Quote:
Originally Posted by lakerman
Been fishing with a 5wt for a few years now and seen a 16 inch trout caught on a 3wt, I think I'd like to get a 3wt, What are others using, opinions?
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It depends where you fish and for what species.
The 5wt is a weird weight rod. It is a good trout rod, pretty good at all trout fishing, but not really exceptional. It cannot throw dries like a 4wt, nor can it throw streamers like a 6wt.
If you want to fish the Bow River, a 3wt is not a good tool. If you want to fish southern AB, it takes a very, very skilled caster to battle inevitable wind with a 4wt. On occasion, I have even broken out the 6wt to catch 8" brook trout, just to battle the wind.
Honestly, it is not ethical to use a 3wt to catch large trout on catch-n-release waters. Occasionally, it happens because, well, fishing, and that is totally awesome. If you are targetting large trout (16" or greater), a 5wt or greater is the tool to use
In Alberta, 4-6-8wt covers 100% of your fishing. In other places 3-5-7wt is the choice, but it leaves you undergunned for pike and, from my experience, underpowered to battle the wind in all the places where a 3wt would shine in ideal conditions (like the Oldman watershed or the Red Deer River watershed spring creeks).
If I were adding a second rod to my quiver, I would probably add a 6wt, to throw the streamers for those really big fish or a fast action 4wt that has enough power to punch the dry flies in a moderate wind.