Good rod and real or not?

[Adderall22]

How is everyone today? I am new here so it is a pleasure to talk with you all. Anyways I do have a quick question. For Xmas my girlfriends mom bought me a new fly rod and real combo.

It is a Cabala's Cahill 9'0" 8wt. 4-piece

Can anyone please tell me if this is a good combo or not? I am new to fly fishing, this is my second year doing this so any input will be highly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[jayL]

An 8wt is a pretty heavy duty stick. It should be great for bass, carp, and most generic warm water fishing. While it is usable for trout, it is definitely not optimal.

 

[MKern]

Agreed!

Although I did learn on a 7wt.

 

[Adderall22]

So i take it that I would not have much luck with trout at all? If so that's a bummer because I only trout fish.

 

[jayL]

Adderall22 wrote:
So i take it that I would not have much luck with trout at all? If so that's a bummer because I only trout fish.

You will catch trout. You will just have issues effectively using the rod, and your arm will be way more tired than it should be.

Do you spin fish? If so, it would be about the equivalent of using a 9' long handled bass/light salt spinning rod on a trout stream. Usable, but far from the best tool for the job.

If it's your only rod, by all means use it. If you take to fly fishing, treat yourself to a more specialized stick in the future, and you will have trout, warmwater, and small salt water covered with your two rods.

 

[ryguyfi]

I use an 8wt for bass, and lake fishing, but also it is my steelhead rod. It is ideal for fighting larger fish, or throwing line a bit farther, or both. I would take that up to Erie or NY and get into steelhead in a heartbeat.

A good all around rod for trout is probably a 9 foot 5wt. That is what "most" people start out with when they first start fly fishing.

The larger wt rod, the heavier and more capable of catching larger fish... the smaller wt rod is for more delicate casting and smaller fish as a general rule.


check out http://www.albrightflyfish.com/ for some good deals on a beginner set up. You can put together a nice combo, or go to the combo tab and check out the 5/6wt rod reel and line combo for $59.99!

 

[Adderall22]

Well I really do appreciate everything, because I never new the difference between all of this stuff. Again thank you!

 

[David]

If it is for trout primarily, maybe try exchanging it for size...maybe a 5 wt (a good versatile size).

 

[Adderall22]

That's funny that you mention that I live in Erie county and I go steel head fishing a lot really. And this is one of the reasons why I was asking about the rod and reel!

 

[jayL]

Then it should be fine.

In the future, try to be as specific as possible with your questions. If you mentioned steelhead, you would have gotten great info much faster.

 

[pcray1231]

Yeah, its kind of the fly fishing equivalent of a surf rod. It'll work, just as a surf rod would work on a trout stream. From a catching standpoint it isn't even that much of a handicap. But it's definitely being overgunned and may make handling the rod all day, fighting fish, etc., less enjoyable.

The 9 ft 5 wt is the standard medium-large stream rod for PA. For bigger rivers, a 6 or a 7 wt can be useful. For brookie streams, a shorter rod, say 6-8 ft, from a 2 wt to a 5 wt are typical. 8 wts are a touch heavy, but reasonable, for Erie steelhead, and common for salmon in NY and saltwater fishin.

 

[bam]

If you want a fly rod suitable for both, exchange it for a 9 foot 6wt rod. This will be enough for Erie Steelhead and suitable for stream trout as well. Cabelas is easy to work with so an exchange shouldn't be a big deal

 

[DaveKile]

I would agree with the crew on this that a 5-6wt is a good way to get started. I was a Cabela's on Saturday and noticed a good 5wt 9ft setup with all backing and fly line for $99. I think this is a very good way to get started.

Online they have a 5wt 9ft combo setup with everything plus two-dozen flies, fly box, chest pack, leader straightener, nippers with retractor, forceps with retractor, fly floatant, strike indicators, split shot, a rod and reel case, and an instructional DVD. Not sure about the chest pack, but if they have this at the store it looks good too.

 

[tomgamber]

I noticed Cabela's has brought back their Prestige series combo. New reel and rod similar to the old specs. Comes with all the stuff Dave mentioned. Worth a look. The rest of the advice you've been getting is all good as well. You have choices, that's the good news.