Is it better to have a 4wt and a 5wt, or a 4wt and a 6wt?

[troutchaser8]

What do u prefer?

[darwin]

It all depends upon the size of the fish, species and what your casting.
But to give an answer I prefer a slower 4# for dry flies & nymphs and a faster #5 for streamers, the #6 has never been used.

[Diver Dan]

A 5 and a 6.

[moucheur2003]

4 and 6 definitely. That's all I had for years and all I needed. Eventually I got a 5 because the price was irresistable on closeout, but I found it didn't do anything I couldn't do already.

4 and 5 cover most of the same situations. 4 and 6 give you a bit more versatility.

The reason to have a 5 is to have a single all-rounder. (Although the same thing can be said of a 6 too.) The real choice isn't (4 and 5) or (4 and 6), it's 5 or (4 and 6).

[gt05254]

can't help myself: 4, 5 AND 6. In, of course, a variety of lengths and feel.
Gary

[cletus]

There is some conventional wisdom that many subscribe to that you either have 3-5-7 or 4-6-8. I'm too much of a gear ho to limit myself (fortunately my bride keeps saying, "at least you're not into cars or motorcycles, that's expensive.")

However, I will say I fish a 4wt whenever I can (probably 50-60%), followed by my 5wts, and a 6wt (10% of the time, mostly for streamers).

Of course, it all depends on your water. With the right rods, I could probably just fish a 4wt and a 6wt.

[fishngolf16]

I have had a 4 and 6 since starting in the sport. I have never met the situation where I needed a five. I fish everything from The Big Thompson, South Platte, Arkansas, and the North Platte on Grey Reef. Wind, floating, nymphing, and dry fly fishing all work extremely well with this combination. Let's just say a five weight on Grey Reef in the wind is not adequate weaponry. My Winston BBIIMX is barely enough at times.

[cimarron]

Good question! I played around with both options for a while and ended up with a medium fast 4wt and a fast 6wt. I have 3DT, 4DT, and 5WF lines for the 4wt. I put a 5DT and 6WF on the 6wt rod. I use the 4wt rod in small stream on small fish. Go to the 6wt with 6WF when in lakes. Both rods are Redington with Ross flywater reels.

[comeonavs]

Originally Posted by fishngolf16

I have had a 4 and 6 since starting in the sport. I have never met the situation where I needed a five. I fish everything from The Big Thompson, South Platte, Arkansas, and the North Platte on Grey Reef. Wind, floating, nymphing, and dry fly fishing all work extremely well with this combination. Let's just say a five weight on Grey Reef in the wind is not adequate weaponry. My Winston BBIIMX is barely enough at times.

Me too,

I have a TXL 4WT for small streams big flies/wind
9' Legend Ultra 4WT , bigger river dries etc
9' ZAxis 4wt, pretty fast so bigger4WT rigs, double and triple Beadhead setups
9' 6WT really big rigs and streamers

Had a 5 WT sold it, want to buy a 5WT but why bother the Z does what I would want a 5 to do

[pa dave]

For some time I had a 4, 6, 2-8s. Then I built a 4 that turned out to be a 3 and liked it. Last winter I built a 5 and found that it became my go-to rod for most of the season.

To seriously answer the question, I'd go 4 and 6 because it will, on average, allow a wider range of applications than a 4 & 5.

To seriously address the issue, if you can afford a greater range of rods, go for it. I now have a 3, 4, 5, 6, and three 8's. I have no desire to build a 7, but a 9 or 10 for the salt will have to be added sometime.