Sup everyone, names joe, im new to fly fishing n trout fishing in general but love the technical skill and science required to be a successful fly fisherman. Iv only been out on the water a handfull of times with some really outdated equipment. no luck. iv saved up and now got alot of the gear i need, good waders, leaders, flies, ect. and was given a new 8"6 4 wt fly rod, but i have gotten conflicting reports as to wheather it can handle many of the trout in putah creek. i know a 9" 5 wt is standard for most trout fishing situations but i was wondering what you all opinion is. Thanks for any help.
I use a 9' 5wt when the water is lower but most of the time I use a 10' 6wt with a 7wt line. This is my nymph rod and is mainly meant for water loading and roll casts. The 7 wt line is great for turning over multiple flies and weights. Also the length helps with high sticking.
Agreed! 4wt 5wt 6wt will all do just fine on Putah as well as most other trout water. Some people enjoy fine tuning their equipement but for most fisherman especially beginers it's not needed or even recomended in my oppinion. Even though there are large fish in Putah most are still in the average range of 8"-15". Your 4wt will do just fine.
If I were to buy one rod for all trouting in NorCal it would be a 4wt, and putah is no exception. The only thing with a 4wt on putah you will have to be wary of is that sometimes in pocket water (this is really only an issue above 300cfs) the slight disadvantage in pulling power equates to the occasional bigger fish running down rapids... Not to say that a 5 or 6 wt would prevent this but expect the latter scenario to be a little more common with the 4wt, a bright 16+ inch putah trout is very common and no joke , these are very hard fighting fish...on par with feather steelies imho. Because of this I almost exclusively fish 5x powerflex on putah. They are not as tippet shy as many people think and i feel the extra strength is needed, especially with a 4wt. Also, I think the fact your rod is a 8 1/2 ft is perfect for putah due to the heavy stream side shrubbery and constant bushwacking...
I'm getting a lot of mileage out of my 3 and 4 wt's lately. For special occasions only I use the 2 wt for little creeks and 8 wt for coastal waters. I use a 5 wt if I think I'll be putting on a lot of lead or facing bigger fish in faster water.
I've come to believe that the 4 wt is the best all around for Norcal trout waters. 5 and 6 wt is overkill for most of the waters I end up at. Love the softer/medium action rods and so do my tippets. I wouldn't hesitate to use the 4wt on Putah, whoever picked the rod did a good job in sizing it for local fishing in my opinion.
