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[Trout_Bum]

Hi everyone,

I am a trout flyfisher, with a setup for fishing lakes (6 wt) and have a drift setup for fishing salmon/ steelhead.

I would like to get a new setup for flyfishing for salmon/ steelhead. I could go for an 8 or nine wt single hand, but am somewhat interested in looking at spey casting. Can anyone give advice on which direction to go? Maybe a switch rod so I can fish one or two hands.....

Trout Bum

[Burkie]

Personally i use a 4wt switch for salmon but your 6 wt single will be fine for coho and pinks. for steelhead definitely a Spey setup in the 7 wt will be good for all rivers around here.

[Tex]

What water will you be fishing?  How big will that water be?  What is your target species for the most part?

If you primarily target coho/pinks, you are probably better off with a single-hander.  I'd look for a 7 or 8 weight.

This is because most coho and pink are targeted using a stripped in fly in slower water. 

If you primarily target steelhead, I'd go with the spey.  Swinging is awesome.  You're gonna want a 7-9 weight.

This is because you will likely be doing most of your steelhead fishing swinging flies and spey rods are MUCH more effective at covering water this way.

If you can only have one rod, I'd pick up a 7wt or 8wt single-hander.  This will cover you for all situations.

[Tex]

Personally i use a 4wt switch for salmon but your 6 wt single will be fine for coho and pinks. for steelhead definitely a Spey setup in the 7 wt will be good for all rivers around here.

This rod (4wt) is WAY too light for salmon fishing.  A 6wt would be my minimum choice and 7+ is better.

[Burkie]

4 wt swtich for coho is more then plenty..why would it be too light? its Like a 7 wt single hander and do u find that too light . Its how you play the fish as well. Coho are not the hottest fish around infact quite lame in rivers unless u get the odd big one in bigger water where they can run.

[HOOK]

you are very wrong thinking a 4wt switch is like a 7wt single hander. that thinking may work for fly lines because the longer rod takes a higher grain weight to load it properly but that in no way means the rod itself is a heavier action 
longer rods actually make fish feel larger and you dont have as much torque on the fish as you do with shorter rods. This equates to longer landing times in most situations and for most peoples skill levels. I have seen pics of 15lb steelhead landed on 000wt rods, is it cool ? f***ing rights. is it ethical ? HELL NO !!

I would use my 5/6wt switch for coho but only in an area where i know there isnt chum or springs around which is virtually impossible in our LML streams and rivers. I much rather use a 7 or 8 wt and be able to land the fish faster and have them swimming off with alot of their energy intact.

[DanJohn]

Well, as of today I use a 2 weight for Steelhead apparently.

That said, I fish Chum and Coho on 5 weights. Ive never played a fish over the 5 minute mark (I would say 90% are 3 or less) but having a bit more backbone does help you crank it in. If I were fishing bigger flies, on larger rivers with heavy sink tips, Id want a 7 or 8 weight. But I enjoy the slower water Coho like, where I control the fly and not the current. Just my opinion, and a 5 weight is more than enough backbone for fish under 14 pounds.

As far as spey goes, dont go switch. Everyone I speak with who has switch rods says not to waste the money. They dont do spey or single hand exceptionally well. Go one or the other. And spey is an entire new game, vs single handers. By all means, go for it, but I like my single handers a lot (for now.)

[dennyman]

If you want to stay with the single handed rods I would go with either an 8, or even a 9/10 weight rod with a fighting butt,  if you are going to hook the odd chum or chinook.  Even though a lighter weight rod could be used, you have to ask yourself if you would use your six weight rod for salmon fishing. It could be done, but eventually you are going to hit a hot fish, and it is going to be snap, crackle, pop for the light weight rod.

[Burkie]

How are you so sure I am wrong and you are so absolute? First off you don't even know what rod I have how long it is..what action it is etc. Rod ratings are not all the same. A 4 wt in one maker can be more like a 5 or even a 6. Or how aggressively I fight a fish.  If i hook a boot chum or a spring i just break em off instead o wasting time and others time fishing around me. Recommending using a 7/8 for coho is ridiculous. U wouldn't even feel a coho on that rod. And comparing using 000 for 15 pound steelhead and. 4 wt switch for coho is actually doesn't even compute.

