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ok I have only been fly fishing for a little while and I have gotten some really sound advice here. I do read a lot and read that if you put double taper line on a rod to use one weight lighter than weight forward line. Is this true? This book I read is a few years old so I didn't know if this still holds true.

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.

True. No hard and fast rules. I have found whatever the rod recommends for line weight, you are very safe going one size in either direction.
I typically like weight forwards because they are a bit easier to handle for me, and a delicate presentation of a tiny dry is no longer an issue ( Im too old to see to thread the line through a tiny dry, so I fish bigger terrestrials�)

Like the others have said, there is no hard fast rule. Typically you would "upline" your rod if you typically fish small streams where casts will be short, say around 10 to 20 feet. This is because a fly rod is rated typically to load best with 30 feet of rated line outside the rod. Also a double taper is the recommended line when in the small stream condition described since the advantage a weight forward line has is of no use under 30 feet, and you can turn it around after the line is worn and reuse the other end.

Now another reason to upline is if you have a fast action rod that does not load well at close range and you want to fish close. Weight forward lines are available for these fast action rods that are heavier than the line rating by as much as 1/2 line (S.A. GPX) or a full line weighty more (Rio Grand). With a double taper they are typically true to the line rating, meaning that they weight within specifications in the first 30 ft of line but this is not enough to load these fast action rods. This is why you hear recommendations to purchase a line weight heavier in a double taper.

Now if you are going to fish at distances 30 feet or more and your rod is not a fast action rod you could purchase a double taper of the line weight listed on your rod and take advantages of the mending and roll cast abilities these lines are good at, as other described above.

Hope this helps.

OK Gentlemen, Thanks for the heads up. Sharpnel recommended I try the double taper and from what I have read he is spot on. I just wasn't sure if I should go down a weight as what I read. I will be fishing tight streams so I won't have tons of line out maybe 20' but roll casting is a very useful cast . My rod is a TFO 7'9" finesse series 5wt and its not a fast action, its soft and almost parabolic so I'm assuming its a moderate to slow action. So it should load fine with 5wt DT floating line.

I just started fishing moving water with a fly rod. I can see already this isn't going to be nice on my cheaking account. I have fallen in love with fishing flowing water with a flyrod. I have always loved to fish but until I flyfished in flowing water nothing ever satisfied me like wing shooting till now. I should have tried it years ago but I thought only hoidy toidy people fly fished, way to fancy for my blood. Can a hillbilly be reformed? Laugh

Once this fly fishing gets in your blood you are going to be a little poorer but you will live longer due to the satisfaction it gives.

I have spent a small fortune on this hobby but you really do not have to. Today you can purchase a $150.00 rod that will be better than those I paid $450.00 for 15 years ago. There was a time you had to purchase the best available if you wanted to cast well but that is no longer true. Your 7'-9" 5wt TFO is a good rod and you can fish many situations with that outfit. I started fly fishing with a 7'-9" 5wt Orvis rod and it served me well. You were steered correctly in my opinion to get a 5wt DT line for that rod.

Have fun, and keep the pressure on them!

Like the rest, go with a DT 5 wt. for your rod, I never cast one of those, sounds like a good one- then again compared to was we had when I started out in 1963, its way way better now, right now I been fishing an old Powell rod, that I bought in the 1980's that was a very very good price for the time, I am fishing it with a DT 4 wt floater, and its as effective small stream fishing tool and any that I use, its 7'6" my usual rod of choice is a Sage RP II 8'6" for a 5 wt, I do a lot of streamer fishing in the fall with it. The main thing is getting your leader right for your casting style. Once you figure it out, your hook ups will really take a good jump up from where they are now, and the best part of a DT fly line is when one end starts wearing out you can just reverse ends and fish some more before buying a new line ! A lot of rods and fly lines are more for lawn casting that for actual fishing, I will take a good 20 foot cast including the leader that puts the fly were I want it over a 40 cast any day for the most part, I can always move to position myself, accuracy and line control is what is going to get you hook ups and having the right fly!

Not sure I understand the logic of going with a lighter line in a double taper when switching from a weight forward? I do support the 1 line up principle for shorter casts but if I am not mistaken a 30 ft cast with a WF will put more weight out side the rod than the same length cast with a DT. What am I missing ?