Other thing working against me is that my fly rig is waaaay too big, generally speaking. I think it's a 7/8wt saltwater rig. But, work with what you've got and all that..
A saltwater specific fly blank, is built with extra lift capability in the middle to butt section of the blank. It's designed to LIFT UP on big strong and way more powerful saltwater fish. The blank diameter in the bottom end of these blanks, are traditionally thicker walled and many of them are mixed glass and graphite blends, for added durability. They also weigh more than General build fly rods of the same weight class. A custom builder can make them appear to feel lighter, by building them around specific weights of a particular fly reel to points, the weight carries all in the butt of the rod, so working the tip on cast, feels very light. I build fly rods using this approach, even though the overall weight may be higher, it's felt weight in casting, is reduced due to the balance point of the rod & reel setup - keeping the felt weight in the hand and not out toward the tip.
I have an 8wt & 10wt - saltwater specific - fly blanks for saltwater fishing. They are more pricey than traditional 8 or 10 wt blanks (general use).
7 to 8 wt is an excellent big bass fly weight to fish with. Small bass, bream and general trout fishing blanks are typically 4 - 5 weight.
You can fish a 7 or 8 weight for smaller fish but, it's less sporty and, finessing to wary fish, is harder to do. Bass don't care about noise much but they will and can get shy with leaders and lines in super clear water that receives a lot of fishing pressure.
Lines are measured weights in the first 30 ft of the fly line - toward the tippet leader connection.
5 weight fly line weight - 140 Grains
6 weight fly line weight - 160 Grains
7 weight fly line weight - 185 Grains
8 weight fly line weight - 210 Grains
These are the 4 most common fly line weights used for general freshwater fishing in the South.
Up North in Trout country, brooks and small streams, many will lean on a 2 - 4 weight - 7'6" to 8'6" length blank. And these blanks are designed to cast accurately out to 20 ft (small streams and brooks). I have a 2 wt at the house, 7'6" in length with a ZERO ROSS fly reel. It's dainty but it will roll casts in my living room - easily
Be cautious lifting up closely with a big fish during land. Many fly rods snap at this point, and there's a reason why so many, use a longer handled net to land fish "alone" using fly gear. Watch how many fly anglers landing trout, bass or redfish alone, extend the net out with their arm to full reach, as they net the fish. This helps reduce the stress on the fly blank with the fish lunging at close quarter.
Fishing the jetties for tarpon....many have spotters with them to help do the catch release thing. You can't really do it alone without a lot of break off or broken rod blank risk.
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