# 7 or 10 weight?



## albacized (Nov 25, 2011)

Those are the two sizes of travel/4 pc fly rods I have...Which would be the best choice to pack if I mostly plan to walk the beach as well as maybe fling a fly into some estuaries (if I can find any)? Line wise, I have interchangable shooting head systems on both my Islander FR2 as well as my old Orvis Odyssey II...so I should be good with those either way. 

If I had to be species specific, I'd say I'd like to catch albies aka bonita from the beach and maybe find a few redfish...but in reality, I'd just go with the flow and give what the fish gods give me...LOL

I plan on bringing one of these two fly rods as well as two lighter to medium spinning rods with me (Penn 360 slammer on 7 ft 6-10lb LL Bean travel rod and Cabo 40 on a 7 1/2' heavy action St Croix Tidemaster travel rod)...I'd split time between pier fishing with the spinning rods and walking the beach with the fly rod (I wear a back pack and will probably have the spinning rod tucked in that in case fish are running outside my fly casting range)

Thanks a lot for your help

PS - I never caught an albie on my 7 wt, but notice they seem to run a bit smaller down there (at least right now/at this time of the season)


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## kanaka (Oct 3, 2007)

Bring both of em since their travel rods. At least with the 10 wt, it just takes 1 false cast to get out 50 ft of line, eh?


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## albacized (Nov 25, 2011)

kanaka said:


> Bring both of em since their travel rods. At least with the 10 wt, it just takes 1 false cast to get out 50 ft of line, eh?


Very true...especially with a shooting head - and this is a windy time of year.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

I'd say the 7WT if I absolutely had to pick one and only one. I find myself going lighter and lighter on a lot of things and the small patterns needed for bobos and spanish cast very nicely with the 7WT


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## Garbo (Oct 2, 2007)

It's sounds like you have the perfect reason to go out and buy a new 8wt.............

I agree with Chris for more than one reason. Comfort of casting is important and the 7 will be be much more comfortable than lugging a 10 all day. 


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## Cap'n Fisherman (Mar 15, 2011)

I like the 7 wt. I carry an extra reel with 9 wt line that will cast well in the wind also. The 7 wt rod is fine for the heavier line.


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## daniel9829 (Jan 31, 2009)

I use a 7wt loaded with shooting taper and carry a spare spool of 8 wt shooting taper for real windy conditions. Walking the beach early am can be a real blast.


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## wtbfishin (Dec 2, 2011)

I'd go w/the 7wt also, I caught Bonita a couple of weeks ago on my 8wt it handled them like a breeze and I felt like my 6 could of done the job. The 8 got them in pretty quick and the fish still had plenty of life left to swim off no prob.


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