Is a 9 weight fly rod any good?

[Aunty Jack]

As you may have gatherd I am new to fly fishing.
After reading posts I have come accross of contradiction with the weights and messures in regards to ;

8wt Heavy Largest trout and salmon flies, bass and saltwaterOver 12 lbs. or 1X Useful for: Windy conditions, 6-15 lb. trout, heavy tippets



then theres this;7X-2lb - 6X-3lb - 5X-4lb - 4X-5lb - 3X-6lb - 2X-7lb - 1X-9lb - 0X-10lb - 12lb - 15lb


one says to me 8 wt is near 15 lbs then the 2nd says 7x is only 2lbs


you see I am about to pick up my new second hand fly combo
a the add reads:


Orvis Fly Rod and Fly Reel


Both rod and reel have had very little use. The reel is in excellent condition with floating line on. The rod is 9 weight and 276 cm long. The the reel is 10/11 weight. Quite a versatile rig. Has only been in freshwater a couple of times.
The cases are great and the rod case is steel.

I belive this to be a good brand, but now I'm having doubts on the weight class.
What would this combo be best used for???

Here are some photos.
If you look at the 2nd in the middle it look like a joiner, when I spoke to the bloke thats selling it to me he says no breaks so, I ask you what do you think of the join and the rig??

[Dan5]

9 weight is saltwater fly ........the 10wt reel will be ok but you need to have 9wt fly line on it.

I'm no fly fisherman guru but i do use a 9wt for barra/saltwater fly...........bit heavy compared to the trout gear but it's a diffeent ball game altogether with a completly different casting style.

Dan

[culbara]

k 9 weight is a very versitile fly rod as you can use it for bass and you can use it for river and in the river it is a bit heavy and you can use it outside for tuna
As for fly line you can put a 10wt fly lone on at 9 wht rod but it is not recommended to upsize your line more than one size on a rod.
I dont know where you live but i am on the sunny coast so if i can help send me a pm

[Matt_Campbell]

What's it costing? I wouldn't be paying more than about 50 bucks if I were you. Save up and buy a decent rod - you will cast better with a good rod. When you're learning, the reel isn't important - it's just somewhere to store your line because most of the fish you catch can be fought by hand.

Don't worry about the 5x, 4x, etc if you're looking at fly fishing in the salt, you will get away with using 6-10kg tippets and unless you're going bone fishing you won't need tapered leaders. A 2m butt section and a metre of tippet is all you will need. Once you've done a bit more, you can progress to more complicated leader setups.

9wts are a good beginner rod because you can catch flathead, bass, tailor, salmon, etc. Learn to cast, get lessons. If you can't cast well you are more likely to give it away. There are heaps of places to learn - Fishead and Tie-n-fly are two places to get heaps of good info.

[Aunty Jack]

k 9 weight is a very versitile fly rod as you can use it for bass and you can use it for river and in the river it is a bit heavy and you can use it outside for tuna
As for fly line you can put a 10wt fly lone on at 9 wht rod but it is not recommended to upsize your line more than one size on a rod.
I dont know where you live but i am on the sunny coast so if i can help send me a pm

Thanks for that culbara I thought it might have been used for that.
I want it for Jacks, Travally, Flathead and to play and learn on muttet and giant heiring .
I live on the gold cost so you a bit out of the way for me but thanks any way.

[Aunty Jack]

What's it costing? I wouldn't be paying more than about 50 bucks if I were you. Save up and buy a decent rod - you will cast better with a good rod. When you're learning, the reel isn't important - it's just somewhere to store your line because most of the fish you catch can be fought by hand.

Don't worry about the 5x, 4x, etc if you're looking at fly fishing in the salt, you will get away with using 6-10kg tippets and unless you're going bone fishing you won't need tapered leaders. A 2m butt section and a metre of tippet is all you will need. Once you've done a bit more, you can progress to more complicated leader setups.

9wts are a good beginner rod because you can catch flathead, bass, tailor, salmon, etc. Learn to cast, get lessons. If you can't cast well you are more likely to give it away. There are heaps of places to learn - Fishead and Tie-n-fly are two places to get heaps of good info.

Thanks for the input Matt_Campbell When I got the first set of photos I went looking on line and found out a few facts about Orvis Fly rod and reels,
besides beeing around for a 120 years, there gear is conciderd to be at the high end of the market.
When i went looking for my rod I found the the cheapest rod combo start around $295. the average rod was any thing from $395 to $1975 .The reels wern't far behind.
I then went and looked at reveiws and there were heaps .Out of about 75 reviews there was not one bad review and thats what sold me.
So I think I did real good paying $100. for the rod reel carry bags and rod tube. The whole out fit is flawles not a chip or scratch is on them.yet
I agree about the types of fish that its suited for which is good on one hand but now I find myself still hunting the rite 5/6 weight 8"to 9"er not a easy task either but half the fun is in the hunt !!

[sprat]

You mentioned that you are fishing for flathead, bass, tailor, salmon, etc.

You should go with a #7. Would be a perfect all-rounder and more than capable of handling those species.

A TFO Professional (going cheap esp from USA now as superceded) but a great forgiving casting rod with great warranty, would be my recommendation,

PS. I have no affiliation to the co / product.