While the 5wt fly rod is often a good all around fly fishing rod, it does lack in several aspects of fly fishing that a 6wt rod will excel at.
6wt rods allow you to pick up more line and heavier flies and deliver it back into the strike zone much quicker than your typical 5wt.
In this article, we will take a look at five 6wt fly rod models that you cannot go wrong with and will deliver on the river or lake.
The Best 6wt Fly Rod – My Top 5 Picks
Let’s take a look at the best options in no particular order…
G. Loomis NRX
Features:
- Length: 9 feet
- Power: Medium Stiff
- Taper: Fast
- 4 pieces
The first rod to make our list is the G. Loomis NRX. This rod is quite possibly one of the greatest fly rods ever designed. This fast action and medium stiff powered rod could turn into your go-to rod when chasing those trophy fish.
The NRX blanks are made from high modulus graphite that provides incredible strength while still cutting weight. The NRX has beautiful olive colored blanks and wraps with high-grade western style cork grip.
The reel seat is anodized aluminum with an uplocking mechanism that provides a snug fit for the reel.
The rod features two titanium stripping guides and single foot nickel/titanium guides along the length of the rod. These rods also come with a short, cork fighting butt that provides a little extra ease of working large fish without getting in the way of single hand casting.
Like most fly rods, these are fast action with a stiff body. This gives the rod the ability to cast heavier flies at far distances but with ease and accuracy.
The power paired with the soft tip and light swing weight makes these rods top performers from short to long ranging casting with heavier flies.
After reading all those features, no doubt you would agree there is little, to no doubt why we think this is the best 6 weight fly rod on the market.
Orvis Recon
The Orvis Recon 6wt fly rod comes in at 9’6” and comes in a four piece set. This rod has a medium-fast action and is pretty stiff throughout its length.
The blanks have a dark olive finish on their blanks with similar colored wraps. Orvis uses high-grade cork in reverse half wells styling for excellent and comfortable gripping potential.
They use an anodized black nickel reel seat with a finished wood insert and single uplocking reel seat. A single SiC stripper guide is used along with chrome snake guides throughout the rest of the rod length.
While the stiffness throughout the rod grants it great fighting power and long range casting, this rod does not perform exceptionally well at short distances due to the stiff tip.
During medium to long range casting (50-80ft) this rod performs smoothly and can land a fly accurately cast after cast.
With the stiffness, this rod can also pick quite a bit of line off the water and load quickly to redeliver your fly.
There is more than enough power in the midsection and butt of this fly to cast larger streamers.
Douglas Sky
Features:
- Fast action
- 4 pieces
- Grey color
The Douglas Sky is a 9’ 6wt rod that comes in a four piece set. This rod is fast action and has moderate-heavy power which makes it perfect, on paper, for 6wt fishing purposes.
The blanks on this rod are a stunning charcoal gray finish with black wrappings, and they pair well with the high-quality cork grips fashioned in a reverse western style grip. It utilizes a gray anodized reel seat with a dark wood insert and double uplocking rings for a snug and secure fit for your reel.
One of the best features of this rod is the new Fuji Torzite ceramic stripping guide that lets line shoot out with hardly any friction. The rest of the guides used on this reel are nickel/titanium single foot guides.
The first thing you might notice when casting for any extended period with this rod is the light swing weight. When tossing big streamers all day, you want a rod that’s going to lighten the load and keep arm fatigue down.
Though the rod has a lot of power, it still maintains a relatively soft tip that helps with short distance casting. From short to long distance, there is enough power in this rod to deliver streamers up to 60-70yards without too much effort.
TVO BFK
Next up, Temple Fork Outfitters BFK Series.
Lefty Kreh had his hands all over the design of this rod, and it functions well for what it was designed to do. Catch larger fish.
It has the typical BVK dark olive blank finish and wrappings along with an anodized aluminum reel seat with dark olive graphite inserts. It is available in several 6wt models with lengths of 9’, 9’6”, and 10’. All models come in 4 piece sets. All models have two SiC stripper guides that stand out when retrieving streamers for extended outings into the river.
This is a fast action rod that can deliver big flies at incredible distances. It is extremely accurate at both mid and long-range casts. It struggles with short distance casts, but it can be managed. You can feel the power in this rod when working with heavier streamers.
The swing weight is a little heavy, and you can feel it more when trying to work shorter casting distances, but this rod shines in the mid to long range game.
Sage X
This fast action 6wt rod by Sage is one of the top 6wt rods available on today’s market with only minor complaints. It is 9’ and comes in a four piece set.
The blanks feature a black finish with black wraps and silver trim. This rod uses full wells cork grips or snub nose half-wells grips. Both models use high-grade cork that provides a comfortable gripping surface.
The full wells model has an anodized aluminum reel seat with double uplocking reel rings and a cork composite fighting butt. The snub nose model has a wood insert and only uses a single uplocking mechanism.
Regarding guides, both models use a single SiC stripper guide and hard chrome snake guides that are rugged and will not get knocked loose through normal use.
What’s great about the Sage X 6wt rods is there seems to be no wasted motion regarding the rod when casting. From short to long range casting you get nice tight loops and smooth performance.
This is a lightweight rod that can pick up lots of slack line of the water and redeliver quickly, even when using heavier streamer or nymph patterns.
The only drawback to this rod is it is not as sensitive as other products on this list, but regarding going for the big fish, that won’t be a problem.
FAQ Section
What is a 6 weight fly rod good for? A 6wt fly rod is good for smallmouth, largemouth bass, trout In addition, because of the added weight it is going to penetrate the wind better and thus you will be able to use heavier lures like sinker tips and big streamers.
What does the weight of the rod mean? Fly rods are categorized by weight. This means the heavier rod rating the heavier line and lures it can handle. Ultimately meaning that you can target bigger fish.
How long should my fly rod be? The industry standard is 9 feet, but that doesn’t mean you need to use a 9-foot rod. Much of this depends on where you will be fishing. If fishing in large open areas a longer rod will be fine. However, in small tight areas a shorter rod, might be better.
Final Thoughts
There are times on the river when you just need a little more power and pick up in your fly rod.
When you are chasing those big browns lurking in the deep water turn to one of these five 6wt fly rod models to get the job done.
Now it is your turn. Share with us, what have you found to be the best 6wt fly rod in the comments below.
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