I wanted to buy a rod that would cover the spectrum of fishing the tidal estuaries, the beach and the occasional panga ride for inshore species. I had a rod making friend, Mark Steffen and he suggested a ten weight taper.
Conventional wisdom called for an eight weight yet there was “mas viento” wind to deal with in the Sea of Cortez so I went with the ten and quickly I had my blank.
At the time, I was reading a lot of Lefty Kreh books on fishing salt water. His expanded and open approach to casting I really enjoyed, a really more like, “you are not a clock, you can move outside of 10 and 2” that resonated with me. He also detailed what he liked in a fly rod configuration and it made sense to me. He used oversized stripping guides and an extra one as well. The first stripping guide rotated a little off axis, pulled toward the stripping and with the second a little less so and the third, a normal sized guide in line with the rest of the wire snake guides. THAT sounded great to me. Shopping for my guides, I took it a step further and bought high foot stripping guides that flowed the line into the blank. Once I had the blank, I put it together and started practicing with it.
I fished that rod for a year in the conditions I previously described. I could really boom out casts with it but for everything except inshore fishing and windy conditions, the line was too big, heavy and far too visible. I still caught fish and learned a lot with it.
I began to gain traction with advertising at my web sites. Pretty soon I was advertising and secured the sponsorship of Thomas and Thomas. At the time, their Horizon series of fast action salt water fly rods was the premium rod so I quickly had a full complement of an eight, ten and a twelve weight. And while I was at it, I decided to get their lightest rod, a four piece six weight with a fighting butt.
I was working with a couple of fly shops and I chose Tibor as my reel and had purchased the 6, 8, 10 and 12 weight reels. At the time, the reel foots did not fit the T&T reel seats. Protracted discussions with Tibor resolved the issue with sending new reel seats.
I started using the 8 weight but found even then, the line weight configuration was just too heavy for the light and no wind conditions on the flats and surf of my area. I started choosing the six more and more until the T&T HS 906-4 was all that I used on the beach. Only in strong wind was this rod not a good choice.
In my alpine streams I used 1-3 weights, fishing rivers and lakes I used a 5 weight so the choice of a beach and flats rod, the six was a nearly perfect choice for the stealthy presentation that the Corvina, Sierra, Leather Jack, Pompano, Corbina, Croakers, Triggerfish, Rock Bass, Flounder and Bonefish of my area sometimes demanded.
A quality reel that balances the rod is necessary for these species. My six weight fishing is done with a myriad of lines depending on the presentation. The ability to cast a 200gr head, a sinking line, intermediate and floating lines are all a part of my list of demands from a six weight. A moderately mid flexing tip progressively increasing stiffness into a rod with enough stiffness in the first forty present of the rod is enough to effect distance casting as well as application of resistance in fighting the pissed off and hard charging runs that these fish can provide.
I’ve used and caught fish on Orvis, Sage, T&T, Steffen, Lamiglass six weights in the salt and at this time I choose two makes, a G.Loomis IMX Pro V and a CTS Quartz TT.
Depending where you are in your game of salt water fly fishing, typically the game starts at a six weight and moves heavier from there.
I hope you enjoy my musings on a six weight. I believe they are just right for the beach.
Take care.
