Quote:
Originally Posted by scel
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.
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^I agree with 99% of this. I landed the biggest brown trout of my life testing a 2wt, and while I did land it and release it safely (pretty sure)..the whole time fighting it I was thinking F***! F***! F***! I don't think rod-weight-choice even IS a question of ethics, BUT, if you're going out with a 3wt. targeting big fish all the time, clearly you don't have a great deal of regard for the well-being OF the fish themselves. In my case, I was on a tiny stream expecting 10" fish, the 2wt. seemed like a good idea.
Seems like people have been parroting the 5wt as the ultimate trout rod forever, and while I think it's close to being that...I've yet to try a 5wt. that can bomb-out streamers in the wind effectively. Big streamers, OR heavy nymphs or nymph rigs/indicator rigs, etc. I've owned 2/3/4/5/7/9/10 over the years (multiple 3/4/5) and if I could start over...i'd probably get the best 4/6/8 I could afford, and be done with it unless I got into saltwater.
Naturally, not all rods are created equal...and someone's great/fast 4 may be better than someone else's lumpy/heavy 5wt., etc. So yes, it's entirely subjective. I'll add that if catching big fish on the "proper" weight fly rod has gotten boring to the point where you need to use a 3wt. to feel the thrill again, it may be time to take a break from fly fishing. lol