9' 4 weight or 5 weight?

bassistjon112

bassistjon112

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I'm not sure what line weight to go with.. 4 or 5 weight, I never used a long rod such as 9' for trout fishing but I want to try it.

I'm not sure if Id like a 5 weight because in my experience 5 weights aren't sensitive enough, I feel like i could easily land a decently sized carp on them.

I also haven't seen to many 9' 4 weights though and every company seems to have a 9' 5 weight, so I don't feel like I have many options

So far Ive seen Albright's a-5 9' 4 weight which is OK priced but i hate spending a whole lot of money on just a fishing rod. And then i saw cabelas 9' 5 weight for $60 and albright has a 9' 5w that looks promising, it's also the same price.

what do you guys think is the better choice? The best combination?


Thanks,
~Jon
 
I have a 9' 4wt in the swap forum. You wouldn't happen to have a steel/salmon setup you'd like to exchange, do ya?
 
A five weight is infinitely more versatile. I own both sizes, and the 5 covers a lot more fishing opportunities. Throwing heavy streamers at penns sucks with a 4wt. In Montana, the 4 would have been unusable. I also enjoy taking the 5 as a light smallmouth rod.

If I were looking for a dry fly rod or light nymphing setup, I'd take the 4. If I wanted a rod that fishes like I do (lots of lead, multiple nymph rigs, sink tips and streamers, as well as dainty dries), I'd get the 5.
 
If you nymph a 5 wt or 6 wt makes more sense.
 
I nymph but I do a lot of small fly fishing, i like sensitivity so I feel like I am leaning towards a 4 weight unless I found a decently priced 5 weight that was sensitive and limber enough.

I think a 4 weight might work since I fish a 3 weight and have no probably throwing streamers. I think I'm looking more for experiences of people who have these sized rods and what they think of them?

I'm not to familiar with this practice but what about 4 weight rods over lined with a 5 weight line? what are the cons and pros?
 
Truth be told i like light rods. I use a 3 wt on any pa stream , minus thowin to steel, but these guys are right. The 5 is way more versatile. While you cannot test a rod over the net, my advice is go to a shop and feel them both. The best way to choose a rod is to hold it.
 
Over lining can be done and will allow you to punch more line out.

Personally when i owned a 4 wt i underlined it. I wanted a softer and more sensitive feel. I dont do this with my 3 wt.
 
For trout fishing get a good, medium or medium-fast action 9 foot 5 weight and you will be very happy. Too many rods nowadays are far too stiff and a 5 weight is really a 6.5 or 7 weight – this is why you probably think they aren’t sensitive enough.

A good reasonably priced rod is the Temple Fork Finesse Series (medium action about $170) or the Temple Fork Professional Series (medium-fast to fast but still sensitive about $140). The Temple Fork Signature series isn’t bad for the price (about $100) but it is a little stiffer than the other two.

Unfortunately if you want fast action with a sensitive feel, you’re going to have to go to a high-end rod maker like Sage, Winston, Scott, Thomas and Thomas or Loomis. Far too many low-end maker fast action rods are simply poorly made and have no feel because the tips are too heavy. The reason is it adds production cost to produce thinner tips that are straight so most tips end up being made too fat. The fatter tip throws the entire taper off and the result is a stiff rod that is underrated with no feel. For the price a really nice fast action rod is the Sage Flight series.

If you really want to feel what a great medium-fast action rod feels like, pick up the 8.5 foot Winston WT 5 weight rod, which is one of the standards that all 5 weight rods are measured by.
 
If you dont think that 5wt are sensitive enough try one with a full of mid flex. I think if you took both out and fished with them you'd prefer the 5wt it's a very good rod the 9ft 5wt.
 
Dear bassistjon,

I'm going to agree with what Jay L and DGC said with the only qualifier being what streams will you fish mostly? For example if Spring Creek, Big Fishing Creek, the Little Lehigh etc. or streams of similar size are the predominant streams you will be fishing a 4 weight will work for most all of your fishing even the nymphs and streamers.

