I usually fish for dollies with a 6-wt. That handles the heavy tip and
weighted flies that I favor. I'm not happy with this choice and am going to
work on finding a better solution. Note that Leland was using a 6-wt.,
10-foot, type III sink tip and a fly that was only weighted with bead-chain
eyes, a much more pleasant rig to cast than the 13-foot, type IV tip and
lead dumbbell-eye weighted string leeches that have been my standard this
fall and winter. The Sauk was low and quite clear the other day, whereas
most of my dolly fishing for the last couple of seasons has been under
higher and dirtier conditions. To answer your question; I guess I'd go with
the 8-wt. Not so much because of the chance of hooking a steelhead as for
the greater facility in casting heavier sink-tips and big flies. Since the
Sauk doesn't get too many steelhead before February, I would not be too
concerned about that likelihood; the Skagit would be an entirely different
story.
