needs a **** good reason to be shorter than 8’ and longer than 9’ and less than 5 weight. For trout fishing, a 9’ 5 weight is standard and can do most things really well.

Some people fish saltwater with a 6 weight, but it will suck when the wind blows, which is always. You should really have two different rods and reels for trout fishing and saltwater. It is just too different.

[Clay C]

Learning to cast is the key. I mean really learn to cast. After that, it works any way you want for the most part.

This is the main thing. I've never picked up a setup and thought, "well this isn't going to work for me, the trip is ruined". When you do learn how to cast, don't spend your time trying to go long. learn how to be proficient and accurate, it will get you a lot more fish than being able to throw a fly 80 feet. The distance thing can come later.


A good thing to keep in mind when selecting a setup is to start with the line. Find a line that will fish well in the situations you will be in and work backwards to the rod. There is no set criteria for rod weights, only line weights. Manufacturers build blanks they believe to match well with line weights. This is why you have some "5 weight" rods that can easily throw 7 weight lines, and some "7 weight rods" that are noodles.

[Dry Bones]

My new rod from the fly shop came today. I will try to get pics up soon, but it has a terrific feel and casting was quite smooth in the yard this evening. This is by far the most I have ever spent on a fishing set, and it wasn't all that bad.
The box was completely destroyed by the USPS and I was not home when it was delivered. My wife said our delivery guy just set it over the gate and hauled butt even though she was walking out there. She went ahead and opened the box and due to the exceptionally nice case the poles come in, it was not damaged.

I may keep this up as much as possible for now in hopes it helps someone else get started like myself.