What weight fly rod for gills?

[Johnny]

 I have a 5wt fly rod (not that I'm any good with it)and hope'n to pick up a decent reel later on, know'n nothin about fly rods I bought it think'n a middle of the road rod wt should be fine for smaller bass, blue gill & maybe trout.

 

 Should I had bought a lighter wt rod? any info appreciated.

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

 Smaller might feel more sensitive, but you wont be crying when that big bass, or heaven forbid a big catfish get ahold of it and turns  that 3 weight into a broken pretzel for you, unless you get one with a lifetime guarentee, I use a 8'-6'' graphite 5 weight and have prayed several times , "Please Dont break my rod" during the fight, and I was glad I had the extra beef in the rod cause I wasn't letting go , and the fish was going in the  boat.

[Cliff Hilbert]

I have a 7', 3-wt St. Croix Imperial that I have used for bluegill for over ten years now and I can very confidently say that it is all the rod I need for bluegills. On that rod I have caught thousands of bluegill, redear, green sunfish, etc., up to and exceeding one pound. I have caught rainbows up to two pounds on it as well as a 6 1/2 lb largemouth bass and catfish up to four pounds. But you have a 5-wt so stay with it, there is no need to buy a lighter weight rod now. If you really get into fly fishing a lot then you will probably want a lighter weight rod at some point on the future.

[Johnny]

  " I was'nt let'n go, and the fish was go'n in the boat." (man thats the greatest fish'n quote I've ever heard) & the handle LORD OF THE FLY...the mark of a true fisherman indeed, clever they are.

 

     What I bought was a 3 piece 8ft 5wt Hobbs Creek from Bass Pro(nothin fancy but fine for me), also have a old Shakespere 8 ft 7-8 wt from a yard sale (cheap, worn, aged...like me), I've tried the $20 reel and I cant stand teh constnat click'n noise it makes so a new reel is gonna happen, as long as its quiet & light weight.

 

     As far as line goes is ther that much difference between them ? I dont mind pay'n for quality at all but hate to pay just for a name.

[JBplusThuy]

I also have a 5 weight (and I also not any good with it). While it can be seen as perhaps overkill for your average bluegill, LotFR is right: it's nice to have when you get something bigger on the line by accident. Last summer I was fishing for bluegill well after sunset and pitched  my foam beetle right up against the rip rap (lucky cast), let in sit a bit, and started my retrieve. It got nailed about a foot from shore and as I got the fish away from the weeds and rip rap, it went straight down under my float tube and I for what was probably a short time but what felt long, I couldn't move the thing and I worried it may have wrapped me around a nearby tree in the water. Then it started to come up and when I got it to the surface I found it wasn't a bluegill, but a foot-long largemouth.  It was enough of a fight on my 5 weight that I was actually kind of glad that I didn't have a 3 weight.

 

I'm no expert, but I'll give my opinion anyway :-) If you can only afford one fly rod, a 5 weight is a good bet. It's not too heavy for sunfish, but has enough capacity to handle larger fish as well, whether you catch them by accident or on purpose.

[Johnny]

I'm gonna buy me a decent fly reel in the next week or so & some weight forward line to get me started off then get to practice'n, I think the 5 wt will be fine, as stated I wanted something middle of teh road for panfish, maybe trout (blue gill are more fun in my book) & small bass.

 

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

   One other advantage to using a 5# weight rod  is that you have more control of playing the blue gill and getting him into the boat quicker, althought this might take away from the time you are actually playing the fish , it better than playing a fish to exhaustion if you are going to release the fish after the fight, this reduces the stress on the fish and increases his chance of survival after the release, about 25% of fish die after catch and release and the % go up even higher in hotter weather, on the other hand if the fish is going on the stringer  it wont matter what rod you use. LOFR

[Johnny]

Ok gents, I went to a sport'n goods store & gave the fly reels a look'n over, they had a TFO @ $50,  a Ross fly cast 1 @$70, a Okuma sierra @ $35, Okuma slv@ $60.(gonne see hwats on flea bay)

 

 The only perk he mentioned between them was the Okuma had a cork drag, so basicaly I guess ther the same, some were aluminum & others polymer of some type, if dropped one mite bend the other break, but thats just my notion.

 

 What say ya'll ? any food for thoght will be appreciated.

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

   The only thing I use my reel for is to hold the line I'm  not using at the time, I pull the fish to me by hand , I dont reel him in , there for ,find a reel that you like ,that you can afford , and looks good  and you'll be happy. I have 3 automatics  reels that stay on the shelf because I prefer to keep my rod and reel as light as possible, GoodLuck  LOFR

[Dick Kahle]

I live on a lake in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and have both bass and pike to contend with in addition to bluegills.  I use Okuma SLV fly reels on all my fly rods and love them.  They are quiet and the drag is extremely smooth, have had no problems in all the years I have used them.  My favorite rod is a 4wt that I built, and I have the SLV 4/5 reel on it.  Good luck and tight lines REK

[Allen Morgan]

I am afraid I've already been bitten by the "go bigger" type of bug.  About a month ago, I took my 5wt rig out to the river to play with the White Bass.  Those are an absolute hoot!  In the process, though, I managed to connect with a few small Stripers as well.  Fall is here, the water temp is going to start going down, and the Morone species (as well as everything else) will start putting the feed bag on.

I'm starting to get the itch to battle a 10 lbs class Striper on the fly.  Definitely going to need an 8wt or a 10wt for that!

[Lee]

 Yes Sir unless you have ALOT of time on your hands a 5wt is kinda underguned for a 10lb Striper. I've had Stripers in Lake George and the St Johns river take me way into the backing with a 7wt. When their up in the river and you can get a fly to them it's Fun Stuff!...... hmmm it's getting to be that time of year too :)

 

[Lee]

  I gotta throw my two cents in on flyrod size :) Before I go any farther I'll admit I Love catching fish on light tackle and a 4wt is my favorite flyrod. It has it's limitations however, throwing anything larger than a #6 bug becomes challenging sometimes frustrating, windy conditions on open lakes cause problems too, hooking an unexpectantly larger fish can be eye opening as to how much power is actually in a flyrod but a good fish may be able to run into cover and break you off before your able to get the upper hand......thats part of fishing light :)

 I'd recomend looking at how and where you fish, if you fish out of a canoe/kayak/floattube/small jon boat you can go to the fish if he gets in heavy cover or ties you up. When your in a larger boat or on shore you can't do that and you'll need a lil more rod. If you fish somewhere that it's windy all the time, the coast for example you need a bit more rod to get through the wind and finally if your fishing where there's really large fish.....while they can be caught on a lighter rod and are a hell of alot of fun it might be best for you and the fish to have a little more rod.

 Keeping all that in mind I'll tell ya I fish freshwater mostly in Florida where there are big bass that hammer small bugs and most the time I'll have a 4wt TFO BVK in my hand :) My best flyrod largemouth bass hit a #8 Round Dinny Bluegill bug while I was fishing for gills out of a kayak on a small local lake. 24"s a touch over 8lbs and a 5wt flyrod handled her ( there's a pic in my photos ) I still grin thinking about it :)

 Have Fun with that 5wt flyrod it's perfect size light enough to be Fun and Castable yet light enough that you don't overpower fish. If you can find a inexpensive reel with a cork or disc drag that will work fine, some of the less expensive reels have click drags and will work also but that darn clicking as you pull line gets old quick!