In Shrapnel's show us you fly rod thread, I saw lots of 4 wt. rods.. Since most of my fly fishing is in the western U. S., I wonder what wt. line and what rod length do you prefer...
I have several 9' # 6wt. rods.. Also a little 7' 3 wt. rod.. Have been considering a 9' 4wt.. I saw Shrapnel and Field Grade both posted photos of 4 wt. rods.. How do you like them, and what is your primary use for the 4wt??? I like to do streamer fishing and wet fly fishing.. With an occasional dry fly session, and bass fishing when I get the chance..

I do like 4 weight and even 3 weight rods. I still use double taper lines on them for dry flies. I also like the 3 weight and 4 weight rods for how well they handle big fish on light tippet. I fish the Lamar where you can get an occasional 17 inch fish, they are very discriminating and I use size 18 ant patterns and 6X tippet. This is the Tom Morgan 3 weight and a Lamar Cutthroat...

My all time favorite is a. Sage 9' 4 weight. It has one of the old Ross San Miguel # 1.5 Fly. Reel loaded with Scientific American WF Floating 4 weight fly line.

It's my go to Rod for almost anywhere in the Rockies. But if I'm Fishing the Quality Water below Navaho Dam on the San Juan River, I'm usually fishing a 9' 5 weight because of the monster Rainbows that reside below the Dam.

And if I'm fishing small streams for Brookies, I've got a Sage 7' 2 weight.

For streamer fishing a 7 weight rod is uber. A 10' 5 weight is double uber for nymphing. And for dry flies, 2, 3, 4 weights, depending on circumstances and size of fish.

What weight for bead fishing, and flesh fly fishing Kenai and small streams in AK. Have a 6 & 7 weight Sage 8 ft. Thoughts?

Given the size of Kenai bows and the current, 6wt is on the sporty size, many people run 8's though a 7 should be fine.

Single-hand 7s rule the Kenai... More 7s among the serious than all others combined, probably...

For the most part my trout rod of choice is an 8'6" Sage RP-II for a 5wt I fish it with a DT-F and a WF-Sink Tip, the fastest sink tip I can get with a Hardy LRH Reel. I use an 9'6" Sage RP II in 6 weight for streamer fishing, I use a 9' Sage RP-II for 8 Wt for steelhead salmon and light salt water, I have a bunch of rods I seem to fish these the most of late, and I have 2 , 4, 7 and 10 weight rods. All two piece, I am updating a reel or two, I am going with a Lampson Guru 2 for my 8 wt rod I think since my Fin Nor # 2 took a walk a while back! I fished my 7 wt the most when I was living in AK, just right for the Bows I was fishing for! Salmon well that is how I ended up with a 10 weight!!

6wt, 9ft. rod. 5-6wt forward for fishing the Green in WYO. It can handle nymph and streamer for trout and kokonee.

Anything from 2 wts to 16 ft 10 wt spey rods. Depends on the quarry. Next week it will be the big guns.

Here my main fly fishing activity is throwing poppers and Sneaky Pete's for bass and bluegill. I use a fenwick 81//2 ft 5-6 weight rod and orvis bbs reel with wf6 line and 3x or 4x leaders/ tippets . I also have my old fenwick brown glass 7wt coupled with a medalist reel that I used for years still a great rod.

I'm no expert fly fisher but have been fishing my whole life and I have already figured out what I like and dislike. For small water and short range or tight places I like my 7' 4WT. For larger water that has larger rainbows I like a 5WT 8'-9'. I'm on the lookout for a a vintage 8'6" HMG Fenwick 8WT for river smallmouth. I love smallmouth fishing and flyfishing for them is relatively not done in these parts. I'm thinking a 8WT would be a good investment as I could also fish stripers and largemouth with it.

Materials range from bamboo to boron, with 'glass and carbon in between.

My brother-in- law just gave me the address of a NY company that imports rods from England.. He suggested I pickup an 11' 4 wt. for wet fly fishing.. Didn't realize they made rods that long in light wt. lines.. Interesting stuff..

Believe me, you don't want a 4 weight rod 11 feet long...

shrapnel, I am usually a 6 wt. guy.. This traditional wet fly fishing has caught my fancy.. 11' does seem very long for a rod, but the 4 wt. seemed awfully light...

The rod is more about how big the water and the fish are. You don't need large or long rods for wet flies. You will be surprised at how a light rod will work for purposes you thought a bigger rod was for.

I rarely use a 6 weight rod...

shrapnel, Thanks for the info.. I use 6wts. because that is mostly what I have.. My stuff is pretty old; my favorite Fenwicks are 40+ years on the streams.. Maybe I need a little up grade in my rods!!!! Anyway, thanks for the info.. I started reading about the old wet fly system this summer when I was in Rock Creek, Montana.. At the Stagestop, there is a fly shop next door. They had quite a write up from the local newspaper on a man in the area who fished wet flies... Sounded interesting.. I have done a bit, but mostly am learning more about it.. Thanks again for the tips..

