Need some advice

Alright y’all so I have misplaced my Spin/Fly Pack rod it was a 7 wt rod and I had a 7wt reel on it...well
I’m heading up to the sierras and I have a backup rod but it’s a 5wt-6wt.
Can I use my 7 wt reel in it?
Should I respool it with 5wt?
Or just but a new reel?(which I’m trying to avoid because it’s expensive lol)

Hey Buddy

You can surely cast a 7wt line on a 5-6wt rod.

If you're tubing or Midging on still water (meaning, you don't need the finesse of a dry fly presentation and mending on moving water) you'll truly be fine.  May actually like how it loads up the rod and casts.

I always use the top end of the line my rod will take - I throw 6wt on my 5-6 rod, and I throw 4wt on my 3-4 rod.

Have a great opener!  We'll be on Gull, and when that dies (generally, very quickly) I'll head up to Lundy.

- Ken

Mo2vation wrote:Hey Buddy

You can surely cast a 7wt line on a 5-6wt rod.

If you're tubing or Midging on still water (meaning, you don't need the finesse of a dry fly presentation and mending on moving water) you'll truly be fine.  May actually like how it loads up the rod and casts.

I always use the top end of the line my rod will take - I throw 6wt on my 5-6 rod, and I throw 4wt on my 3-4 rod.

Have a great opener!  We'll be on Gull, and when that dies (generally, very quickly) I'll head up to Lundy.

- Ken

And that’s the first thing I considered, was maybe I’d like how it loaded up.
I was considering respooling my reel with 5wt even tho it’s a 7-8wt reel

Misfit_Angler138 wrote:

Mo2vation wrote:Hey Buddy

You can surely cast a 7wt line on a 5-6wt rod.

If you're tubing or Midging on still water (meaning, you don't need the finesse of a dry fly presentation and mending on moving water) you'll truly be fine.  May actually like how it loads up the rod and casts.

I always use the top end of the line my rod will take - I throw 6wt on my 5-6 rod, and I throw 4wt on my 3-4 rod.

Have a great opener!  We'll be on Gull, and when that dies (generally, very quickly) I'll head up to Lundy.

- Ken

And that’s the first thing I considered, was maybe I’d like how it loaded up.
I was considering respooling my reel with 5wt even tho it’s a 7-8wt reel

You could absolutely do that! The principal differences between reel sizes with respect to Fly line weight is simply size of the arbor, and of course drag capacity.

When moving up, your big concern is arbor capacity is dismissed by using less backing.

The drag is only a concern if you're fishing for monsters on a smaller reel. Be mindful, and it'll be fine.

Moving DOWN is the bigger concern, of course. Protecting smaller tippets and not having your fly land in a cannonball splash on still water.

Can't wait to hear how you do.

- K

[quote="Mo2vation"]

Misfit_Angler138 wrote:

Mo2vation wrote:Hey Buddy

You can surely cast a 7wt line on a 5-6wt rod.

If you're tubing or Midging on still water (meaning, you don't need the finesse of a dry fly presentation and mending on moving water) you'll truly be fine.  May actually like how it loads up the rod and casts.

I always use the top end of the line my rod will take - I throw 6wt on my 5-6 rod, and I throw 4wt on my 3-4 rod.

Have a great opener!  We'll be on Gull, and when that dies (generally, very quickly) I'll head up to Lundy.

- Ken

And that’s the first thing I considered, was maybe I’d like how it loaded up.
I was considering respooling my reel with 5wt even tho it’s a 7-8wt reel

You could absolutely do that!  The principal differences between reel sizes with respect to Fly line weight is simply size of the arbor, and of course drag capacity.

When moving up, your big concern is arbor capacity is dismissed by using less backing.

The drag is only a concern if you're fishing for monsters on a smaller reel.  Be mindful, and it'll be fine.  

Moving DOWN is the bigger concern, of course.  Protecting smaller tippets and not having your fly land in a cannonball splash on still water.  

Can't wait to hear how you do.  

