What rod wt for what species?
Docked Wages
Posts: 2,881 Admin
I am still a novice fly fisherman and steadily becoming an addict. I picked up an 8wt about three years ago and a size 9 reel. I put little effort into becoming adequate until recently. My vision was to catch large saltwater fish equal to spin or jig tackle. I failed miserably during this cobia season on fly, but did ok in the bahamas with bonefish and in Canada with Northern and Walleye.
I want to target small trout in the river, jacks or oversized reds at the inlet and work my way up to tarpon on the beach. In reference to another post here, what advantage is a rod smaller than 8wt? Does my one set up for all tackle seem to ridiculous? (silly question if I look at my saltwater inventory)
What size rods work for what species?
Currently I have one reel with floating line but found that to be a destraction in Canada, had to add pinch wts to get it to sink. That hurt my hook up ratio I believe. When do you use Sinking line? Any general tips would be appreciated and thanks in advance for any discussion or advice.
I want to target small trout in the river, jacks or oversized reds at the inlet and work my way up to tarpon on the beach. In reference to another post here, what advantage is a rod smaller than 8wt? Does my one set up for all tackle seem to ridiculous? (silly question if I look at my saltwater inventory)
What size rods work for what species?
Currently I have one reel with floating line but found that to be a destraction in Canada, had to add pinch wts to get it to sink. That hurt my hook up ratio I believe. When do you use Sinking line? Any general tips would be appreciated and thanks in advance for any discussion or advice.
Mark P. Wilson
Marine Surveyor
Marine Surveyor
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Replies
Although I stayed with hook sizes you can be certain they directly relate to the actual size of the fly you're casting. Bigger, bulkier flies (and the larger, heavier hooks they come with) need heavier rods to cast properly (and that's just in ideal conditions - you rarely find perfect conditions when you're actually fishing...). My usual advice to anyone starting out or branching out is to carefully think about what you want to do with a fly rod (that your current rod doesn't do very well...) and go in that direction - but always skip a line size to get the widest coverage. If you have an 8wt and want to chase bigger fish, the next rod should be a 10wt... If you have a 9wt and want something smaller pick up a 7wt... One very real benefit from a smaller rod is that lighter lines land softer than bigger lines when you're fishing really shallow where fish are spooky.... Of course those same lighter rods are just miserable to fish with when the wind is howling and all the fish seem to be upwind....
Isn't fly fishing fun?
Bob LeMay
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This past week a lot of us went to 9 wts throwing 1/0 flies for the "big girls" to get that softer presentation with variable winds and spooky educated tarpon. Along the beach in a strong current I want to use the big sticks so I can maximize the pressure I put on the fish. If wave action is affecting my line I'll go to an intermediate to get beneath those pesky waves. Like many other things in life, set and setting, need to be accounted for.
PS: Shooting heads are an inexpensive method of having several sink rates available to you with minimal effort to change lines if you are on a tight budget. Using a loop to loop setup, it only takes a couple of minutes to change the shooting head.
You've seen what a hassle adding weights to the leader can be to casting. I like drifting the 3-8 ft grass flats, and use sink tips almost exclusively. The floaters I save for the really shallow water and on- or near-surface flies. The rods I use most often (for trout, reds, spanish, ladies, jacks, blues, etc) are 6 thru 8 wts and I use lines from a Type I sink tip (Slow, 1-2 ips sink rate) to Type 6 (XXFast, 6-8 ips) for each. I feel the ST's make it easier to feel strikes, control, pick up, and cast than the full sink lines. Some will claim they "hinge", but that was 80's technology. My general rule of thumb is a Type I for the 2-3 ft shallows, a Type III for 4-7 ft depths and a Type 6 or 7 for the 10-ft channels in winter. You can also get Depth Charge type lines for really getting down.
As someone above correctly pointed out, the warm waters of Fla really make two types of lines necessary: A tropical type for warmer weather and standard (or coldwater) type for winter. The former will coil and snarl and feel like barbed wire in winter while the latter will wilt and get sticky in summer.
So decide how deep you need to fish and at what time of year and look for lines that fit your needs. Rio, SA, Cortland, and Airflo all make great lines.
From reading this post I think that I will strip the floating line off my 9wt reel and replace it with sinking line to target the larger saltwater species.
I will look to acquire a 6-7wt rod and spool that with floating line. With this set up what lb test backing should I use and can it be simple braid (ie crystal 10lb perhaps) ? My larger 9 wt reel has 20lb dacron I believe.
Thanks again for the replies.
Marine Surveyor