Hello, 5wt

I have just purchased a 5wt rod from Creekside Flyfishing in Salem, OR. They have been very kind to me and they don't charge me tax in Oregon!! For the following purchase, I saved about $32, compared to if I had bought this from shops in WA or somewhere online. How many fly-tying materials and sandwich stuff can be bought with the saving of $32????

I hadn't needed a 5wt for a while. In fact, I kind of dislike the common idea that 5wt would do anything. My 6wt truly does handle any situation and all sizes of flies from size 22 midges to 5-inch streamers. Also I own a 4wt & 8-foot rod for fun dry-fly fishing in small streams. But through my experience, I finally came to need one for specific purposes.

First, though I am really good at constructing and adjusting leaders and tippets for fishing situation and sizes & patterns of flies with my 6wt, I finally got tired of it. I decided I will use my 6wt for nymphs and streamers from now on.

Second, my 4wt can be too light oftentimes. This came to my mind the baetis hatch that I encountered during the trip to Yellowstone last fall. When I was with my 6wt that I rigged mostly for nymphs, streamers, and large soft-hackles to swing, it was very time consuming to get down to 6X tippet. Then with my 4wt, it was very hard to handle the increment weather (cold, windy, stormy) that baetis chose to hatch en masse and trout loved to rise.

I've been thinking the time to buy after my car wreck, replacing computer, etc....... As planning the fall trip, now is the best timing to get one. I still have time to feel and test the new rig. For the rod, I already had one in my mind. That had been a Sage Flight. My 4wt and 6wt are both "Sage FLi" which was the predecessor of Flight. Please don't see it as the "second cheapest" rod. I like fast-action rods to fish aggressively whether I'm fishing with dry-flies, soft-hackles, nymphs, or streamers but also I can adjust myself and my casting slower and quieter if needed.

Also, I had been skeptical about 4-piece rods. I'm still an old-timer who believes in: the less sections are, the more smooth the rod is. But I finally decided to give it a try for the recent technology that manufactures and people at the fly-shops claim.

I heard that the progress from FLi to Flight (along with the price gain!!) is mostly about cosmetic, not too much about the entire rod performance. But I have to notice that reel seat is much better and stronger than FLi.

I also thought about the line a lot.............. I wanted a whole rig as a dry-fly rig, occasionally swinging soft-hackles, but not for nypmhs and streamers. Rio's Trout LT seemed to serve for what I wanted. Further more, I wanted a Double-Taper rather than Weight-Forward.

I already had a reel with backing line. All I needed to do was to connect the backing to the RIO LT, then reel it up!! I didn't need a special tool as seen at most of fly-shops. All I needed was a pen and duct-tape.

Reel I'm using is called Scierra XDP. Scierra is a company from Denmark. It's a very strong as XDP stands for "Extreme Drag Performance". But I heard that they somehow closed US market.

I own two of Scierra XDP for 5 and 6wt lines. They can be some of what are left in US.

I believe I can do better for baetis hatch that I did last year with this 5wt rig. I should have time to test and catch the first one right here in eastern WA before I go to Yellowstone.

I can't wait to see what I feel.