Is there one good weight fly rod for these applications

[Digger38]

Just curious if there is one good weight of fly rod for these different applications? If you wanted to fish Pyramid for cutt's and lake fish for trout and fish for trout in the Truckee and Steelhead in the AR is there one weight rod that would work WELL for all of these or would it be better to use a different weight rod for each of these apps?

[SHigSpeed]

6 weight is my vote if you only had one. Otherwise a 7 for Pyramid and steelies and a 4 or 5 for trout.

_SHig

[Steelhead Guide]

Depending on what your primary focus was would change which rod I would go with, for instance if the steelhead was your primary focus then I would say a 11' 6 wt switch or a 10' 7 wt. as both can be used in lake fishing applications; but, are better suited on the river. They are both good swinging and nymphing sticks and can handle a sinking line very well for prymid lake.
If the lake was your focus I would say a 8'8" Scott G2 6wt. killer rod I have 2. Great for throwing flies or dredging a midge and has enough backbone to handle a 6wt steelhead taper sharkskin with a swinging leach on it.
So I think the first thing is to figure out what you normally do and go from there.
T

[huntindog]

you can't go wrong with a 9' or a 9'6" 6 wt. It can handle almost everything you do.

[sgr]

I use my 6 weight for all of those activities.
With the wide assortment of line tapers available, a 6 weight is a true all-around stick.

[pgw]

... is there one weight rod that would work WELL for all of these or would it be better to use a different weight rod for each of these apps?

You ever seen a Cadilac Eldorado that's been chopped up and made into a pick up truck?

With TFOs, Vapors, Launches, Clearwater IIs, & others, most rod manufacturers have good products at "frugal" price points that allow you to select appropriate tools for each situation.

Having a 5wt rod that you can handle for trout and a 7wt rod with which you can cast heads for steelhead and Piramid Lake Cuts may be more use to you than a single rod for everything. Orvis used to market an 8'3" 7wt that they labeled "The All Rounder"...it may have been the Cadilac Eldorado Pickup Truck of flyrods...I was very happy the day I sold mine.

Paul

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

you can't go wrong with a 9' or a 9'6" 6 wt. It can handle almost everything you do.

That was my thought too.....but there are lots of ways to go here.

[davkrat]

I'd suggest you get a long 9'6" 6 weight if you just wanted one. Sounds like most of what you are suggesting is bigger rivers and lakes or at least primarily subsurface. To me all of those are better served by the longer rod. I have done everything you mentioned with my 9' 5 weight Sage Fli which is a fantastic all around trout rod for California but on the American and big lakes I really wish I had one of the newer 10' 7 weight Sage Flight rods. Like others have said with those two rods you could fish anything in California.

[flyfshrmn]

6 weight with line(s) appropriate to the species and conditions. Most of my rods are 6 weights. I have one 5/6, two 6/7, one 7/8, one 7, one 5, one 8, and about ten 6 weights. The seven weight is permanently set up as a steelhead rig and gets a lot of use in the late fall and winter. But most of my steelhead have come on the 9' 6 weight that I use for everyday fishing. The older I get, the more I like longer rods, so I prefer a 9 1/2 or 10 foot rod. Good 10 foot 6 weights are hard to find, but the extra length is really handy when fishing from a tube or pontoon. 6 weights are also much better at handling windy conditions than lighter rods. There seems to be a break point between 5 and 6 as far as casting in windy conditions. If you are specifically targeting stripers, then an 8 or 9 weight rod suited to throwing big ugly wind resistant lures is appropriate.

[sgr]

There seems to be a break point between 5 and 6 as far as casting in windy conditions.

I agree with this, in fact, I'm one of the heretics that believe a 5 wt. is inappropriate for almost everything.
No, this is not a troll.