I prefer 9' rods in all weights, including tight brushy creek fishing where I never cast but poke the rod tip and fly into/under small holding water. When I was younger and poorer I used a 7 wt for everything.

My preference for all of my trout fishing in BC would be a 5 wt. but I have a 9' 6 wt that is so sweet I'm staying with it. Have landed rainbows to 10+ lb. with it.

I also have a 9'3" 9 wt that I use on northern pike and salmon. This particular rod is mis-labeled and it is at least a 10 wt and heavier than I like. Am shopping for an 8 wt to replace it but big salmon are in right now and am using it. I fished an 8 wt for years for salmon and liked it.

Tangent: nymph/chronomid fishing is the most productive way in these parts to catch huge trout in lakes-- and such a boring way to fly fish that I pass on it.

Why not? Its a switch 4 wt. Lots of fun for bombing dries to the far bank.

Just depends on the rod location etc.

Smallest I had was the OO weight, largest is a 12wt Single Hand or 14ft 9wt Spey.

Western Rivers I am normally nymphing with a 9'6" Sage One, Dries is a 9ft 5wt Sage XP, Smaller Dries 9ft 4wt, Streamers 9' 7wt Helios or 9'6" Sage Method, Nymphing for Chrome is a Sage 99 9'9" 8wt.

All around I like a 9' 6wt. Its a little big for small rivers but if you were to get one I would do that. Its a good rod for the MO, Clark Fork etc. If you want a dry rod got 9ft 5wt. I just think a 5wt gets it done good enough nymphing.

As Sierra mentions - it depends on where and how I want to utilize the tool.

I have several 3, 5 and 7 weight rods ( TFO's mostly ). I like to fish close and smaller waters when possible. The upper Deschutes and Rogue are fav's.

I prefer to nymph and dry fly with the 3 weight mostly - the 5's are my all around guns and the 7's are used on bigger waters and slinging heavy tandem nymph set ups or salmon flies.

I don't go in for long rods - I can fish from my boat on the Rogue and position as needed - the smaller stream just don't warrant them.

Unfortunately, I have a bum shoulder and the 7's beat me up rather quickly, and they don't get a lot of use these days....

This a a good thread.

I live in northern California and fish: Klamath and Trinity rivers for steelhead n salmon, the creeks for native trout, high country lakes and creeks for trout, native rainbows, some cutts as well planted brookies.
For steelhead a 8' fenwick 6weight, 9' sage 6wt, 9.5' StCroix 7wt, 8'9" Sage 3wt
for trout in creeks, 7' StCroix 2/3wt, 8.5' reddington 4wt, 11' TFO Tenkara rod.
for the high country lakes, all of the above haha.

Bigger water with larger flies...10 ft. for 7 weight
Bigger water smaller flies...9 1/2 ft or 9' 3" for 5 weight

This is what has worked best for me on the South and Henry's Fork of the Snake in Idaho and the Madison in Montana.

The long 7 weight is also my normal rod in the SoCal surf zone.

Just depends on the quarry and size of the water. Anything from a 7 ft 2wt to a 16 ft 10wt. I do like enough spine to land things quickly and expedite release.

I mostly fish for trout in smaller to mid-size mountain streams here in the east. I mostly use a 7'9" 3 wt but occasionally move up to a 8' 4 wt & 8'6" 5 wt. All these rods are older Sage Light Lines.

I have bigger rods for larger rivers and steelheading but sadly enough do not get to those places often. Those rods are Winstons in 9' 8 wts. I have also used these rods for stripers on the coast of Maine.

I bought a used 9' 6 wt Sage XP off a good friend recently and am excited to try for smallies on the Susquehanna and Allegheny soon.

exactly what I was looking for as a gift. Thanks!!

For general fishing when I might switch from midges to streamers in one outing, I like my 50 year old Orvis split cane 8ft./5wt. with a double taper line. On the Pennsylvania limestone creeks where I fish mostly, more often than not I reach for a custom graphite 7ft./3wt. with a double taper floating line since size 20 and smaller dry flies are my game there. Sometimes when I'm feeling frisky I grab a 7ft./2wt. loaded with an English double taper silk line. Such rigs keep the effective range a little shorter than if I worked with a forward taper line, but I seek delicacy of presentation more so than distance. Leader/tippet length, line weight, rod dynamics become a little more critical when dropping a size 26 Griffith's Gnat in front of a rising Brown.

I tried the long light rods back when I thought the extra reach would serve me better for "dapping" on small tight streams. I found the tradeoff to be a handicap, but that's just me.

