4wt or 5wt

DanteT12

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Looking to get back into the hobby. Im in Central PA minutes away from the Little J. Been debating between a 4wt or 5wt 9ft. I like the Lamson line up they have a medium action or a med fast action. What would you all suggest I would have the most success with around here? I was debating about a Euro Nymphing rig but that sounds like it's just going to pigeon hole me into one technique with on rod.
 
I've kind of lost my taste for 10' rods, but last Sunday I ended up using the guides 10'4wt Clearwater to cast hopper dropper rigs 50' to the bank. It went better than I would have expected, and Yes, I would have preferred my 9'6wt. To be fair, the hoppers were smaller than average, not the giant Chubby Chernobyl.
If you'd like nymphing versatility, give serious consideration to the 10'4wt.
 
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If I was only going to have one rod for quite a while, I'd buy the 5 weight. I use a 4 weight for 100% of my trout fishing needs here in PA, but I have never owned a 5. My first rod was a 6 weight.

Regardless, I'd probably buy the 9' 5 weight. It is a good all-around starting place for you. Streamers, nymphing, dries, it can do it all.
 
Looking to get back into the hobby. Im in Central PA minutes away from the Little J. Been debating between a 4wt or 5wt 9ft. I like the Lamson line up they have a medium action or a med fast action. What would you all suggest I would have the most success with around here? I was debating about a Euro Nymphing rig but that sounds like it's just going to pigeon hole me into one technique with on rod.
Dear Dante T12,

Like others have said above, a 9ft 5 weight offers the most versatility in the "normal" trout weights. Even if you want to go to a warm-water lake one time and catch sunnies and then hook a nice bass and go, "I guess I need a 7 or 8 weight." you will never find a need to toss the 5 weight aside unless you chose to specialize in light line or specific techniques.

I would suggest you visit a fly shop and test cast a few rods. There are 5 weights that are stiff enough to pierce elephant hide as a dart and there 5 weights that have the backbone of 12-minute spaghetti. That's a big range. The best thing you can do is try and then buy something that suits your needs rather than ordering something you think you'll like and setting it a closet to gather dust.

If you have friends that fly fish ask them if you can test cast their rods. If you live close to Harrisburg, I can put a half-dozen 5 weights in your hand to try and nail down what you like.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂
 
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If only one road, I would go 5 wt., even though that is the weight I fish the least. 3&4 see most of the action.

However, early season with weighted streamers, dry dropper and weighted nymphs can be handled a little better with the additional line weight.
 
Echo, Redington, Lamson all have good entry level kits that come with everything you need and the rods are good rods. As everyone else said a 9' 5w is a good jack of all trades and if you get sucked into this full tilt it will always serve as a good backup. I still have my Redington Pursuit 9' 5w and use it occasionally and always take it as a spare.
 
If I only had one rod in Pennsylvania it would be a 5wt. It's like an SUV for fly fishing in this part of the country. It can do a lot for you and cover a lot of bases. I really do enjoy getting my 4wt out when I'm in some smaller waters.
 
I’m not really known too well around here for short posts, but think about this, as I think it carries a fair bit of weight if you think about it.

The 5 weight will do light things better than the 4 weight will do heavy things.

5wt.
 
Looking to get back into the hobby. Im in Central PA minutes away from the Little J. Been debating between a 4wt or 5wt 9ft. I like the Lamson line up they have a medium action or a med fast action. What would you all suggest I would have the most success with around here? I was debating about a Euro Nymphing rig but that sounds like it's just going to pigeon hole me into one technique with on rod.
Both!
 
The 5 weight will do light things better than the 4 weight will do heavy things.

5wt.


That is the answer.

I really like my 4wt for dry fly fishing. I mostly dry fly fish. If I only had one rod, though, I wouldn't want it to be a 4wt. It would be a five or maybe a six.
 
I started out with graphite 30 yrs ago. 4-5-6 wts. And coincidentally, mostly on the Little J. A case could be made that the graphite back then was slower than the rods being made today, but honestly, there are so many options anymore, especially from custom/smaller makers, in many cases that won't necessarily break the bank, that you can basically get whatever you want.

Absolutely cast a pile of rods to see what you like. That is the best advice given. Traditionally, rods for wet fly swinging/streamers were slower flexing than dry fly actions, but sometimes that didn't/doesn't mean anything depending on what you liked in terms of feel, and how you integrate a given rod with your casting stroke/preferred style.

