Beginner question.

Hello,
Have been reading the forum for some time now and am really grateful
for all the information that is shared, it has answered alot of
questions I had. I live near the Rocky River in Northeast Ohio. Right
now there are steelhead in the river and it has caused people fishing
down there to act as aggressive as the fish they are after. So I fish
it in the Spring through early Fall and target smallmouth and
bluegills. The smallmouth are in the 10"-16" range and put up a good
fight.. I'm looking to buy a new rod and am trying to decide between a
5 or a 6 wt is there a considerable difference?. I'm rather new to fly
fishing, have been spin fishing for about 25yrs. After I got over the
intimidation factor of it and became passable with my casting I
realized what an enjoyable experience it can be.
Rocky river is a small-medium sized river and is a Lake Erie tributary.
Right now I have a fiberglass 8' rod and it feels like a tree trunk
with a spaghetti complex...plus I have a bit of cabin fever and feel
the need to buy something so I can look at it in the basement for a
month or two and use my imagination. But I've heard ranges all over the
wt scale for smallmouth and was just wondering what some have used wt.
and length wise.
Thanks,
Janus

typed:
Hello,

Howdy. Welcome.
snip
So I fish
it in the Spring through early Fall and target smallmouth and
bluegills. The smallmouth are in the 10"-16" range and put up a good
fight.. I'm looking to buy a new rod and am trying to decide between a
5 or a 6 wt is there a considerable difference?

You'd probably be fine with a 5wt for both targets, 'tho bluegill are a
blast on a lighter (3-4wt) rod. For most fishing conditions, you may want a
8.5-9' rod to make it easier for roll-casting and mending.
--
TL,
Tim
-------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

wrote in message
ups.com...

I live near the Rocky River in Northeast Ohio. Right
now there are steelhead in the river and it has caused people fishing
down there to act as aggressive as the fish they are after. So I fish
it in the Spring through early Fall and target smallmouth and
bluegills. The smallmouth are in the 10"-16" range and put up a good
fight.. I'm looking to buy a new rod and am trying to decide between a
5 or a 6 wt is there a considerable difference?.

The difference is as small as any between rod sizes.
You should probably consider:
1. How big and how small will your flies be? A size 6
line can cast as small as #18 (smaller than you will need
on the Rocky R.) but would be hard put to cast a streamer
larger than #4 all day long.
2. What length of rod suits you best? On overgrown streams
7 feet and a half is long, but on lakes 8 feet is short.

In your place I would look for a size 7 outfit 8.5 to 9 feet
long. This will fish (all day) streamers up to #2 and dry
flies as small as #16. It is important to buy from a local
retailer who will let you try the whole outfit (including
reel and line) to be sure it is well-balanced and light and
responsive in the hand.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

i would consider using a pole about 12m-24 meters out in the deep
waters were the fish will be spawning.
And feed casters and a light ground bait so when it hits the surface of
the water it breaks up, and will create a cloudy atmospher in the
water.
And fish maggots over it beacuse the fish will copmet over them and
will increase your bites

wrote in message
ups.com...
i would consider using a pole about 12m-24 meters out in the deep
waters were the fish will be spawning.
And feed casters and a light ground bait so when it hits the surface of
the water it breaks up, and will create a cloudy atmospher in the
water.
And fish maggots over it beacuse the fish will copmet over them and
will increase your bites

Personally, I would use a 600 meter pole, as this would allow me to reach
the river without the bother of leaving the rear stoop. But, to each his
own, I guess.

