Great discussion topic! I like the golf club analogy. My regular 'bag' contains:
3 wt 8 foot Loomis GL3 and 9 foot St. Croix Legend Ultra. Both are 2-piece and share a Loomis Adventure 3-4 reel with a Wulff triangle taper 3 wt WF floater. (Great line!) The fast action on both rods leaves me wanting to try a much slower 1 or 2 wt graphite or a bamboo for small stream or beaver pond fishing. 4 wt 10 foot Sage XP 4-piece. This is my primary trout rod and is used for everything from backpacking into mountain lakes for feisty cutts to Eastern WA triploids. It's paired with a Redington AS34 and a 5 wt Sage floater or a 5 wt Orvis Sly Line clear intermediate. 5 wt 9 foot Thomas & Thomas Horizon 2-piece. This was the first rod I bought after re-entering the sport after a 20-year hiatus. It's a real rocket, easy to cast and accurate, especially in the wind. I've got smaller hands and its grip fits me better than any other rod I own or have tried. It's paired with two Marryat reels with floating, sink-tip, clear intermediate and type 5 full sinking lines. 7 wt 10 foot Loomis Trilogy 3-piece. It's paired with a Redington AL78 with floating, clear intermediate, type 5 sinking and Airflo multi-tip lines. Not having fished much for steelhead or salmon in my second flyfishing incarnation, this rod hasn't seen much use, but it's beautiful sea-green tube cries out for me to take it out more often. It's booked for a trip to Alaska's Prince of Wales island for some serious salt water coho fishing next July. Kent Lufkin
