When choosing your fishing rod and reel for cutthroat trout, it’s fairly simple. Many anglers fly fish, so they will be using fly fishing gear. The size of your fly fishing rods will depend on where you are fishing. You have lots of obstacles in a smaller creek, a shorter fly rod in the 6 to 7 foot range might be best. If you have plenty of room to cast, an 8 to 10 foot rod may be much better for you. As far as rod weight, when fishing for cutthroats, it depends on the the type of water you are fishing. If you’re going to be catching a lot of smaller fish, rod weights in the 0 to 4 range will most likely do just fine. If bigger fish are possible, rod weights in the 4 to 6 range and even higher will be needed.
For those that don’t use fly fishing gear, spinning gear is the way to go. An ultra light or medium-light spinning rod and reel combo will get the job done when fishing in rivers and lakes with lures or live bait. If you plan on trolling, spinning gear still gets the job done. You can go with a baitcaster setup if you want when trolling, but it’s not needed. The biggest factor with rod and reel selection is that you’re going to be using light line. With line as light as 2 pound test, you really need to be able to set the hook and play the fish without snapping the line, so a light action rod is a must.