Wolfgang
who hopes it shouldn't be necessary to point out that all other
considerations aside, the lighter weights....say a 3 or a 4....are much more
manageable over the course of a long day's fishing as the length of the rod
increases.

wrote:

i would consider using a pole about 12m-24 meters out in the deep
waters were the fish will be spawning.
And feed casters and a light ground bait so when it hits the surface of
the water it breaks up, and will create a cloudy atmospher in the
water.
And fish maggots over it beacuse the fish will copmet over them and
will increase your bites


yuk... something about this just doesn't seem right to me. and it's not
just the "fish maggots"... is this what y'all call "coarse" fishing?

wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello,
Have been reading the forum for some time now and am really grateful
for all the information that is shared, it has answered alot of
questions I had. I live near the Rocky River in Northeast Ohio. Right
now there are steelhead in the river and it has caused people fishing
down there to act as aggressive as the fish they are after. So I fish
it in the Spring through early Fall and target smallmouth and
bluegills. The smallmouth are in the 10"-16" range and put up a good
fight.. I'm looking to buy a new rod and am trying to decide between a
5 or a 6 wt is there a considerable difference?. I'm rather new to fly
fishing, have been spin fishing for about 25yrs. After I got over the
intimidation factor of it and became passable with my casting I
realized what an enjoyable experience it can be.
Rocky river is a small-medium sized river and is a Lake Erie tributary.
Right now I have a fiberglass 8' rod and it feels like a tree trunk
with a spaghetti complex...plus I have a bit of cabin fever and feel
the need to buy something so I can look at it in the basement for a
month or two and use my imagination. But I've heard ranges all over the
wt scale for smallmouth and was just wondering what some have used wt.
and length wise.
Thanks,
Janus


Pal, I'm down here in southwest Ohio and I use a 5 wt for virtually
everything, I target smallmouth and trout when I do get to go trout fishing.
for steelhead and other species...or if I start throwing big bass bugs I use
an 8 wt.

You have to be careful, some of the guys here have so many rods they use a
color chart to pick what rod to use depending on the sunspot activity...

I've hit the grand up your way some and find it a dandy little smallmouth
river, especially in the spring. I've not yet fished any of the Rocky.

You ever get down to the southern part of the state give a holler...

john...

although I did fish once with a four foot fourteen weight and 80 pound test.
We'd sit in the firehouse a toss a wallet on the sidewalk...Man people would
run, run, run after it...not thinking that DUH! wallets don't move. I
actually had one guy on for about 15 seconds...!

wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello,
Have been reading the forum for some time now and am really grateful
for all the information that is shared, it has answered alot of
questions I had. I live near the Rocky River in Northeast Ohio. Right
now there are steelhead in the river and it has caused people fishing
down there to act as aggressive as the fish they are after. So I fish
it in the Spring through early Fall and target smallmouth and
bluegills. The smallmouth are in the 10"-16" range and put up a good
fight.. I'm looking to buy a new rod and am trying to decide between a
5 or a 6 wt is there a considerable difference?. I'm rather new to fly
fishing, have been spin fishing for about 25yrs. After I got over the
intimidation factor of it and became passable with my casting I
realized what an enjoyable experience it can be.
Rocky river is a small-medium sized river and is a Lake Erie tributary.
Right now I have a fiberglass 8' rod and it feels like a tree trunk
with a spaghetti complex...plus I have a bit of cabin fever and feel
the need to buy something so I can look at it in the basement for a
month or two and use my imagination. But I've heard ranges all over the
wt scale for smallmouth and was just wondering what some have used wt.
and length wise.
Thanks,
Janus



Since there are steelhead in the river, I would go with the 6wt.
That would be a 9' 6wt.
fwiw,
-tom

asadi wrote:
...I did fish once with a four foot fourteen weight and 80 pound test.
We'd sit in the firehouse a toss a wallet on the sidewalk...Man people would
run, run, run after it...not thinking that DUH! wallets don't move. I
actually had one guy on for about 15 seconds...!

It was windy. I was trying to retrieve it.....um.....to return it to
its owner.

Wolfgang
and you should mash those barbs.

"asadi" wrote in message
. net...
although I did fish once with a four foot fourteen weight and 80 pound
test. We'd sit in the firehouse a toss a wallet on the sidewalk...Man
people would run, run, run after it...not thinking that DUH! wallets don't
move. I actually had one guy on for about 15 seconds...!

shoot, John......on 80#, you should have been able to
land him!!
Tom