- K[/quote
Thank you very much for the advice my friend.
I am still a beginner when it comes to fly fishing since I only do it once a year when I go to Montana but I’ve always had a matching rod wt and reel wt until recently I misplaced my pack rod which was a 7wt.
So I have the matching reel but no rod lol
I do however have a 5-6wt bass pro shop rod with no reel lol
This was the main reason I had asked about the rod n reel wt.
I appreciate the great advice my friend.
I’ll post some pics and let you all know how I do

Thanks again,

-Mike

Like mo2vation said, you could use it but I have a question for you, what kind of fly fishing will you be doing?  I gotta say a 7wt is a lot of gun for fishing the Sierras unless somebody brought down some Lahontan Cutthroats I need to know about!!!

I say, if you can, get a reel for the 5/6wt rod and start using that. And, get one with interchangeable spools, too (see below.) You could use it in the harbors down here as well.  It is still enough to handle any fish in the Sierras. End of last season, we busted 4-4.5lb Alpers and 18-19" browns in Crowley and they pulled about the same (nah, the browns pulled harder!) but neither really had the drags screaming - maybe a few short bursts but nothing big. And if you're in your tube, the tube is good drag as well - let'em pull you around for a while.  Oh, the browns were on a 4wt and the Alpers were on 5/6wt... and with those Alpers, I was wishing I had my 4wt for them. Same is true for the legal bass down here.

In my opinion, you don't need a 5wt reel on a 5wt rod with 5wt line.  I prefer to think you need a reel that balances well on the rod for casting and a line that loads it up properly for optimum casting.  A reel too small and the tip will feel heavy and casting will be fatiguing.  Reel too big and it cold throw off cadence. If I had to choose one or the other, I'd go slightly smaller because I could always counterbalance the tip with a little weight in the reel seat.

There are so many choices in fly lines nowadays that it can overwhelm someone starting out in fly fishing.  It'll depend on the application of fishing you'll be doing hence, the interchangeable spools.  In general, there's floating and sinking lines.  Double tapered, weight forward and level lines.  There are line systems where you can change out sections. Determining the type of fishing will dictate the line choice.

Good luck and tight lines.

chipmcd wrote:Like mo2vation said, you could use it but I have a question for you, what kind of fly fishing will you be doing?  I gotta say a 7wt is a lot of gun for fishing the Sierras unless somebody brought down some Lahontan Cutthroats I need to know about!!!

I say, if you can, get a reel for the 5/6wt rod and start using that. And, get one with interchangeable spools, too (see below.) You could use it in the harbors down here as well.  It is still enough to handle any fish in the Sierras. End of last season, we busted 4-4.5lb Alpers and 18-19" browns in Crowley and they pulled about the same (nah, the browns pulled harder!) but neither really had the drags screaming - maybe a few short bursts but nothing big. And if you're in your tube, the tube is good drag as well - let'em pull you around for a while.  Oh, the browns were on a 4wt and the Alpers were on 5/6wt... and with those Alpers, I was wishing I had my 4wt for them. Same is true for the legal bass down here.

In my opinion, you don't need a 5wt reel on a 5wt rod with 5wt line.  I prefer to think you need a reel that balances well on the rod for casting and a line that loads it up properly for optimum casting.  A reel too small and the tip will feel heavy and casting will be fatiguing.  Reel too big and it cold throw off cadence. If I had to choose one or the other, I'd go slightly smaller because I could always counterbalance the tip with a little weight in the reel seat.

There are so many choices in fly lines nowadays that it can overwhelm someone starting out in fly fishing.  It'll depend on the application of fishing you'll be doing hence, the interchangeable spools.  In general, there's floating and sinking lines.  Double tapered, weight forward and level lines.  There are line systems where you can change out sections. Determining the type of fishing will dictate the line choice.

Good luck and tight lines.

