You can get a line that is the same weight as the rod or 1 up, a 5 or 6 wt rod would show you the difference between rod weights than the 8 wt and a lighter rod. So a 5wt with a 5 wt or 6wt line would work
There's nothing like feeling a fish on a lighter weight rod.
After that is learning how to fish with imitation bugs (flys)
That's a whole new interesting fishery, types, depths, retrieves, times to fish certian bugs, terrain, times of year, elevations, lake alkanility, color of the water, whats hatching, what was hatching,what is hatching next,inspection of the bugs on the water, inspection of the bugs in the weeds and whats crawling up the shoreline.
Think like a fish and the enviroment around you, shoals, dropoffs, and holes, freshwater springs the wind the temperate , the time of year.
remember fish are lazy, shallow to deep with little distance.
Good luck and good fishin 
Perhaps I could put in my 2 cents since people have explained that you can use different weight lines on different rods (for example a 6wt line on a 5 wt rod) but I don't see anybody giving the reasons why you would do that. Some of the stuff I say may sound stupid but just remeber I'm saying this so beginner flyfishermen will understand.
A fly rod works by using the power from bend/flex of the rod when you cast it. Changing the weight of the line will change how the rod flexes, thus changing the cast. Typically if you buy a 5wt rod, you should buy a 5 wt line because that rod was designed to bend/flex in order to achieve the cast that the designers of the rod had intended.
Puting a 6wt line on a 5wt rod will result in more bend/flex in the rod compared with the same lenght of 5wt line out. What this means is it will load up the rod much faster. In simiple terms, this means you can get your line to cast out faster with less false casts, but the downside is you will not be able to cast as far because you will overload your rod. Good for little streams/lakes where you don't need to cast distance, but you want to get in as many casts as you can since when you are false casting you are not likely to catch any fish.
Puting a 4wt line on a 5 wt rod will result in less bend/flex in the rod compared with the same length of 5wt line our. What this means is it will take more length of line to load up the rod. In simple terms, this means you can get more length of line out before overloading the fly rod meaning you can cast further distances, but the downside is you will need more false casts to load of the rod. Good for large rives/lakes where you don't want to spook a fish or you need the distance to reach a certain part of the drift on a river.
This may not make sense you some, but once you have casted a flyrod, you will understand what I mean by loading a rod. Also please note, that some rod manufactures will not warranty their rods if they know you have put on a higher wt line. Most will accept a one digit jump (like using a 6wt on 5wt rod), but almost positive they will not warranty if you have used a 7wt on a 5wt rod. They will never know if you don't tell them. Just remember anytime you want to warranty a rod always say you broke it fighting a fish. Some rods will come with something like 4/5wt designation. This just means the manufacturer is recommending the use of either a 4 or 5 wt line.
Bottom line... if you are a beginner flycaster, you should stick to the spcified line for that rod. This will result in a much easier learning curve. One you are more advanced and you would notice the advantages of less false casts or longer distance casts, then you can start customizing your line and rod combos.
Using lighter gear is definitely more fun but that is a reflection on the wt of rod you choose, the line wt will not affect the playability of the sport, only the casting.
Using an 8wt rod on the lakes is probably overkill. For lakes, I prefer a 4wt. But anything up to 6wt is good.
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Topic: New Fly fisherman (Read 7975 times)