Which weight will compliment a 6wt?

[beer30]

I currently own a 6wt rod. Great for the Snake and windy days. Looking to get a new rod for smaller rivers/fish. Four weight going to be fine? I am looking for something that I can actually feel a 10 inch fish on. I fish Jackson Hole area waters. Looking for a Hoback, Crystal creek rod. I could go 3 weight but I wonder if that might be a little to light duty.
Thanks

[teleee]

4 weight Sage ZXL. Best small fly rod made in my opinion. I love mine so much I occasionally take it to bed with me.

[Meadow Skipper]

I've got an old (~20 yrs) Winston 8'6" 6 wt and a newer Winston 7' 3 wt buggy whip for small New Mexico streams. Works for me. [/sprag] but hopefully useful.

Edited to add lengths.

[pollydog]

I have a buddy with a 3 weight Sage ZXL. It's money. I would look for this rod in a 3 or a 4 weight 8'3" t0 8'6" and I believe you would be set. Or, if you're on a budget like me, you could go with a Redington CPX 8'6" 4 weight on the Clymb right now for $120

[snapt]

Redington Tempt or older classic trouts are sweet for the $. A poor mans ZXL. I love the Circa series though, awesome sticks especially the 4.

[beer30]

Got a line on a real good Orvis deal. Just wondered if what the magic # is, 3 or 4?

[Meadow Skipper]

Got a line on a real good Orvis deal. Just wondered if what the magic # is, 3 or 4?

Well, what are you throwing and where? I'm not familiar with Hoback or Crystal Creek. For a small stream and small flies, the 3 is tits.

[Aenigma]

I hardly ever use my 5wt now that I have a 3wt. You'll have your hands full whenever you hook an 18"+ fish, but for small water it's great!

Another way to look at it would be that not only would you have an easier time deciding between a 3wt and a 6wt, but you'll have an even easier time justifying buying more fly rods down the road.

[schwerty]

Get a 4wt. 2wts are great to have around here too but I you're going with a 6 and one other, go the 4wt. Buy whatever suits your style the best. Just don't get talked into a $875 cannon 4wt that can't present bugs inside o 20'!

[Underoos]

Fiberglass.

[Hugh Conway]

Bamboooo

[jma233]

+1 for a glass rod

If money is an issue, look at a vintage 6 wt glass rod from ebay. Can use your same line and reel. My 6 wt glass rods deliver a fly as delicately as anything I own and bend to the cork with a 12" fish on in current.

http://fiberglass-fly-rods.pbworks.c...182977/Fenwick

I'm partial to the ff79 but the ff706 and ff756 are also really nice.

[akokskis]

Fiberglass.

+2. If you're looking for something cheap and silly, Cabelas makes a fiberglass rod that's fun and cheap - the CGR. I have the 5'9" 3wt and it's so much fun on the tiny brooks here in the Greens, but for what you're looking for, I'd suggest the 7'6" 4wt. Should be enough oomph to get some larger bugs out while still being short and light and playful, as a glass rod should be. And best of all, they're on sale right now for $100!! Hard to beat that. And don't be skeptical because it's Cabela's, look up some reviews - they're all super positive. Of course, that being said it's not going to perform like a $600 scott glass rod, but you shouldn't expect it to.

[neckdeep]

For our area, I recommend a medium-fast 9' 4pc 4wt. By medium, I mean the rod should be able to roll cast and poke and mend with limited handling line but, by fast, I mean it should still be able to accurately push a #6 stonefly dry w/ dropper or a heavy turd nymph and indicator out past 40ft in a breeze. If the tip flex is soft enough to roll cast and mend smoothly, you'll be able to feel a 10" trout. Our "small" water fishes larger than most parts of the country if for no other reason than big stones, hoppers and attractor patterns w/ droppers are a primary part of our flyboxes and there is wind aplenty in these parts. I'm against the 3wt as an all purpose, small water rod around here for a couple more reasons, like (1) many small waters contain wide deep pools at the limit of a 3's casting power; (2) our small waters contain 18-22" fish that can crush a 3wt and fight themselves to exhaustion against one; (3) 3wts lack the lifting power for the heavy currents in rapids/pocket water and a fat 18" trout going down a pourover is just too much load for a 3wt; (4) the 4wt can do a more servicable job punting small to medium weight streamers out to the far bank if that's what is needed. Those are all pretty common scenarios in the "small" freestones of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. What is your goal, to feel a bunch of dinks in a little beaver pond or meadow stream dry fly presentations or all season angling on the region's wide variety of smaller freestones that contain large fish? Basically, the 4wt is more versatile and easier on the big'uns, especially where there is strong current to fight along with a fish and the Hoback and Crystal have lots of current and some heavy fish during their peak season (stoneflies). When I worked the local flyshop, I knew this one nice oldtimer who stalks pigs on the upper Teton with a 3wt and 7x tippets...always talking 15-20 minute epic battles and about how hard it is to revive Teton fish.

