Experts always have opinions. As they should. Any expert worth his or her salt will have strong views regarding their areas of expertise, and any expert who isn’t opinionated is either holding back or being disingenuous. In fact, an “expert” without opinions likely isn’t an expert at all, which is something you should consider going forward.

With that in mind, I want to share some relatively detailed thoughts about fly rods for trout.

Rod Weights

You can’t trust most fly rod brands when they describe their rods as 4 weights, or 5 weights, or 6 weights. Sorry, but that’s just the way it works right now. We live in an age when manufacturers are building fly rods that are faster and stiffer and harder to bend than ever before. As a consequence, line manufacturers are making, and selling, lines that are heavier than their listed weights in order to help those too-stiff rods flex and load properly. (Or, in certain cases, flex and load at all.)

What does that mean? Well, some 4 weight rods really are designed to cast actual 4 weight lines. But many aren’t. They’re built to cast 4.5 weight lines, or 5 weight lines, or 5.5 weight lines, or even 6 weight lines. The same scenario applies to lighter and heavier rods. It’s a complete crapshoot whether your new 9’ 5 weight will cast an actual 5 weight line reasonably well at normal fishing distances, or whether it should really be labeled as a 6 weight or even a 7 weight.

I wish that there was some sort of magic fix for the current situation, but there doesn’t seem to be. The only way to find out whether any particular rod is labeled correctly by the manufacturer is to cast it with a true-to-weight fly line — for example, a Scientific Anglers Mastery Double Taper or a RIO Lightline Double Taper — and see if it bends easily, and casts effectively, from 20’ to 45’. Caveat emptor, my friends, and good luck.

There is, however, one “tell” that you can use to help yourself right out of the gate. If a rod manufacturer describes a rod as a moderate or medium action, then the odds are good that the rod will be accurately labeled when it comes to line weight. A well-designed and well-built moderate action 4 weight will, if the manufacturer is reasonably competent and isn’t consciously misleading you, cast an actual 4 weight line effectively at typical fishing distances.

Conversely, a rod that’s described as fast and/or stiff will generally not be labeled accurately. Fast action rods will often be off by a line size or more, so your fast action 4 weight rod may fare better with a 5 weight line, or even a 6 weight line. As for medium-fast rods — and there are a bunch of rods labeled as medium-fast — who knows? Without casting them, it’s almost impossible to say for sure.

Lightweights and Heavyweights

You don’t need a 1 weight fly rod to fish for trout. Nor do you need a 2 weight or a 3 weight. And unless you’re fishing Alaska (or someplace similar) for extremely large fish, you won’t need a 7 weight or anything heavier. To be frank, you can fish for trout across the Lower 48 for the next 20 years and never need anything lighter than a 4 weight or heavier than a 6 weight. If you’re a good caster and you don’t spend most of your time on spring creeks and tiny streams, a true-to-the-standard 5 weight will suffice for the majority of your angling.

Which doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t buy a new 3 weight if you’re convinced that doing so will make you happy. But you don’t need a 3 weight — or any other specialty rod — to catch trout south of the Canadian border.

Long and Short Rods

There’s nothing wrong with graphite rods shorter than 8’ or longer than 10’. Unless you fish brush-choked or tree-lined creeks on a regular basis, though, you won’t need short rods for your angling. Nor, I should mention, will you need longer rods. A good angler can fish the vast majority of our streams and rivers with an 8’6” or 9’ fly rod.

Favor Rods that Bend Deep

A fly rod’s design and materials determine its action. There are any number of ways that a fly rod can bend, and rod manufacturers have the ability to build models that flex mainly in the tip, or through the mid-section of the rod, or all the way down to the cork. If you’re a great caster, you obviously don’t need my advice. If you’re not, though, you might want to be wary of rods that flex mainly in the tip. As a general rule, rods that bend through the mid-section and down into the butt are easier and more enjoyable to cast.

Casting Fly Rods Should Be Fun

Here’s a news flash. Fly casting should be fun. It should not, however, be overly-strenuous or, even worse, an exercise in masochism. Assuming that your rod and your line are well-matched, the two things that will determine the efficacy of your casting are your fly rod and your skill level. You should work on your casting skills until you’re as good as you hope to be, and you should fish rods that make your casting and angling more enjoyable rather than less so. More often than not, fast action rods will make you work harder at the same time they limit your enjoyment of the sport. My advice is to steer clear of fast and ultra-fast rods unless you’re a great caster.

Price Doesn’t Determine Quality

There’s no correlation between price and performance, at least when it comes to fly rods. My favorite fly rods — I’m a huge fan of Montana Brothers rods — run about $925 per rod. At the same time, I’d be stoked to fish a Redington Classic Trout that costs about $170. And keep in mind that you can find mediocre-to-terrible rods at pretty much any price point. Spending a lot, or a little, on a particular rod doesn’t guarantee anything at all.

Finally, I’d like to close with a word of caution. Lots of anglers — including some who don’t cast very well — will offer you all sorts of advice on which rods to purchase and which ones you should avoid. You’re welcome to listen to whoever you want, of course, but it might pay to steer clear of uninformed opinions and marketing hype the next time you’re in the market for a fly rod.

Todd Tanner has been writing about fly fishing on a national and international level for the last 30 years. Prior to his writing career, he guided fly fishers on the Henry’s Fork, the Madison, the Yellowstone and other western rivers. Todd also owns and runs the School of Trout.