Uncle Jesse,

I fish 3 weights up to 9 weights, naturally depending upon the type of fish and size I will be going for. I have a philosophy of 'It is better to use a rod slightly heavier than to use a rod that is slightly lighter' for the intended target. I Catch & Release all fish. Because of that I do not want to place any undue stress upon the fish I catch. I really enjoy the cast and the take and the initial feel of the hook-up. Then all I want to do is get the fish in and released as soon as possible.

I know of people who fish for salmon with 5 weight rods, and I really don't like to see that. They spend an far too much time in fighting the fish, which causes an excessive amount of strain on the fish and could possibly cause the fish to die. That would be a shame.

Another factor is if there are two of you in a boat and a fish is caught on an outfit that is too light, then all that extra time that person is using to get the fish to the boat means that the other person can not fish, so you are taking away fishing time from your partner. That isn't nice at all.

So for trout in the western rivers I use 5 weights and 6 weights. For pocket waters in small streams I use 3 and 4 weights. For panfish I use 3 to 5 weights. For bass and salmon I use 7 to 9 weights. Get the hook-up, get the fish in and release it ASAP.

Larry ---sagefisher---