Ya I know believe me 7wt would not be my first choice but the rod I have is a Pack Rod.
Eagle Claw Trailmaster Spin/Fly combo. It is a 7wt rod.
That’s the rod I have and I have a 7wt reel with it so I don’t have a lot of choices at the moment I do have a 5wt rod with but no reel to match.
I like the idea of throwing 7wt on a 5/6wt rod in the hopes it loads better. But I do agree 7wt is overkill.
I fly fish Montana and I use 5wt

I do have a cheaper fly rod reel. If you need one just yell. I can shoot you a pick of it. text me or call me 323-547-9964

Misfit_Angler138 wrote:
Ya I know believe me 7wt would not be my first choice but the rod I have is a Pack Rod.
Eagle Claw Trailmaster Spin/Fly combo. It is a 7wt rod.
That’s the rod I have and I have a 7wt reel with it so I don’t have a lot of choices at the moment I do have a 5wt rod with but no reel to match.
I like the idea of throwing 7wt on a 5/6wt rod in the hopes it loads better. But I do agree 7wt is overkill.
I fly fish Montana and I use 5wt

Got it.  How long a trip/hike is it going to be?  My buddy brings his 9' 4pc rods when he goes with camping/hiking the Scouts fits on the side of his pack.) He breaks away when he has free time but the kids wanna fish, too.

You should head to the park before your trip to see if you like casting a heavier line with your pack rod.  A slow rod is not gonna like a heavier line. Not saying it can't, just saying it won't be fun casting all day long.  Overloading by 2 or 3 line wts would benefit from a rod with backbone; something that can punch through the wind with it's normal line wt.  

You never said what type of fishing you'll be doing but, I might recommend just getting a weight forward, floating, 5wt line (forget this if you already have a reel back in Montana with 5wt line on it and you forgot to bring it out.  Maybe not worth it if you're not gonna do any other fly fishing.)  You can always use it and you get an inexpensive Orvis Clearwater line for under $40 (sign up for emails and you may get a coupon code right off the bat.)  That line could be used in a few different situations and it'll probably be easier to cast. Probably won't want it if you're tubing and you need to drown some streamers and strip'em in (like I mentioned before, a reel with interchangeable spools would be helpful.)  


My uncle's buddy guided in Bozeman, after he retired.  He fished the Missoula area quite alot.  He did the double retire and moved back to NoCal.  Bummer!  I missed going out there when he was guiding.  

chipmcd wrote:

Misfit_Angler138 wrote:
Ya I know believe me 7wt would not be my first choice but the rod I have is a Pack Rod.
Eagle Claw Trailmaster Spin/Fly combo. It is a 7wt rod.
That’s the rod I have and I have a 7wt reel with it so I don’t have a lot of choices at the moment I do have a 5wt rod with but no reel to match.
I like the idea of throwing 7wt on a 5/6wt rod in the hopes it loads better. But I do agree 7wt is overkill.
I fly fish Montana and I use 5wt

Got it.  How long a trip/hike is it going to be?  My buddy brings his 9' 4pc rods when he goes with camping/hiking the Scouts fits on the side of his pack.) He breaks away when he has free time but the kids wanna fish, too.

You should head to the park before your trip to see if you like casting a heavier line with your pack rod.  A slow rod is not gonna like a heavier line. Not saying it can't, just saying it won't be fun casting all day long.  Overloading by 2 or 3 line wts would benefit from a rod with backbone; something that can punch through the wind with it's normal line wt.  

You never said what type of fishing you'll be doing but, I might recommend just getting a weight forward, floating, 5wt line (forget this if you already have a reel back in Montana with 5wt line on it and you forgot to bring it out.  Maybe not worth it if you're not gonna do any other fly fishing.)  You can always use it and you get an inexpensive Orvis Clearwater line for under $40 (sign up for emails and you may get a coupon code right off the bat.)  That line could be used in a few different situations and it'll probably be easier to cast. Probably won't want it if you're tubing and you need to drown some streamers and strip'em in (like I mentioned before, a reel with interchangeable spools would be helpful.)  


My uncle's buddy guided in Bozeman, after he retired.  He fished the Missoula area quite alot.  He did the double retire and moved back to NoCal.  Bummer!  I missed going out there when he was guiding.  

I’m taking a couple spinning rigs with me.
Gonna also be throwing some mini jigs and spinners.
I’m going for trout. No preference really.
I’m sure I’ll hook up a lil of everything.
I like to lake hop while I’m up here.

Oh nice! Ya my father lives in Missoula so that’s where I do most of my fishing but I also hit Box elder and wolf creek too.
But I love fishing The BlackFoot or The Jocko

mthaubs wrote:I do have a cheaper fly rod reel. If you need one just yell. I can shoot you a pick of it. text me or call me 323-547-9964

I wish I woulda seen this before