I was just given some St. Croix 5/6 weight fly rods. I live in the Bristol Bay area of Alaska. What can a 5/6 weight rod be used to catch?

I'm also looking for an inexpensive reel and proper line(as a beginner).

A few good places to shop would also be helpful.

I'm used to fishing with bait-casters and spinning rod/reel setups.

Any help is appreciated.

I'm no pro, but do like to fly fish.

I think that the St Croix rods are some of the best value for your money out there.

As far as a 5/6 weight rod, in Alaska, I'd be looking at trout and grayling type stuff. It's a bit on the light side for your salmon, but could probably be used on some smaller salmon if you're careful.

As for reels, watch the classifieds here, or do a search for Braindead and send him a PM. He's in Alaska with you, and often has fishing gear at reasonable prices. Or, post a "Want to Buy" ad in the classified section here. You've got a pretty good chance of finding somebody looking to move some gear.

Have fun!

A 5/6 sets you up just fine for trout, grayling and salmon up to about 8 lbs. Keep in mind that the weight of a flyrod (well, it's line really) is all about the size of the flies you intend to use more than the size of the fish you intend to catch.

For the Grayling and trout you're fine with just about any reel. Something like this will work fine.

Cabelas Prestige reel

I would encourage you to spend a bit more on the line as there is nothing worse than a crappy flyline. Something like a Weight Forward five weight (WF-5-F) (your 5/6 weight rod is a 5 for a weight forward or a 6 for a double taper line) I've been happy with the the Cortland 444SL as of late but there are certainly others.

You'll also need all that fun stuff like backing and leaders and flies and tippet so it's a never ending fun money sump. A really good book to put all this together is the classic Curtis Creek Manifest. Well worth the $10 or so.

http://www.amazon.com/Curtis-Creek-Manifesto-Illustrated-Paraphernalia/dp/0936608064

Yes, I'd think any fish up into the 5 to 7 lb range. Large trout to smallish salmon. My wife goes after steelhead with a 9.5 ft 5 wt, but it has a lot of spine and she throws a 7 wt line on it. From my experience the St. Croix are a little softer action.

I'd suggest weight appropriate lines. 1. being a weight forward floater to help buck a little wind and 2. either a sink tip or full sinking line if one wants to dreadge a little deeper for bottom huggers.

Reel: Given your locale and potential to hook into something large, I'd suggest a reel with an exposed rim (for palming to slow big fish), capable of being switched to left/right hand wind (go with left hand wind if you cast right handed), and capable of holding about 100 yds of backing.

Good luck, and wish I was there

Thanks guys. To be more specific on location I'm in Bristol Bay. I usually hunt/fish Nushagak Bay and it tributaries.

Great berry picking (blueberries, huckleberries, lowbush cranberries) as well.

Agree - I use a 6wt as my general-purpose trout rod. I really like flinging streamers, and it handles them just fine. With a little finesse it does the job with light dry flies and fine tippets as well.

Works great on bass too - but don't suppose you've got bass up there...

I have caught steelhead with it, but that was only when I took it to the river instead of my 8 wt rod, by mistake.

Regards, Guy

I would use 6wt line on a good reel. This will allow you to fish heavier flies. A good reel with a solid drag will allow you to fight bigger fish. I agree St. Croix are a soft flex even what they call their fast action rods are at best a med/fast. I have landed Coho and Sockeye on my 5wt rod (RL.Winston). It isn't ideal but it has worked when needed. If you can afford it I would go with a Ross Evolution LT #3 @ $305.00, or CLA #3 @ $195.00.

If you mean your rods are St. Croix rated for 5/6 line, they're the older rods and indeed soft. Which isn't bad, just worth knowing. If on the other hand, you have rods rated 5 and rods rated 6, they may be a bit faster.

Also a Pfleuger Medalist 1494 is a pretty good inexpensive reel, about $25 and will hold a 6wt line and backing.

GUessing everyone missed the Bristol Bay part of your address... Where you literally have everyday opportunity at 30"+ rainbows, and lots of salmon...

5/6wt rods, especially soft ones are going to be marginal at best on anything other than grayling. And you actually need a real reel, not just a line storage device. I have smoked Ross reels repeatedly and find Lamson to be a better value for a genuine drag system. Their entry level reels give me more confidence than the top Ross reels.

This past fall I was fishing reds in a small stream with my old Fenwick 6wt because I really was after cutthroats and dollies. I caught a bunch of reds and it was at the limit for the rod and Hardy reel. That rod is far faster than any rod that would be rated 5/6.
art

Sitka:
Thats the joy of fishing salt or some of the true north west rivers. One never knows what he might get into. The wife once did a 40+lb King on her 5 weight while after about 2 lb searun cutthroats. That was pretty much a reel fight.

I have never had a bad Ross Reel and have caught many Tuna, Strippers, False Albacor, Salmon, Steelhead, Trout, and Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass on my reels. Lamson, Tibor, and a few others make great reels as well. I am suspect of you repeatedly smoking Ross reels.

Tuna, stripers, f. albacore on Ross???


Hmmmm.......

I have very limited experience with real saltwater fighting fish... we have nothing here to compare for speed and strength. Warm water fish are just a lot faster. We have a fair number of Ross reels here in the house and Lamson, and a lot of others. There are probably 35 Hardys here, and some of those have seen hard use for over 20 years.

The best Ross would not last a salmon season. Was in a local fly shop today where the owner keeps Ross reels under the counter... Too many returns and problems. You have to ask specifically for them and then he will tell you about the issues.

I used Riley's Ross Cimarron last year on one inadvertant red and it will never be the same... That was on a 6wt. There have been several others. A ross simply is not in league with Lamson, Bauer, and others...
art

That is funny because I have fished plenty of salmon from around Juneau, Haines, Yakutat, up the Taku and many of its drainages out to Cross Sound. My Ross is still working just fine. I fish Evolution #1,#2, and #3 reels and Momentum #4 and #7 reels. I have caught many salmon on the #3 Evolution reel and it has not been smoked yet. If you feel what strongly about the Ross reels you have send them to me I will give them a good home and chance to see plenty of action. Now I can't speak of how Ross will be now that they have been bought.

I already gave away my Ross reels... I literally have none now. Riley and Miss T have something like 4 of them... But they both keep stealing my Hardys...

I have never owned a Hardy but I did use one a few years back on the Middle Fork of the Salmon in ID. It was a nice reel but hard to really judge on little cutthroats that don't even touch the backing. But still fun to catch anywho.

Took this quite a while back and it is a small portion of the reels hanging about... Note Ross, SA, Orvis, Hardys, Sage, and probably some others...

Well, I don't see a Ross in there... But they are around!

That pink reel sure does look like a Ross. Added this in the edit: Matter of fact sure looks like an Evolution. I would be willing to bet it is a Ross.

I do stand corrected! Not sure how I overlooked it...

I'm looking to learn more about this myself; I took your recommendation to the original poster and bought the "Curtis Creek Manifesto Illustrated". Good call, I haven't seen anything better for a beginner, doesn't over complicate getting started.