If you are planning on being on larger streams like Penns, the Lehigh, the Delaware etc. where wind often plays a bigger role then a 5 weight will probably be more versatile and even a 6 weight would not be out of the question.

One thing that I think people often lose sight of is that the fly line is the delivery system for the fly. If you want to throw larger more wind resistant flies and/or weight that is much easier to accomplish with a heavier line weight. You can always fish 6X or 7X and tricos or midges on a 6 weight, you often cannot fish size 2 or 4 weighted wooly buggers or sculpins on a 4 weight. I'm not saying the last statement is impossible to accomplish, but it's a lot more fun with the right line weight.

One last thought. When I started fly fishing for trout a 5 or a 6 weight was considered the normal "trout" line weight. To this day I know small stream specialists who still insist on using a 7 1/2 foot 5 or 6 weight rod and it doesn't seem to hurt their fish catching ability one bit.

You can always buy one rod now and another one later like everyone seems to do anyway. ;-)

Regards,
Tim Murphy :)
 
Well I normally fish a 7'6" 3 weight but when I went fishing a week or two ago I tried my 8' 5 weight and I could barely feel the fish the end of my line. I mean sure I could cast a variety of things but at what cost. I kind feel like that rod is better suited for bass or some thing.
 
I would say it definitely depends on the manufacturer. A 9"4wt Scott isn't going to perform the same as a Loomis or a Sage. It depends on what youre looking for , for me a med. action 9"4wt is the consummate spring creek rod. Heavy enough to throw a pair of Beadhead Ptails but still sensitive enough to feel them ticking along the bottom.

buy what you love ,love what you buy make no excuses.

wetwade
 
bassistjon112 wrote:
Well I normally fish a 7'6" 3 weight but when I went fishing a week or two ago I tried my 8' 5 weight and I could barely feel the fish the end of my line. I mean sure I could cast a variety of things but at what cost. I kind feel like that rod is better suited for bass or some thing.

Dear bassistjon,

What's your 5 weight made out of, reinforced titanium? ;-)

Lighter weight rods certainly have a place, and if that is what you prefer then by all means use one. But please use it properly, don't be like so many people that I see who play a 12 inch fish to exhaustion "just to get the feel of the fish." Especially if your intent is to release the fish.

A fish like that should almost never need to be revived, yet I constantly see people who are reduced to nursing a small fish back to health. I'll never understand that?

A big part of the responsibility of the catch and release angler is treating and fighting the fish fairly. Landing a 12 inch trout on a fly rod is at worst a 30 second job, please kept that in mind when when you are "feeling the fish," the fish will thank you for that. ;-)

Regards,
Tim Murphy :)
 
TimMurphy wrote:

Dear bassistjon,

What's your 5 weight made out of, reinforced titanium? ;-)

Lighter weight rods certainly have a place, and if that is what you prefer then by all means use one. But please use it properly, don't be like so many people that I see who play a 12 inch fish to exhaustion "just to get the feel of the fish." Especially if your intent is too release the fish.

A fish like that should almost never need to be revived, yet I constantly see people who are reduced to nursing a small fish back to health.

A big part of the responsibility of the catch and release angler is treating and fighting the a fish fairly. Landing a 12 inch trout on a fly rod is at worst a 30 second job, please kept that in mind when when you are "feeling the fish," the fish will thank you for that. ;-)

Regards,
Tim Murphy :)

I was using a cabelas heritage rod, it has a lot of backbone I guess I could say.

I know how to handle light rods so I can assure you I don't over play fish. I get them in as quick as I can. I don't use light tippets like every one else, 4x is small as I go. Every once in the while ill use 5x ;)
 
bassistjon112 wrote:
TimMurphy wrote:

Dear bassistjon,

What's your 5 weight made out of, reinforced titanium? ;-)

Lighter weight rods certainly have a place, and if that is what you prefer then by all means use one. But please use it properly, don't be like so many people that I see who play a 12 inch fish to exhaustion "just to get the feel of the fish." Especially if your intent is too release the fish.

