What size flies are you using with your 5 weight

[Thomas]

I bought a st croix legend ultra 8' 5 weight several months ago to use to fish for panfish and small bass but wondered what would be the max. size fly you would use with a five weight.

[Panman]

I throw crappie/bass flies up to 2/0 with my 5 weights (several brands) without problem.

Tim

[quivira kid]

You can chuck a pretty big bug with a 5-wt.... But your question depends on how far you want to cast, too. I have thrown 1/0 streamers with mine with little problem.

[FishnDave]

I think it largely depends on the wind resistance of the pattern, rather than the size of the hook. Mostly because of the fish I'm after, though, I'm generally tossing mostly size 12 to size 6 flies with my 5 wts.

[jim635]

I have a 5wt that I use for most everything. I have thrown 2/0 streamers to snook and caught one. Last week I caught a trout on a size 28 spinner pattern. I might be wrong in using it for all these different size flies but I have had good luck. If the wind is up I will use an 8wt for larger flies but the 5 wt does good for trout flies of different sizes.

Jim

[Thomas]

If you go to the basics section on site it says to a size 8 with a 5 weight,but i thought it would handle to a size 6 with little trouble,i do understand
that a bass popper with rubber legs will grab more wind compared to a clouser in the same size.My next problem is the size reel i have,i have
a loomis glx 7' 3 weight and a 7 1/2' 4 weight glx and my current reel is a galvan ob-2 rated for 3-4 weight lines 50 yds backing-wf4w line.With
a wf5w line it might hold 30 yds but the reel is only 3" round with a .80" width spool,am currently looking at ob-3's and a few on site here but
don't want to spend alot with holidays coming up.

[Thunderthumbs]

Thomas,

Take a look at the Okuma brand. I have one for my 3wt and my 6wt. They certainly aren't the cream of the crop, but for the money, they are more than sufficient for what I use them for. I picked mine up on ebay for something like $30. They have standard and large arbour models you can choose from.

TT

[JohnScott]

I bought a st croix legend ultra 8' 5 weight several months ago to use to fish for panfish and small bass but wondered what would be the max. size fly you would use with a five weight.

... but I have fished a tandem of ( two ) heavily weighted size 6 4XL stonefly nymphs under a large yarn indicator using a medium fast 9' for 5 wt and a DT5F line. Yes, it took some concentration, and it wasn't the easiest rig to manage, but I did catch trouts on the South Fork of the Snake with that set up.

The point is - just go do it. You'll find out what works for you with your skills and equipment.

John

[Marco]

In my "experience" the line or rod #'s have NEVER dictated to me as to what baits I can/should use. I can usually, as in my golf game, " finesse" whaterver is in my hands at the time to do whatever I wish it to do.

Mark
PS: I lied about the "golf"