fly rod for king salmon

Is a ten weight enough? Thanks.

A ten weight is plenty!...talk to those serious about chasing after 'nooks with the bugrod on the Kanektok and other famous Alaskan flyfishing waters for 'nooks and a 10 weight is their go to rod.

Just made sure you have a big enough reel to hold up to their long runs (if you are fishing a bigger river) and a reliable drag. Leave the click-pawl at home.

I'll agree with Sparkey all the way. I have for years used an old Fenwick glass fly rod rated 9/10 wt. You can get by with the OLD pflueger 1498's. But I'd go with good disc drag as well. I normally use a 10 wt line when I fish them. I know I caught a few bigger kings on my 8 wt this year, but man, talk about beating up my tackle.

In most cases, I'd agree, yes, it's plenty. Especially in the case of most of our fall fish in the NW that aren't terribly great fighters ... now, if I could find someway to hook one of those second-run Kasilof kings on the fly ... I'd be busting out something a whole lot heavier

I used a 9ft. 9wt. Loomis IMX for years and it handled most fish in the twenty to thirty pound class. Be a good first-run Kasilof rod, worked great on the Naknek, Togiak, and Kenai (I just landed the guppies, not the groupers).

I just love the challenge and the rush I get with slightly lighter gear, but 10 wt. should be more than adequate for the Kings. Just make sure you have at least 200 yards of 30# backing in a reel with a good drag.

My go to rod for king salmon is a 1096 RPLxi, with a Ross BG 5 reel. The important part of the 10 weight is its lifting power. I have been guiding clients into king salmon on the fly for the past 10 yrs, at Alaska West on the Kanektok river in A.K.. we see a large range of fish sizes, from jacks to 15lbs to adults at more than 50. The problem with the lite rods 9 weight or less is that they lack the lifting power to move these massive fish close enough to the boat, resulting in over exhausted fish. With big king salmon on a fly you have to bring the fight to them, In this case the question is, Would you bring a knife to a gun fight?

Even in Spey Rods a 10/11 is more than adequate even for 'pigs.' But when chasing the Spring Kings on the Rogue, I'll pull out the "Big Gun." Big as in my 10/11 wt 18' Bruce and Walker Spey Rod. (No, that's not a mis-type - it's 18').

Have yet to have a fish it wouldn't handle ... all be it a guide boat did have to pick my up to chase one fish this past spring. I may have hit the end of the beach ... but the fish hadn't hit the end of my backing. Motor guide boat guy had his clients reel in and he came over and picked me up.

End of chase 1/2+ later was well over mid-thirties in wt. Several sets of eyes got very large when I asked the guide to 'pop the hook' and set him/her free. Something that big you want in the gene pool; besides what would I do with 30+ pounds of salmon meat?
fae