A fish like that should almost never need to be revived, yet I constantly see people who are reduced to nursing a small fish back to health.

A big part of the responsibility of the catch and release angler is treating and fighting the a fish fairly. Landing a 12 inch trout on a fly rod is at worst a 30 second job, please kept that in mind when when you are "feeling the fish," the fish will thank you for that. ;-)

Regards,
Tim Murphy :)

I was using a cabelas heritage rod, it has a lot of backbone I guess I could say.

I know how to handle light rods so I can assure you I don't over play fish. I get them in as quick as I can. I don't use light tippets like every one else, 4x is small as I go. Every once in the while ill use 5x ;)

Dear bassistjon,

That's good to know and I hope you don't think that I was directly implicating you? That definitely wasn't my intent.

I just see a lot of people holding the rod high and then raising it to hear the reel drag go without much concern for the fish. Catching fish is one thing, punishing them is another thing entirely.

I just like people to occasionally think about things from the perspective of the fish, it appears that you do just that. :)

Regards,
Tim Murphy :)
 
GreenWeenie wrote:
Unfortunately if you want fast action with a sensitive feel, you’re going to have to go to a high-end rod maker like Sage, Winston, Scott, Thomas and Thomas or Loomis. Far too many low-end maker fast action rods are simply poorly made and have no feel because the tips are too heavy. The reason is it adds production cost to produce thinner tips that are straight so most tips end up being made too fat. The fatter tip throws the entire taper off and the result is a stiff rod that is underrated with no feel. For the price a really nice fast action rod is the Sage Flight series.


GW saved me a lot of writing. Add to the above that low end rods usually use low modulus graphite because of cost, making them very clunky when tapered for a fast action.

Go out an cast some rods before you decide. Right now the Sage Launch rods are on sale. It's a decent rod now at a decent price. IMO, it's more of a medium action than fast.

Also to paraphrase Tim M., a 5wt can do everthing a 4wt can do, but the reverse is not true. Since you have a short 3wt, the logical choice would be to add a longer 5wt for nymphing, larger flies, and casting a little further. Shop around until you find one you really like..they are out there in your price range.

Also, think about buying a used rod on ebay. There are some nice rods out there at good prices. Would you rather have a new Ford Fiesta or a used Beamer? Good luck.
 
salvelinusfontinalis wrote:
Over lining can be done and will allow you to punch more line out.

Personally when i owned a 4 wt i underlined it. I wanted a softer and more sensitive feel. I dont do this with my 3 wt.

Wouldn't underlining a rod make it stiffer? As in you are not loading it as much?
 
I have a 3 and 4 weight 8 foot rod and a 5 weight 9 foot rod all medium action. If I had to pick just one rod it would be my 5 weight hands down. As others have said, since you currently have a short 3 weight, adding a 4 weight would definitely give you more flexibility BUT there still would be a lot of overlap between the two. Going with a well made 9 foot 5 weight rod will give you much more flexibility for throwing larger flies, dealing with wind, fishing larger more open water, etc. And a well made 5 weight rod can protect fine tippets and delicately deliver small flies at close ranges when needed.

As AFish pointed out, the Sage Launch rod is a very nice rod. Check out www.redtruckflyfishing.com and ww.kitterytradingpost.com - both have them on blowout (about half price) and both are reputable companies.
 
Since you like to nymph fish, get the 5 weight.
If you decide to go a little lighter, and get a 4 weight rod down the road, you can still use the 5 weight reel and line on it.
I use an 8'6" 4 weight for the bulk of my fishing, which is dries only of course. But I do have a 9' 5 weight that I break out on the largest streams. And use an Orvis battenkill reel spooled with a 5 weight line for both rods
 
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