mike_richardson
Active member
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2010
- Messages
- 1,564
Good morning everyone,
I have just be given a great opportunity. I am working with a company to get them established in the fly fishing business. They are an outfitter for deer, game birds, and water fowel right now. They are adding fly fishing to their line up of out fitting services.
I am their right hand man in setting up for their new ventures and will be doing some guiding for them, as well as supplying their flies. The company wants to offer a few set ups to have on site for me to teach customers to fly fish. The section of water we will be fishing is a private club. The small fish in this section of water are 16" and go up to 30". The average size is 18" - 24".
I was thinking that my standard 5 weight set up would not be the best choice in this situation, but I am worried than an 8 wieght would be too much. I will be fishing the club this weekend with my 5 weight, and also taking my 8 weight along to test things out. I catch a lot of trout in the 16" to 18" range and feel a 5 weight is ideal for trout of this size. you get the most action and have to play the fish out. I don't really land a whole lot of fish above the 20" mark, unfortunately so I am not sure if the 5 weight is too light for fish this size. I do know that while fishing in Erie I had 2 chromers on that I could not even turn with my 5 weight.
My question for you all is this: Is a 6 weight the most ideal rod for this situation. Stiff enough to turn the big fish, but light enough to really teach these guys good casting techniques. How do you think a rookie fly fisherman would do battling a 24" trout on a 5 or 6 weight rod. I think starting out with an 8 weight would be tough to get the hang of things. May be that is because I started out with a 5 weight.
Any helpful insight is appreciated. Please do not bash on this thread about "Pay to play" and such. I am very excited to get a start at turning my love of teaching people to fly fish as a career, and please don't ruin that for me. Most of their potential clients have never picked up a fly rod in their life.
Thanks,
Mike
I have just be given a great opportunity. I am working with a company to get them established in the fly fishing business. They are an outfitter for deer, game birds, and water fowel right now. They are adding fly fishing to their line up of out fitting services.
I am their right hand man in setting up for their new ventures and will be doing some guiding for them, as well as supplying their flies. The company wants to offer a few set ups to have on site for me to teach customers to fly fish. The section of water we will be fishing is a private club. The small fish in this section of water are 16" and go up to 30". The average size is 18" - 24".
I was thinking that my standard 5 weight set up would not be the best choice in this situation, but I am worried than an 8 wieght would be too much. I will be fishing the club this weekend with my 5 weight, and also taking my 8 weight along to test things out. I catch a lot of trout in the 16" to 18" range and feel a 5 weight is ideal for trout of this size. you get the most action and have to play the fish out. I don't really land a whole lot of fish above the 20" mark, unfortunately so I am not sure if the 5 weight is too light for fish this size. I do know that while fishing in Erie I had 2 chromers on that I could not even turn with my 5 weight.
My question for you all is this: Is a 6 weight the most ideal rod for this situation. Stiff enough to turn the big fish, but light enough to really teach these guys good casting techniques. How do you think a rookie fly fisherman would do battling a 24" trout on a 5 or 6 weight rod. I think starting out with an 8 weight would be tough to get the hang of things. May be that is because I started out with a 5 weight.
Any helpful insight is appreciated. Please do not bash on this thread about "Pay to play" and such. I am very excited to get a start at turning my love of teaching people to fly fish as a career, and please don't ruin that for me. Most of their potential clients have never picked up a fly rod in their life.
Thanks,
Mike