Salmon rod weight

FishHunter8999

FishHunter8999

Smolt
Currently saving up for an 8wt setup, but don't want to miss out on the Coho run. I have a 6wt now, is it worth trying to fish with, or will it be too light? I've only ever salmon fished with gear prior, but I've gotten addicted to fly and don't really want to fish gear anymore if I can help it lol.

If I am fishing the 6wt for now, any leader/tippet suggestions? I have yet to fish heavier than 0X.

Thanks in advance for the advice!
 
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I think a decent 6wt will land almost any salmonid you are likely to catch in the Puget Sound—and most of the ones that are unlikely (monster chinook, steelhead, etc) if not as well as a larger rod.

As for leader for salmon (or for me sea run cutthroat) I just use 6+ feet of 12lb chameleon or ultragreen. I’m sure the fish see even 7x tippet, I think they don’t really give a shit because they’re focused on whatever your fly appears to be, and it’s strong enough even if you’ve got wind knots in it and have been flogging it for weeks. Change it when it gets too short.
 
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Jake Watrous said:
I think a decent 6wt will land almost any salmonid you are likely to catch in the Puget Sound—and most of the ones that are unlikely (monster chinook, steelhead, etc) if not as well as a larger rod.

As for leader for salmon (or for me sea run cutthroat) I just use 6+ feet of 12lb chameleon or ultragreen. I’m sure the fish see even 7x tippet, I think they don’t really give a shit because they’re focused on whatever your fly appears to be, and it’s strong enough even if you’ve got wind knots in it and have been flogging it for weeks. Change it when it gets too short.
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Awesome thank ya!
 
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FishHunter8999 said:
Currently saving up for an 8wt setup, but don't want to miss out on the Coho run. I have a 6wt now, is it worth trying to fish with, or will it be too light? I've only ever salmon fished with gear prior, but I've gotten addicted to fly and don't really want to fish gear anymore if I can help it lol.

If I am fishing the 6wt for now, any leader/tippet suggestions? I have yet to fish heavier than 0X.

Thanks in advance for the advice!
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If youre fishing in the sound 6wt will be fine, will be a riot but will be just fine! In smaller rivers I would say you will need a bigger rod because you cannot let the fish run and you will have to put the breaks on the fish. Totally agree with he Maxima comment, no need to use any sort of tapered leader just launch in some ultragreen and you'll be golden. I always tell people here in the shop our fisheries for the most part are about presentation in the water vs presentation to the water!
 
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SpawnFlyFish said:
If youre fishing in the sound 6wt will be fine, will be a riot but will be just fine! In smaller rivers I would say you will need a bigger rod because you cannot let the fish run and you will have to put the breaks on the fish. Totally agree with he Maxima comment, no need to use any sort of tapered leader just launch in some ultragreen and you'll be golden. I always tell people here in the shop our fisheries for the most part are about presentation in the water vs presentation to the water!
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Awesome, thanks a lot!
 
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ffb said:
6ft of 15-20lb Maxima Ultragreen is what I use for leader. You are about to get 100 different answers to that question though 😉.
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Jake Watrous said:
As for leader for salmon (or for me sea run cutthroat) I just use 6+ feet of 12lb chameleon or ultragreen.
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SpawnFlyFish said:
Totally agree with he Maxima comment, no need to use any sort of tapered leader just launch in some ultragreen and you'll be golden.
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This thread sponsored by Maxima -- The Right Line. Every Time.
 
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I fish them with a 6-wt in small or low water. I use 10-lb. Maxima for tippet and sometimes bend out hooks pulling on them, so I think that's strong enough. For the way I fish them (lots of casting and stripping), a 6-wt. Is a good balance of light in the hand yet strong enough to tame the typical coho. As the water gets higher, I go to the 8-wt. (And the gear rods LOL).

I have landed small chinook on the same rod, but it's been very "iffy," and it was about a 14-lb. King that broke my first 6-wt., so I no longer target kings on anything less than an 8-wt.

Of course, not all 6-wt.s are equal. The one I'm fishing is an Echo EPR, which is designed for shooting long casts, and it has a very stout backbone for a 6-wt., so it handles coho much better than others I have used. A softer rod would make casting the line and heavier flies harder, but it would probably be fine for wrangling the fish once hooked.

Editing to add: An Airflo Streamer Max line with a full sinking polyleader (furled leader in my case) of about 4 feet, then 3 feet or so of tippet has been an ideal setup for me. The 6-wt. Line (don't know the grain weight offhand) is really easy to shoot up to about 60 feet (and can be thrown much farther if needed), and the head sinks very well, so your fly stays in the zone while you strip it back. (It's not great for swinging shallow-medium flats, probably because the sinking head is so long, so keep in mind where and how you're fishing.) I hooked about a dozen tide fresh fish this way the other day in the same spot, so I think it might be a winner.
 
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Thanks! Good to know, right now I've got a Redington Wrangler, Lamson Liquid with 2 spools, one one of which is lined with cortland streamer intermediate tip. It's a medium fast rod. Fast action would probably be better for some of the larger streamers, but I've been able to toss some fairly big ones a decent distance while practice casting. Have yet to need bigger streamers for what I've been fishing for just yet though.
 
