All about the wind and the size flies you want to toss.
My primary Salmon and Steelhead rod is an old Powell North Umqua 10' 8 weight and I never felt undergunned in WA to BC and Alaska.
My primary trout rod was a first generation Sage 81/2 foot 6 weight. It served me well but alas ended up in between a car door frame. Sage replaced it with a newer model but it's not the same.
My latest seems to do it all is an Orvis Helios 9' 4 weight. I've been amazed at how it handles wind as long as I'm not using flies bigger than about 12. It will certainly go west when I do next time.
The beauty of flyfishing is so many things work so well based on our own techniques. Kind of like shotgun fitting, you know it when it's right.
