Has anyone got any experience of landing big fish on light rods?

Just wondered how big a trout you could land on a 3# for example, and what tippet strength you might use?

I know it depends on if the water is open or snagged, but would like to hear about it?

I've managed an estimated 4.5 lb brownie on a 3wt, with 4lb tippet. No snags, but strong current - so plenty of room to let it run, but it got downstream of me, and had to very slowly work it back up to where I could net it.

Great fun, but it did take me longer than I'm comfortable with to get it in. Hasten to add that it was *completely* unexpected.

I've watched people get very large fish out on 2-3 wt rods, and there's clearly a knack to getting them in efficiently.

A 3LB wild brown trout on a 6ft.3in, #3,weight line, 3LB, tippet and a Para Dunn size 16, dry fly; and like my friend on the above post; it got down stream of me, but great care was taken 'Not to exhaust the fish' and was returned unharmed to the stream. That's my biggest on a small rod, although, I have caught several fish over 2LB, on a 6ft, #2,weight.

not trout but these give an idea of what fly rods can handle


i have had a 9lb carp on an orvis 7ft 4wt (6lb line) its all i had on the day!

carp to just 7lb on my 5wt zxl



20lb carp on a winston 5wt b2x(no pic of the 20lb but this was 16lb)



12lb on my xp 5wt

Lee Wulff was the master of the small rod for big fish, using an 8ft rod for his salmon fishing,all my recent fishing has been on a 4wt rod taking trout to 4lb
I have a 2wt and a 3wt,its all I need, easker 1

I have had trout to 12lb on a 7ft 3 wt with 5lb line.

But beware, there are people on this forum who will decry you for using light gear for big fish saying it's cruel.

Their hooks must be rubber coated and covered in anaesthetic and antibiotic lacquer.

Guy's.

Really interesting, thanks for that. Would you be on normal nylon with some stretch in it, or would you use a typical fly fishing nylon?

I ask as normal nylon has some stretch in it?

Just about the best fun you can ever have with a fly rod. Lee Wulff used small one piece rods for all kinds of fishing. Lee believed you should never make fishing easy the challenge was catching fish on small rods and sometimes no rod at all.
Check out Lee wulff there is part two on here also.



Gary


Nicho Bamboo Rod Co

Methinks not about cruelty that stems from the tree huggers. I think fisher folks mean if you plan to release the fish playing it to a standstill on too light gear often results in the fish failing to recover.Catching fish on light gear being intentionally undergunned is fine if this is your bag but you have to be perpared to lose a lot to win a few especially on trout tackle where there is very little margin for error.Smaller/lighter rods is not the problem unless you actually mean lighter tippets?Then you need a lot of variables in your favour and taking into account the power of the fish which can vary to a great degree to successfully whip a big'un on very light tippets.Most mono overtests unless it is within IGFA test guidelines.Maxima is a classic example.Very strong for the BS rating.Good luck in your quest for a light line monster.It is a specialist branch of the sport which flicks the switch for some fly fishers.I think difference of opinion springs from some folks stating you can fish with ultimate success using light tippets all the time and some of us just do not agree based on well proven experience.Yes you can kid a big fish and if you take your shot when it comes you can land it but as one example a good friend of mine who is a very talented angler once hooked a fresh run salmon of estimated 12lb size whilst trotting maggots on the Hampshire Avon using a 13ft CTM match rod(showing my age now) and probably from memory a 3lb hook length.Plenty of give in the outfit and the fish was played/kidded using a centrepin reel gently into the shallows and the man on the net got it wrong and made a stab at the fish and missed.The spooked salmon powered away and headed upstream against a good flow and snapped the line like cotton.This is just one instance of a big fish hooked up by mistake and sometimes you can win a duel such as this but setting out to take big fish on light tackle by design is a whole different ball game.You can apply only very light pressure and it does work because by the same token if you put the hurt on a powerful fish it will normally give it right back.Here lies another branch of the sport where big powerful fish are taken on unlimited tackle where the angler more or less goes toe to toe with monsters but straying from the purpose of this thread.


Good hunting JP

what a gorgeous fly reel, what is it?

---------- Post added at 01:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:18 PM ----------

This reel I mean!