I'd suggest there's no rule of thumb that works in all cases. If one is stuck with close order fishing, then he might go with a heavier line just to get a rod working.
Cookie, my wife, uses a 9.5 ft 5 wt Sage with a lot of spine on steelhead. She uses a 7 weight foreward floater to gain a bit more muscle with the frequent winds. I have several other 5 wts that could not handle that load.
To really find out with ones equipment, visit a shop that has some lines spooled up and go out and give several a try.
I do like double tapers as one can typically mend all the way to the fly and roll cast quite easily if needed. They consume a lot reel space, however, with that chubby midsection.
Weight forwards if wind is a frequent issue.
Last edited by 1minute; 08/28/14.