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FishHunter8999 said:
Thanks! Good to know, right now I've got a Redington Wrangler, Lamson Liquid with 2 spools, one one of which is lined with cortland streamer intermediate tip. It's a medium fast rod. Fast action would probably be better for some of the larger streamers, but I've been able to toss some fairly big ones a decent distance while practice casting. Have yet to need bigger streamers for what I've been fishing for just yet though.
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You'll be okay with that setup. In fact, the intermediate line might be ideal for swinging (where it might not get you deep enough in some spots).

And don't worry about going too big on flies; I've caught a lot of coho on #6 buggers. I mostly use #4, but they definitely don't need anything huge to get mad.
 
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and here's me thinking that my 8wt would be too small for estuary Chinook in S. Oregon..

I will add this to the mix. Last year I saw a guy absolutely wear out and kill a foul hooked Chinook on an 8wt. It was > 15lbs and hooked behind the gill plate. The fight lasted > 15min and the fish floated away belly-up; you have to release foul hooked fish on this river.

I encourage us all to think about getting fish in quickly so that we can release them healthy when release is required. That will take some thought around rod and tippet size.
 
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the_grube said:
and here's me thinking that my 8wt would be too small for estuary Chinook in S. Oregon..

I will add this to the mix. Last year I saw a guy absolutely wear out and kill a foul hooked Chinook on an 8wt. It was > 15lbs and hooked behind the gill plate. The fight lasted > 15min and the fish floated away belly-up; you have to release foul hooked fish on this river.

I encourage us all to think about getting fish in quickly so that we can release them healthy when release is required. That will take some thought around rod and tippet size.
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There’s also something to be said for someone fighting a < 20lb salmonid for fifteen+ freaking minutes—foul hooked or no. I probably would have tried to let it spit the hook or failing that intentionally broken it off long before that point.

But I will say that if I’m intentionally targeting big chinook in rivers, I’m probably reaching for a 9/10 weight sh, or a 7/8 2h rod. I’ve got a 14’ 9wt that would do it handily, but that’s a silly-sized rod.


Edit: Some day I'll lern to spel.
 
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Definitely my worry which is why I asked. I grew up around the mentality of trying to catch the biggest on the lightest. Which is fun a blast for sure, but I'd rather catch and release as much as possible to extend my day, (if I don't spend all day just trying to get a bite lol) not looking to bag fish and go home as quick as possible, so I want to make sure I'm doing the best thing for the fishery and lowering mortality of released fish.
 
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FishHunter8999 said:
Definitely my worry which is why I asked. I grew up around the mentality of trying to catch the biggest on the lightest. Which is fun a blast for sure, but I'd rather catch and release as much as possible to extend my day, (if I don't spend all day just trying to get a bite lol) not looking to bag fish and go home as quick as possible, so I want to make sure I'm doing the best thing for the fishery and lowering mortality of released fish.
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No worries FH. A 6wt works for salmon in the right situation and with the right mentality -- being willing to long distance release a fish that you can't turn if you're in danger of wearing it out. Tight lines!
 
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Rod wt, line wt are not equal to a fisher mans skill.
I have caught some nice steelhead on a 3 wt rod and landed them in little time, because I know how to use my rod and line and the river to fight those fish.
Those 3 wt rods I own have really good back bone and by laying the line down in the water I can use the current of the river to put more pressure on the fish.
When you hook into a salmon on yer 6 wt you will find out what yer rod is made of.
 
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dirty dog said:
Rod wt, line wt are not equal to a fisher mans skill.
I have caught some nice steelhead on a 3 wt rod and landed them in little time, because I know how to use my rod and line and the river to fight those fish.
Those 3 wt rods I own have really good back bone and by laying the line down in the water I can use the current of the river to put more pressure on the fish.
When you hook into a salmon on yer 6 wt you will find out what yer rod is made of.
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Exactly! If you know how to use the rod to fight fish, then you can ethically and safely use a 6 weight on coho with no problem whatsoever. People use 10 weights on 100 pound+ tarpon all the time, which is much less rod relative to the fish size. It’s only a problem when you try to fight the fish as if it’s a trout and you are trying not to break your 7x tippet that you are pretty sure has a wind knot…
 
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I agree, a 6 wt is on the light side for coho (and definitely too light for chinook), but fine, with a few caveats: If not keeping fish, I would make sure I didn't "play them to death", meaning ; if they run too far downstream, break them off, rather than winching them all the way back up, only to release them fully exhausted and spent. This means a tippet of 10-12 lbs max. Also make sure your tippet isn't anywhere near your backing strength...o/wise you could lose the whole line...I see that all the time with big fish (not me..:))

A sidenote re: Maxima Chameleon (and this will spark debate, I'm sure): A friend, who was a commercial fisherman, normally used Maxima ultra-green for leaders, with good success. He decided to try Chameleon, thinking it would provide greater stealth. He rigged up several lengths off his mainline, sent them down and didn't get a single bite. He'd noticed the chameleon had a slight reddish tinge...very similar to that of sea-nettle jellyfish, which have long stinging tendrills. which he felt the may have put the coho off. He changed back to ultra green and was back into fish. I think this makes sense, at least for anadromous salmonids.....Just putting this out there.
 
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