About 15 years ago a buddy insisted on lending me his 7' split bamboo rod 5 wt for a couple weeks. It was a real fancy-pants rod, it would have set me back a weeks salary or more; I was almost too afraid to use it. It was like agreeing on going to the dance with your buddies out of town cousin, and on sight, seeing she was some way out of my league goddess.

After I got the balls to try that cane rod, it was a revelation. It was the sweetest casting rod I had ever used. It opened a new perspective on fly rods for me. No way I could afford that one, I learned about how generally, bamboo and fiberglass can have similar feel, and found that to be the case for me. Since then, I have gotten rid of all but two graphite rods and pretty much exclusively fish bamboo and glass for trout.

My specific recommendation for you will be biased towards vintage bamboo-just offered up as a 'third way' option, in what I would consider 'if I only had one rod to fish the Little J'; and yes, while I live in Iowa, I spend close to a month in PA through the year visiting family and have fished the Little J many, many times.

8-1/2' South Bend 346 HEH (casts a modern 5 wt)

8-1/2' Heddon 2F #10 (and higher grades) (casts a modern 6wt)
 
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One rod? One rod?!

If it’s gotta be just one, give me a 6wt. 😉

I once threw the wrong rod tube in the car en route to fishing a small, steep Brookie stream. Brain flatulence. Fished with a 9’ 6wt that day. It was a compromise and it made some spots a little more difficult, but it did way better than I ever thought it would. I still caught plenty of fish that day. I’d much rather do that than try to hustle a little Brookie rod on Penns all day, for example, which coincidentally I’ve also done. Had a relatively new FFer with me who broke his rod. I gave him my normal Penns 5wt for the rest of the day and the only other rod I had with me that day was a 7’6 3wt. That wasn’t a lot of fun.
 
If it’s gotta be just one, give me a 6wt. 😉

I once threw the wrong rod tube in the car en route to fishing a small, steep Brookie stream. Brain flatulence. Fished with a 9’ 6wt that day. It was a compromise and it made some spots a little more difficult, but it did way better than I ever thought it would. I still caught plenty of fish that day. I’d much rather do that than try to hustle a little Brookie rod on Penns all day, for example, which coincidentally I’ve also done. Had a relatively new FFer with me who broke his rod. I gave him my normal Penns 5wt for the rest of the day and the only other rod I had with me that day was a 7’6 3wt. That wasn’t a lot of fun.
I am fairly certain Joe Humphreys did much of his small stream fishing with a 6w.
 
I still fish with the 8' 5 wt. that my FIL made and gave to me over 35 years ago when I started this undertaking. For PA and sneaking onto the ponds at the local country club in MD, it's all I ever needed. I also have a 9' 5 wt. and a bunch of other "backups."
 
If only one road, I would go 5 wt., even though that is the weight I fish the least. 3&4 see most of the action.

However, early season with weighted streamers, dry dropper and weighted nymphs can be handled a little better with the additional line weight.

This would be my advice as well and I'm another who uses a 3 or 4 weight far more frequently than a 5.
 
I've kind of lost my taste for 10' rods, but last Sunday I ended up using the guides 10'4wt Clearwater to cast hopper dropper rigs 50' to the bank. It went better than I would have expected, and Yes, I would have preferred my 9'6wt. To be fair, the hoppers were smaller than average, not the giant Chubby Chernobyl.
If you'd like nymphing versatility, give serious consideration to the 10'4wt.
I was going to say the same thing. I fished my 10ft Clearwater 4wt. out west and it performed well. I does have limits on windy days, but it was throwing pretty large hopper (12-8 hooks) dropper rigs and some size 16 dry flies and doing a nice job. Also the Echo Carbon 5wt is a good choice. Since I fish mostly in the east my go to rod will almost always be a 4 wt.
 
All waters require different approaches at different times, but LJ's size magnifies those considerations, especially as regards dealing with wind, strong current and long casting distances. If one 9ft graphite rod is your goal, a 5 wt beats the 4 handily.

If you could modify your price points and get two rods, a 10 ft euro that can throw dries is very desirable.

To be taken with a grain of salt, as I am almost exclusively a dry fly or soft hackle angler with 8.5 ft split cane. EXCEPT in early Spring, when a 10 footer I built 25 years ago sees some action.
 
buy two of these - they are great for the money
 

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