Peter,

Help me out here before everyone jumps on me. What I am actually trying to
ascertain is this: what is the lowest weight of (travel) rod I can buy that
will allow me to use the 7 weight reel I have (which I bought to match my
old fiberglass rod). I would like to buy a 5 weight travel rod (since I have
been given to understand that is a the best "all-round" weight for trout),
but if that will require me to buy a new reel, I will get a 6 weight travel
rod instead.

If reels dont actually need to match rod weight at all, why do they oput
numbers on them?

Dan

"Peter Charles" wrote in message
...
The conventional answer is that the rod takes either a DT-5 or a WF-6
but that sometimes proves not to be true in practice. Preference also
plays a part as one might like a rod with a six while another prefers
it with a five. I've also cast multi-rated rods where they weren't
even close on one end of the range. The best that can be said with
certainty about these rods -- they aren't too fussy about what you put
on them. Novice casters should line it with the higher weight as it
will probably make it more forgiving to cast. With the higher weight
line, they will also more easily feel the rod load. If you're
planning on buying a 5/6, go with the WF-6.