What Weight Fly Line Should I Use For Steelhead Fly Fishing?
I am a begginer and i dont know much about fly fishing.
Depends entirely on the conditions:
-Where are you fishing
-What time of year
-Size of the river
-Type of flies
-Type of water
-Size of the fish
For instance, if you are fishing WA state's olympic peninsula in late winter, you'll want at *least* an 8wt rod. If you're fishing for rogue river half pounders, you can get away with a 4.
Since I don't know anything about where you plan to fish, I'd recommend an 8wt. It's a good all around weight, and it'll handle silvers and chum in the off season. And as mentioned above, since you are a beginner, it'd be best to match the line to the rod. As you become more experienced, you'll see the merits in underlining or overlining your rod depending on the situation, but for now, stick with the rod weight.
If you're interested, Trey Combs' classic "Steelhead Fly Fishing" has a lot of useful information.
**********
Going as light as the water will allow can be fun, but we must take into consideration the well-being of the steelhead, and in some cases, that may mean adding more backbone at the expense of play. This is why I recommend the 8wt as an all around rod--it'll handle the odd 15+ pounder without overplaying the fish, but it won't feel too overpowering for the more common 5 lbs (especially in heavy winter flows).
In the summer, I'll go down to a 6-7wt depending on the situation, and even occasionally lower. But warmer waters in summer mean a higher mortality rate, so I try to stick to heavier than I might prefer otherwise.
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