Ed
I have gone up a line size in the past on some rods. I also have to admit that on one occasion I broke a rod doing this. The only way to tell if your 5wt can handle a 6wt line is to try it. Some rods will handle the heavier line and some won't. You may also not like the way your rod casts with a heavier line.
One of the benefits of having a good fly shop as your "home" shop is that they would probably let you try a 6wt line in the parking lot. If they won't find a new "home" fly shop. BTW, the rod I broke was out behind my "home" fly shop and the rod belonged to the fly shop.
IMO a 10 ft rod really doesn't turn a fly over any better than a 9 ft rod. A 6 wt rod will definitely handle a larger fly than a 5 wt but there shouldn't be a huge difference.
This is one where your mileage may definitely vary.
Jim Jones
ed wrote:
I have a question regarding a SP 9FT 5wt. I am not a very good caster so may be off base in my thinking. I used a friend's 10ft 6wt rod this summer and The 6wt seemed to turn over large dry flys and flys with a dropper attached much better than my 5wt did or was this because the line was heavier AND the rod was a foot longer?
To save money was thinking of using the 6wt rocket taper on my 5wt 9ft SP in the future. cheaper than buying a rod - reel and line..... I could use it for large trout and small summer run steelhead???
My question is will the heaver line be bad for the rod over time or is the SP like some other fly rods that seem to work better if you go I line wt heavier?
Thank you,