[RalphH]

Trout Bum - go to a good fly shop like Michael and Young and talk about what kind of fishing you'd most likely be doing with your new rod. For salmon a single handed rod is probably a better choice as so much of that involves an active retrieve as opposed to a wet fly swing as is done for steelhead. . Locally Steelhead aren't so easy to come by fly fishing other than in the spring or on what local rivers have a few summer runs. For 2 handed rods most people in the know think a spey setup is the sensible choice for a 1st rod.

[Tex]

4 wt swtich for coho is more then plenty..why would it be too light? its Like a 7 wt single hander and do u find that too light . Its how you play the fish as well. Coho are not the hottest fish around infact quite lame in rivers unless u get the odd big one in bigger water where they can run.

I respectfully disagree that a 4wt switch is "more then (sic) plenty", however upon re-reading my original post I'd like to amend it as follows:

In my opinion [t]his rod (4wt) is WAY too light for salmon fishing.  A 6wt would be my minimum choice and 7+ is better.

Switch rods CAN be beefier than their single-hand cousins, but that is not always true and when someone who is apparently newer to flyfishing is asking about what type of rod they should use for a given application I would rather err on the side of caution than let them think any ol' 4wt rod is ok to use for salmon.  

I still believe that anything less than a 6wt isn't really a great choice for salmon or steelhead fishing.

[HOOK]

you also have no idea what rod(s) im using. I have caught 2lb bull trout while swinging for steel and felt them on the end of the rod. I have played salmon from small coho (6lb range) to big springs i couldnt even turn, they all felt great and yes some of the larger fish even felt like to much for my 7/8wt

Fishing isnt only about your own personal enjoyment, you also have to consider the fish and whether it will swim away after. I could fish way lighter tackle so that its more fun for me however it would greatly dissapoint me to watch any of my fish surface belly up after releasing them. I could take coho on my 5/6 switch no problem however i rather use my 7wt single hander for coho because its easier to present the fly better and my 7wt is a decently stiff 10footer so i can power in chum surprisingly better than i thought the rod would be able to.

Not sure why this thread is becoming a debate about using tackle thats lighter than necassary.

for the record here is my line-up for salmon/steelhead fly rods

Beulah 12' 7" 7/8wt spey
Beulah 10' 6" 5/6 switch
Redington Pursuit 10' 7wt single

lets see yours 

[roseph]

I fish Chum and Coho on 5 weights. 

5 weight is more than enough backbone for fish under 14 pounds.

hmmm, interesting.  Are the fish you speak of still alive when you hook them

[DanJohn]

hmmm, interesting.  Are the fish you speak of still alive when you hook them

The chum are usually past their prime to begin with. The coho are very much active and ready to get back to the depths when I let them go though. When you know how to play a fish, and not just hold your rod straight up in the air, it doesnt take very much time, nor yanking to get them in.

You can see in the latest issue of BC outdoors. There is a picture of myself holding up a very coloured Chum (that had 2 sea louse on her back!) and she was about a 4 minute fight, and required about 20 seconds of rest before she took off from my feet.

[Every Day]

I use a 6 wt for everything. I even use 6 wt's to beach fish for chinook.
It's all in how you fight the fish and different pressures you use. Very rarely does any fight I have with a fish last over 3-4 mins.

I do use 8 wt's for steelhead, but that is mostly due to casting larger flies.
On smaller flows with summer runs where I am just tossing nymphs, back to the 6 wt.

I don't think I've ever had a fish even sit in my hands after unhooking them... I have a hard enough time getting them to sit still for a quick pic with my hand wrapped firmly around the tail. If you want to get on any person's case for over fighting a fish, talk to the centre pin guys on here that somehow get fish to lie beside their rods without being touched for a pic. The day I can get one to do that is the day I know I'm over playing them and is the day I will beef up my gear.