Prediction- Future SM Yellow fishing

[core fly]

I guess i must not say i will never fish with a 3wt on the Vaal,Never say never.....
I would give it a swing anytime and maybe i love the feel and what it might offer.I do believe though whether a person will stick to using it depends largely on their style of fishing.
As said before there are certain things i like about fishing and one thing about the Vaal is I like Mixing it up.I will nymph a while,catch a few fish and gain confidence in the flies.Then i will start casting longer lines to likely spots.If i see other larger fish species i use the same setup and cast streamers etc to them.
With this style of fishing my 6 is the best.Its light in hand,can pull big fish and i love fishing it.If I were to fish say lilydale however,in clear conditions and without the river grass,I would definately opt for th 3wt,even though there are some huge fish around.

What about Sterkies then?I believe a 3wt would be great there until the wind picks up.

[river_runs_through_it]

i always say fish within your means...... if you comfortable fishing a 6wt on the vaal fish and and fish it well. so many things can be misleading to newbies and dare i say novices when the pros start talking about 3wts on the vaal and 15 foot leaders....(talking skill level),

different strokes for different folks i guess but i always maintain fish with what you are comfortable with and progress from there,

[Michael]

What about Sterkies then?I believe a 3wt would be great there until the wind picks up.

I've been fishing Sterkies for the past 12 years and I'd never fish it with a 3wt. There are big fish cruising around everywhere plus the odd largie will be picked up between them on dry fly too. Most area's have structure and the fish sometimes dive deep, or towards structure and you need to get them away from it. Wind can also be a major factor.
To me, 5wt is the minimum.

While targeting largies there I use a 7wt. Most of the largies you catch will be between 2 and 3 kg, but you need to cast long lines and biggish baitfish patterns (and the wind can be a problem most times), plus there are some BIG fish around, so the 7wt is a much better all-round tool for the job.

[Korrie]

The general rule of thumb should apply when fishing.
Big water, bigger flies, big fish, bigger rod. River or still water.
smaller water, smaller fish smaller rod. River or still water.

But as said more fly fishers will start to fish bigger water with lighter tackle.
But it will not become the norm/standard.
It is common sense, that you cannot cast a 8cm baitfish imitation into a wind with a #3 rod for a 10 pound fish on a 4x tippet.

[Pipe]

Generally if you going to fish a rod out of it means and what it was intended for it is not going to last. I have targeted barbel of around 10kg with a 6-7 weight, although it is fun, you cannot put too much pressure on the rod, catch the same fish with a 9 weight, you cut the fighting time in half! The Vaal is an unpredictable place and personally I would rather be prepared for the unexpected barbel, carp, grasscarp or largie. Weather conditions like strong winds, which you often do get will also limit you with a lighter rod. I like to fish different techniques during a day nymphs, dry fly and sometimes streamers so it makes more sense to have an all purpose rod. My 2c

[smallstreams.co.za]

For some strange reason everyone stiil thinks that the Vaal is the only place that has yellowfish. Thank goodness for that!!

[dizzy]

You're right Mario, most are assuming the Vaal, which is probably a good thing for the small stream enthusiasts

[GGY]

There's no argument that no matter who's fishing the rod, a 5wt will land the fish easier than a 3wt or less.
If you're fishing in currents, rapids, or there's structure...the 5wt just has more power and control. That's the bottom line.

I could land a frikkin 5kg smallmouth with a 0wt if I really wanted to...but the fight is definitely going to be longer and it's just silly.

For general fishing I maintain, big fish, big water, big rods.

I have gone the opposite way for SM in big rivers. I started out using a 5wt, but now prefer the lighter, responsive new-generation 10ft 6wts.
Tippet is usually 4X and I prefer the control the higher line weight rod gives me (and the fighting butt against my forearm helps to land fish quickly).

In small streams for SM, I very happily use 9ft/10ft 3wt rods, for fish up to 3kg, but there I do not have to contend with Vaal/Orange-sized rapids.

[Pipe]

Most are hard to get access to though...need to know someone that know someone! Or go fish Mario's side of the world