I think, in general, the 5wt is the most popular and possibly the most versatile for freshwater fishing. With that said, my favorite rod for Southeastern trout is my TFO BVK 3wt. I bought it in 8 ft with the 10 ft conversion kit. I LOVE THIS ROD. I can tight line with it or fish it traditionally equally well. It handles larger fish well but has light enough action that a 6" fish is still fun to catch. It's like having two nice rods for $300.

My 9' 3" is a late 70's vintage Orvis Spring Creek with a wonderful full-flex action. The 9 1/2' is on a Loomis blank my dad built for me.

The Spring Creek rod comes up on eBay with some regularity and can be had very reasonably as it isn't the ultra-fast action so many people want these days.

I like a short 4wt for panfish like sunfish and crappie. I have a 5wt I use in the smokies for trout and tailrace fishing below the damns. I have a 6wt that I never use, my 5 serves me well for trout and the 6 isn't enuff for the bass bugs I want to throw so a 8wt is in my near future. Plus I can fish strippers with the 8wt.

If I had to choose 1 for trout and panfisit would be a 4wt. for bass and strippers a 8wt.

You can take that with a grain of rice since I'm probably the least experienced on the thread. But it works for me.

I use a 4wt for almost all of my trout fishing in the lower 48. A 9ft 4wt is a perfect nymphing or dry fly rod for most water. I prefer a 6wt for streamer fishing for trout. The rod flex matters on the 4wt. Too stiff and it is not much for roll casting and dry fly presentation. Too soft and you cannot turn over split shot and indicators as easily. A 7 wt is best for AK larger rivers. A saltwater 6wt with a small butt and some flex would be the ultimate for big rainbows in most other streams. I have fished a 4 and 5 on Bristol Bay streams and they were a pain fighting the fish. Was not enough backbone to turn big fish in the current. This is experience from 10+ years ago. I understand that there is now a big contingent of folks in AK that fish Spey rods on big rivers like the Naknek and Big Ku. I ran into a bunch of Naknek guides who were Spey fishing for Roosterfish in Mexico. Go figure.

I picked up a dandy little 5'9" bamboo rod this weekend- a Constable "Dart", for 4WF or 5DT. I was a little leery, liking short-ish rods but not necessarily something that short, or English made. What an eye opener. That delicate looking super light rod has the moxie to lay out a nice long cast and the sensitivity to manipulate delicate presentations. No fish landed with it yet but it feels like it has enough backbone to be competitive with others in its class.

I used a Leonard 6-footer for many years for brushy small-stream fishing. it was rated for a 4-weight DT line but I often used a 5WF, which cast better when only 10 feet of flyline was a long cast.

Have rods from 3-weight to 10-weight and find uses for all of them.

Asking what fly rod to use out west is like asking what rifle should I use out west. The answer is "well it depends".

I own 3wts thru 11wts with multiple lengths and multiple actions for many of them, and all of them get used for different conditions.

Now I have taken a few trips out west to fish and my next trip I will only take two rods assuming trout will be the target, an 8'-6" 4wt and a 9'-0" 6wt. From my experience I can fish most streams with that combination. Now if it is streamer time on the Madison River when I go I will add a 9'-0" 7wt to the mix.

A 4wt will do most things needed on a trout stream and that is why you see it recommended by so many. The 4wt will handle the tailwaters, spring creeks and freestones with small size 8 streamers to size 24 midge patterns. Hopper season is where the 6wt shines.

On hunts out west and Alaska,not knowing what to expect if I got to fly fish at all, I threw a pair of Sage pack rods into the duffle;a 5 and a 7 weight.

They worked well in SE Alaska and in Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico so I guess they covered the bases. Traveling you can only bring so much stuff

I like 5 wt rods w/ 6 wt lines - really makes them cast. I always fish sinking lines and get down there where the fish are.

I have fly rods from 6' to 9.5', 3wt to 10w, what I use depends on the water, the wind, the size flies, the type and size of fish. My most used rod is a Sage 9' 4 pc 6wt.

PASTOR DAN my old friend Bill Gunn loves the Orvis 9'3" Western Spring Creek 4 wt! He was telling me last week how many 20" browns he hooked and landed on 6 x in PA! I have one myself he and I both agree that rods today are way to stiff to make for good fishing tools. I am surprise that they even come up for sale, Bill is looking for one for his wife- I will not sell him mine even thou I don't fish with It as much as I should! Only rod I ever made a 70 foot cast with and hooked and landed a trout with the fly barely drifting a foot or two! Back then I had a WF4F Orvis line with the old braided butt leaders you glued to the end of the line- before the loop to loop business! Got to be 35+ years ago!

Shrapnel,
Is that an Abel reel? I have a TR-2 that broke the rosewood cap of the nut and looked just like yours in the picture. I called Abel to buy a new cap and they said to send it to them and they'd install it so I did. It took a while but it came back cleaned and lubed with a new cap. Great product support.