Beginner question.

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)