I'm new to fly fish, I have older cheaper equipment. I wondering what weight to use for small mountain trout but capable of bigger fish if necessary. There is some salmon in one of the lake.
It's hard for one rod to do both small trout and salmon but I would say a 7wt. It's a little heavy for small trout and light for salmon but considering your in a lake there's no current for the salmon to use against you
If casting 5wt-6wt, if trolling 6wt-7wt, if ripping 7wt-8wt. A 6wt is my go-to as an all around fly rod for trout, and warm water critters.
With fly gear people often overlook the reel, an old school small spool reel will require many more revolutions to re-gain line that has been spooled out, plenty of backing or a larger arbor style reel can make a world of difference trying to re-gain line up on a nice trout.
Also fly rods with a stiffer back bone usually make for more efficient casting.
Newer age fly lines are also a vast improvement over many of the older offerings particularly if casting.
Good question there Mikebossy. If it's kokanee, you can get away with lighter equipment.
Notwithstanding the salmon issue, for small mountain creek trout, I prefer outfits in the 2 to 4 weight range. But I agree with the other posters, if you're limited to one outfit to cover all bases, I'd choose a 5-6 weight. Can really depend on the species and average size of those salmon you expect to catch, but a 5-6 weight should do it.
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