Hey guys, this is a great forum first off. Well i'm just going to get back into fly fishing again, as I used to fly fish about 10 years ago as a kid with an old 7wt.

My question is if i'm going to be fly fishing for trout, is there really too much of a difference between a 6wt and a 5wt? I'll be fly fishing a lot up in the Mammoth Lakes/Bishop area here in california, and also in the local San Bernardino mountains by my house. The fish average about a pound or so, and there are some alpers in the mammoth/bishop area that go over 1, with many 3-5 pounders.

I fund a nice starter kit from Scientific Anglers for $100, which is a 6wt, but it looks and feels like a light 6wt if that makes sense?

I also have built a nice trout jigging stick on a 5wt HMG blank before, but i'm just too lazy to go and build this one. Do yo guys think the 6wt will be fine for the trout fishing i'll be doing? Or should I try to look for a 5wt?


Thanks alot guys,

Jason

Jason:
Hello. I fly fish in the eastern Sierra, San Bernardino Mts, Lake Perris, Lake Silverwood, etc. and have never felt that I needed more than a 5 wt. The only lake in the Sierra that will really test a rod is Crowley. I have caught bass to 8 lbs. on my 5 wts. My favorite rods for my trout, bass and panfishing are a 3 and 4 wt. I have landed fish to 5 lbs. on a 4 wt. with no problems. A 5 wt. is pretty much a standard trout today. In the Sierra, it seems like a 3 or 4 wt. is becoming a standard rod. Most fish I catch are 2 lbs. or less and are alot more fun on a light rod. I think a 5 wt. would be good for the fishing you want to do.

Lanny

Hi Jason...

I've never fished the Sierras but do fish warmwater lakes here in Florida.
I'm with Lanny - I think you'd be really disappointed with a 6-wgt. The 5-wgt. (and maybe even a 4-wgt.) ought to serve you very, very well.

HTH,
5/0

Mr Shadow,

For the sierra's a 6wt is too much. My go to rod is a 4wt and it'll land anything in the area. Like others have posted, a 5wt is just about perfect, but i like a 4wt. If you buy the 6wt, I'll bet you'll be back buying a 4 or 5 wt before too long, doubling your expense!

Go lighter young man!

Crust

Hey Jason,
First of all welcome back to the wonderful world of flyfishing! I'd also like to say "howdy neighbor!" I'd have to concur with Crusty & Bulltrout! For fishing local mountain streams in the San Bernardino Mtns & San Gariel Mtns I'd recommend a 7'-8' 2-4wt. For example, I personally like fishing with my Sage 2wt 7'9"LL & 3wt 7'9"LL rods but my Sage 4wt7'11"LL is more versitale. As for the Eastern Sierras The above rods will work real well up there too! If you're planning on float tubing or fishing places like the Owens River a 9' 5wt will do the trick. Unless you are planning of fishing for some bass in our local reservoirs you really don't need a 6wt. Just my $0.02 worth. Good-luck!

Thanks alot guys. I guess it looks like i'll go with the 5 wt. So now I guess I need to restock my fly box, with some great patterns as well. I was thinking about getting a fly tying kit too, and get back into tying flies, but I think that may be for down the road.

Whiteshadow,
Since you live in Yucaipa I'd like to invite you to the next Deep Creek Fly Fishers (DCF) meeting on Wednesday, February 22 at the Izaak Walton Building in Fairmont Park, Riverside. We meet from 7pm to around 9pm. Our guest speaker will be Kevin Peterson and his topic is on Stillwater Midging. Our club's training schedule is the following:

Deep Creek Training Schedule 2006

Feb. 25, Mar. 4 and 11: Intro to Fly tying 9:00 to 4:00

Mar. 5: Beginning Flyfishing for Women. All day 9:30-4:30

Mar. 18: Intro. To Fly fishing—full day 8:30—4:40

Mar. 24-26: Lower Owens Stream fishing with Nymphs and Drys instruction. 8am to 4pm daily

Apr. 8: Intro. To fly casting—half day Held at the Izaak Walton Bldg.-8:00 to noon

June 3: Introduction to Entomology 8 to noon

Advanced casting 1:00pm to 4:00pm

Both classes held at the Izaak Walton Bldg. Coffee and soda will be available at all classes and full day classes will have a 1-hour lunch break (We will have a Weenie Roast for the Intro Class) Principle instructors will be Bud Novits, Mike Wright, Rick Proulx and Dave Parker with others helping out in their field of expertise. A Donation of $5.00 from club members is requested to assist in defraying costs.

Since you are interested in getting into fly tying I'd highly recommend the above classes. That way you'll have a better understanding of what equipment to buy afterwards. I'd recommend you stay away from the flytying kits as they generally have poor quality vise, tools, and materials. Besides, you will never use most of the materials. It's better to but a quality vise, tools, and materials of the flies you will fish with. Just my $0.02 worth. Good-luck!

Thanks for the invite. My friend Steve used to run the Deep Creek Fly Fishers website a few years ago, I don't know if he still is or not? This was back when I was running my own site as well.....socalfishing.net which is no longer up.

Is steve still doing stuff with the organization? I haven't heard from him for a while....

Yes, Steve Clark is still running the DCF's web site. You can still go to it at Deep Creek Fly Fishers (DCF) by clicking on the underlying link. Hope to see you at the next meeting next Wednesday, February 22 at the Izaak Walton Building, Fairmont Park, Riverside, CA from 7pm-9pm. If you need a map go to the above link and click on the map click. Take-care.

My feelings on a 5wt or 6 wt are, if you are going to fish in waters known for big fish, you can land them on both, but, do you plan on keeping the fish. 6 wt. you can land it faster and it's survival will be greatly increased. FWIW

Fly Goddess