Ryan Kral Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 Hey guys, looking for some advice. I am going to be doing my first spring creek trout trip this month in Wisconsin. The smallest rod I have now is my TFO 8'6, 5wt. I was considering purchasing a 4wt for this trip, and future trips. Having no experience fishing anything smaller than my 5wt, do you think it is worth purchasing a 4wt, or do you think I could get away with my 5wt. I can use 4wt line on my reel, just dont know if my rod would load properly? Any advice? Thanks, Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjtroester Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 ryan, a 5wt rod amd line will work fine. you can add a more delicate leader if yu like. if you want to invest in a lighter rod i think a 4wt is where most people head. i think, tho, you might be diappointed with the 4wt line, 5wt rod combo. timothy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronk Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 Try out the 4 line in your yard or at a nearby pond.If it casts ok there it'll cast ok anywhere wind conditions nothwithstanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul F Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 You will be fine with your 5wt setup. You will probably find that you will have a hard time loading your rod with 4wt line. I am actually running 7wt line on my 6wt rod because the 6wt line I had on it simply made any kind of short distance casting very difficult. On the othe hand though, the 7wt line is hard to control on farther casts. I guess you should do as Ron says and try the 4wt line out to see if you like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Sadowski Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 Hey Ryan-I fish quite a bit up in the driftless and northern WI. My advice would be to go with a 3 wt. I've always brought my 5 wt, but never needed to use it, even on the larger waters. The more important question may be long or short rod. If forced to choose, I'd go with the longer rod as it's more versatile as you can nymph, toss streamers, mend, dap, etc. a bit easier with added length. I switch between my short 6'3" Sage SLT 3 wt w/DT line for the really tight brushy areas but use my Loop 8'9" 3 wt most of the time. While I have tied into some large fish, light tackle will more than suffice and I think it also makes thing a touch more fun. If you are worried about being too light, consider for some perspective that I have seen some guys fish 1 wts and 000 wts and do quite well. IMO, lighter is better up there. You can't go wrong either way, you may even want to fish your 5 weight the first trip and then make up your mind. Good luck, and watch out for bulls and electric fences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Chausse Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 Never fished the Springs, but I have a good friend who guides in Wisconsin, and he has told me that rod/line weight doesn't matter as much as it pertains to 3 vs. 4 vs. 5. He has said that your leader length especially when nymphing is really the more important factor. His advice has been to go longer with your leader, because these fish tend to spook pretty easily. That being said, make sure you're packing a rod that can present that much leader and fly line and pick it back up without spooking the target out of a hole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul F Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 I cant imagine fishing a 1wt rod... It must be like fishing with a cooked spaghetti noodle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Sadowski Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 Ultralight is not for me either, but I have to say the rod I saw was a nifty thing indeed. I think it was a Sage, had one of those Daniellson Midge reels. It wasn't exactly toylike, more like a functional miniature. Plus the owner was a fantastic fisherman and I think it was just the next challenge for him. Also have to agree with the earlier poster, delicate presentations on long leaders and fine tippets are a greater factor than rod wt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Kral Posted March 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 Thanks for the replys, all good advice. Now Paul got me thinking of 3wts too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 This is just buying philosophy. If I was buying a array of rods, 4, 5, and 6 would not be my choice because the 5 can do as a heavy 4 or a light 6. 3, 5, and 7 makes sense because they are clearly distinct in performance. On your question, your 5 is close enough going in. It might even be dead on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjensen Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 I fish the driftless area quite a bit and have always used a 5 wt. Sometimes I'll use my graphite stick, sometimes bamboo, but always a 5 wt. I fish 7 1/2' 5x leaders with about 2' of 5 or 6x tippet. If water is somewhat clouded I'll use a 7 1/2' 4x flouro leader with 4x flouro tippet for streamers. One general rule of thumb: Unless you're fishing streamers, always cast upstream! During the early season unless there is a hatch of bwo's going on, I always fish a dry/dropper rig. Elk Hair Caddis as an indicator fly with either a flashback pheasant tail, caddis pupa, or midge larva dropper. Everybody has their own favorite combos, but this is mine, and I've averaged at least 25 fish a day with this set up for the last 3 years. There have been a couple 40+ fish days in there during the early season. The fishing up there has been fabulous since the floods 3 or 4 years ago. Have fun! Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Butler Posted March 11, 2011 Report Share Posted March 11, 2011 No two rods of the same weight are created equal. I have a very soft 7-weight that wont cast a Clouser to save its life, and I also have a very fast 7-weight that could probably throw a tarpon fly 70 yards! Likewise, I have multiple 4-weights that all handle very differently. For very small streams with little back-casting room, I really like my soft little 6-foot 4-weight more than anything. But it can't cast even the smallest nymph more than 25 yards on open water. You really don't know a rod until you cast it a few times.... -SB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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