Do not go shorter than 8'6" unless you want to pointlessly shorten your casting and mending abilty. $200-250 tops because small often means no trail and a back country rod takes a real beating as you hump your way up through the boulders and thickets. You'll snag it in willows and smack it against branches and we all slip and fall down eventually, so forget the bamboo and all else that is top end unless you pooped gold this morning. You can't really protect both your hide and the $1000-1500 in your hand when scrambling over boulders and blowdowns while exposing yourself to 10ft falls backwards into sharp sticks and rockpiles. Those fine works of artisanship are for gentlemen's streams such as Flat Creek. I mostly fish the HF tribs: Teton, Bitch, Fall, Robinson and Warm. All are on the smaller side and I wouldn't take a 3wt to any of these except Robinson after runoff is over, big drys are done and the 15"+ fish have dropped back down to the HF. In other words, when I wouldn't bother with it anyhowz.

[gretch6364]

I agree with those that say go with an 8'6" 4wt, and something in a medium flex like the G2 or a Winston. Again, don't get talked into a fast action 4wt...it is dumb. That is going to be the best compliment to your rod...then you can use it in the evenings/mornings on the big streams when there are small bug hatches like Trico's and BWO's as well as the smaller streams.

Eventually you may want a super floppy 3wt for the really really small streams that no one really knows about but show up on topos, but that can wait.

[beer30]

Ant one have experience with the Orvis access?

[thin cover]

Guideline LPXE 4 weight. Best smaller water rod I have fished.

[gretch6364]

Ant one have experience with the Orvis access?

I have a five weight, that in all fairness is probably a generation old, that was found under a bed and given to me...I was unimpressed.

The new onese might be better...I hope so at least.

[snapt]

I have a 10' #4 access I use for Czech and short line nymphing. It's a pretty stout rod, as is most of the lineup since they come from original Helios lineage. If looking for something not so fast, I'd look for something else. I fished a #4 Greys Streamflex for a month or so last summer and was very impressed for the $. Medium fast with a supple tip. Nice rod, way nicer than its Hardy Zenith cousin thats twice as much.

[beer30]

I ask because I can get a smoking deal on the Orvis, smoking

[akokskis]

Ant one have experience with the Orvis access?

I picked up a 9' 5wt last year and I love it, but I would never think of using it for small streams. It's a great rod for big bugs and [i]heavy[i] dual nymph rigs with extra weight on 'em. But for small streams, at least as far as I'm concerned, It's just a bit too fast and stiff (that's what she said ). Of course, the 4 would be less, but even so. All that being said, when I think of small streams, there are no nymphs involved, let alone the big heavy stones that ND was speaking of. And I really love me some slooooow action rods, so take my advice with a grain o salt

[plugboots]

I agree with neckdeep. I do fish Flat Creek with my 8'6" 3wt TFO, though. The main thing with the area, (often), is the bugs are big, except Flat Creek. My 3 will throw a big Chernobyl with a dropper, but it doesn't want to. Get the Orvis, whatever, deals are great.

[schwerty]

Whatever you decide, we outta grab a day on a river this yr. My power boat is still rockin too.

[beer30]

Into it Schwerty, I think I got a certain little lake pretty dialed in by now.

[ak_powder_monkey]

I love my VT2 4wt it throws everything imaginable, from dries to indicator rigs to smallish streamers, and I've caught 23" fish on it.

4 wts are tits