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If I were fishing with a 4 wgt rod and saw a 25 pound trout in the stream I would not go to the car for my 9 wgt but would cast to the lunker and if he took, I'd tough it out with him win or loose. son of a gun, IMHO thats what fishing is all about. He He He, it'll never happen but if it should, I think I could land him if the stream was slow enough!
The only change I'd make would be to use a 2x tippet.
Ol' Bill
Glad that we've pointed out that the tippet strength is the issue, and not neccesarily the rod WT. I've landed 26 inch browns on caddis at night with my 3WT and 5X, no more than 10 minutes of a fight. I've also cast to those same size fish with a 6WT and 5X tippet and left more than a few flies in their mouths. I think the 4WT will offer you better tippet protection fighting larger fish, and be able to effectively apply just as much pressure on the fish as a heavier rod will, without breaking the tippet.
To get back to the question, I think the BIGGEST trout I would actively persue with a 4WT would be about 28-30 inches. And probably only with the dry. If going after 28-30 inch fish with anything else I'd use 2X and go at it subsurface!
Brian http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/smile.gif
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This has been done before....it's not the rod that lands the fish, it's the tippet strength. I can break almost any tippet with any wt. rod......all ya gotta do is tighten the drag and point at the fish.....if you fight the fish with the butt of the rod instead of the tip, you'll be surprised at how much pressure you can apply.
It's the rod tip. No, it's the rod flex. No, it's the tippet strength. No, it's the knot strength. Or is it the ability of the agler to land fish guickly? I've heard of guides who claim they can land fish quickly because of the judo prowess. Maybe some truth in that. Probably Jude knows who I am referring to.
Bottom line is, do I want to eat that fish, or watch him later drifting belly up down stream?
Light weight rods have always been a matter of sport.
An above poster mentioned a particular amount of time with a carp. Fine, I know no one who is trying to preserve fisheries for carp. Who cares. Don't care about humpback whatevers either. The same time with a quality trout would kill it.
Sport is one thing, but, one and two weight rods should be banned, unless you'r fishing for blue gill.
Don't want to ban anything acually, just my opinion.
And, Snipe, I wouldn't go get a differint rod either, but if I was knew I was fishing for trophys, I'd start with an appropiate(sp) rod.
[This message has been edited by chewydog (edited 20 February 2005).]
Amen, Chewy Dog!
I've heard the argument that light weight rods kill big fish...but IMHO its not true. fishermen kill big fish when they try too hard to land them. If the fish is geting too tired, break him off. It'll only cost you a fly. The weak part of the rod is straight as an arrow when playing a big fish...the fish is being fought on the tough part near the grip!
Ol' Bill