Lighter rod to compliment a 10wt?...

[one4theflats]

I've been using a 10 wt orvis setup for the past few years and want something a little lighter for bass, blues and bonito. I'll keep the 10 wt for the real crappy, windy days and the big bunker flies. I was originally thinking about an 8 wt, but don't know if that is going to be too similar to the 10 wt. Would a 7 wt be too light? I'm mainly concerned about casting in the slightly windy conditions where I fish (LI sound and out on LI). I'm looking at fast action rods like the sage xp, loomis crosscurrents, and thomas and thomas rods. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks in advance.

[JGH]

I fish your neck of the woods with a 9 and 10 wt. The 10's a bit heavy, I agree, though some days it comes in handy. The 9 is about right. I don't know about you, but I don't often cast small flies, and I'm not a great caster, so anything lighter and I have trouble throwing much line. That said, I am considering picking up a 7 or 8 for the schoolies in the spring. But I think a 7 is a little light for routine use. If you go down to an 8 and plan to use it as your main stick, I'd suggest one with some b--ls. Good luck.

[bones]

Last summer I fished Cape Cod/Monomoy/Nantucket/Martha's with my 8wt. with great success. Took practice to get the large sand eel patterns way out there but I learned pretty quickly............all a matter of having to do something I'd never done before. The battles were great fun with the 8.......I'm bringing a 7 with me next time,.........also a 6 in case we get into an area with schoolie blues/stripers.

The 6wt. is awsome fun battling the redfish in the 6-8# class.

All my flyrods are fast action.

[canalyaker]

I moved to an 8 weight for the flats this year. No regrets.

[Ray]

I fish the flats extensively in the early summer with an 8 weight rod. Most of the fish I catch are in the 26 - 30 inch range. We landed many fish pushing 40 inches this year.

Just know the capabilities of your equipment.

[dadietze]

This is a list of rods by fly weight, I have several 7 and 8's in all price ranges, thanks for looking....

Please Click (or Cut and Paste) the following link for the list:
http://www.dietzelinc.com/trader/currentlist/flywt.txt

Thanks for Looking
Trader@southslope.net