I am new to the sport of fly fishing and have recently purchased a new pair of waders, and a chest pack. I need to buy a new fly rod / reel. Should I go with a shorter rod or longer one. I will primarily fish smaller streams, but with the Cheat River in Preston Co in my back yard almost I may start fishing it to save money on travel. Also, has anyone fished the Cheat with a fly rod that can give me a few pointers? Thanks in advance!!

Starting out Fly Fishing, I think the most versatile rod you could get would be a 9' 5wt. Some would consider that a bit too small for the Cheat, but it would be usable on the Cheat, and many other streams too which would make it pretty versatile. A really good Cheat Rod would be a 6 or 7 wt to throw bigger flies, but I've used my 5wt a number of times up there and caught fish, although there were some things I couldn't do---like smoothly cast really big flies. Overall though, you can get by with it.

None of it matters in the long run though. If you get addicted to fly fishing like most of us, you'll have 4 or 5 rods before you know it I frequently use a 6.5' 3wt, a 7ft 4wt, a 9ft 5wt and a 9ft 6 wt. For Steelhead I will go bigger, but those are the rods I use the most in WV.