I thought some of you might be interested.
I have been considering building a fly rod for myself for Coho Salmon in the Pacific Northwest.
Last year I used my 8wt MHx 10' and although it worked extremely well, it's just too heavy for rivers where the average fish size is 5lbs. I also tried my 4wt MHx 10' and it wasn't powerful enough. I figured I should split the difference and go with a 6wt.

After looking at a number of options I picked up a discontinued Sage One 5wt 9'6" blank for 30% off (from a non-sponsor) and measured the blank today.
From previous discussion and what CCS information is available I knew it would certainly be faster and more powerful than my other 5wts.
I was looking for an ERN between 6.75 and 7 for the required casts of 70+ feet. I don't find AA very useful as a measure, but really wanted a CCF under 80.

ERN: 6.9
AA: 72
CCF: 82 as a 6wt, 77 as a 7wt

The Airflo 40+ line I will use is a bit heavier than a true 6wt so I think it will pretty much hit the mark.
I was actually amazed at the stiffness and power of the blank. It is very reminiscent of the DanCraft FT of old, though of course it is much, much thinner and lighter (tiptop = 3.5).

I would think a 8 or even a 9 wt If a river fast moving you will need the power for the heavy fish A 4 wt is for trout panfish
Try going online and search the river and state you want to fish You should get a lot of recommendations on rods to use St Croix makes a nice blank At least they used too Have not used anything lately Hang in there You will get more posts that have fished this

Bill - willierods.com

California has a long history of fishing for steelhead and Coho with 5 and 6 wt. rods. They developed a series of flies just for the lighter rods called optics. There is a similar yarn fly tied on a standard bait hook used to drift eggs, used by both gear and fly anglers, that takes about 90 seconds to tie that is effective also.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/2016 10:24AM by Spencer Phipps.