I had lost all hopes of getting any fishing time this past weekend due to VD (Valentine's Day) but I managed to take a fly rod with me when walking the dog in the park on Friday. I caught a few small sunfish and bass, but the real fun was sight casting to rio grande cichlids. I'm always tickled to catch a few fish in the ditch.

Nice Rio!! always be prepared as the scout says in me. Although that is probably my next upgrade as I already have a new eight weight rod but I still have that same reel on it from my original 8 weight from Bass Pro. I have to give that reel credit I have put the drag to intense testing lol. Hasn't let me down yet. If for what ever reason you get a new rod don't think you have to go new reel. Got 12 years on mine. Were you able to get a length on the cichlid?

Having a local ditch:priceless! That's a 100% legit excuse to get a zero or one wright rod. And a whole new world to explore and pursue.
I'm ranting on here because I love tiny water.
We look forward to hearing/seeing more.

A 3wt is my lower limit, but in this case I was using my beginner fly rod. It's a two piece 7'6" 5wt. It gets windy out there sometimes, so I prefer the heavier weight line. Never thought much about taking a measurement on the fish, but I may consider that in the future if it's a big un.