Reader Question

Zach wrote to us "Hi I don't know if you'll be able to help me with this question but if  I'm fly fishing top water flies for shallow water pike (3-6ft deep) would my 9 ft 5 weight rod with a 12 pound leader stand a chance against pike 10lbs and under I can change the leader weight to more I'm just wondering if my fly rod would hold up? thanks."
Hi Zach,
Your 5 wt rod will work, but it might not be as easy to cast as a 7 wt, for example. While your flies might be easy to cast at first, once they get water logged, the weight will throw things out of balance. The set up will be like a dog's tail wagging the dog - the heavy fly controlling your line and rod. If you cast like I do, my mind says you can cast anything even though it might not be so pretty, a 5 wt will be ok. The ideal is a 7 or 8 weight with a wf floating line in that case, more to do with the size and weight (water-logged) of the fly. Don't worry about the size of fish, we've landed 12 lb browns in fast flowing rivers on a 4wt rod. Pike tend to put on a good show the first run or two and then it's a matter of breaking their will and turning their heads. Where you might get into trouble is in the hauling a large fish out of weeds. You won't want a soft 5wt rod in that case. Pertaining to the 12 lb leader, you might want to make sure you have a steel 6" length or something resistant to the teeth and sharp gill plates, as I've seen 20lb Trilene snapped easily on pike. It's no fun to lose a nice fish because of something so simple as a length of steel or heavily braided leader.
Hope that helps a little bit.
Dave & Amelia Jensen"

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