How many fly fishermen in the BoB?

[rxman]

I'll stick to the blue gills when they spawn - mean and willing to take almost anything that comes near their nest/beds.

Amen, always my favorite. Could catch and release for hours, loved it. Now I live close to the ocean so my fishing now is bottom fishing off the boats. But always enjoyed light weight fly fishing.

 

[user 2031]

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[MisterE]

Innes,
Proportion is probably important to some tyers and some finicky fish, but as long as your creations work who cares????

+1

I also think a good presentation trumps proportion. Put a real klunky looking attractor in the right place.....BAM!

 

[plumbernater]

Im no fly fisherman but my grandpa was. I would paddle him around his pond when he was getting pretty old and he would work towards the bank. he made fly fishing look so easy, more like a work of art. I never could get the nack of it no matter how hard he tried to teach me. All I know is I enjoyed watching him work a fly across the water and bring in a nice bass. Like I said, him and his fly rod working together was a work of art.

 

[docwatson]

Plumber,
it's never too late to start fly fishing and you don't have to be a purist to have a ball. Weather was in the 60's last Monday and I was out wading the river and caught a couple very nice brown trout on an Olive Green Wooly Bugger. Fantastic day with the Bald Eagles soaring overhead looking to get a few fish for themselves. After 3 hours my feet felt like cement blocks and frozen in the cold water but it was shirt sleeve fishing conditions. A real bonus fishing this late in the year in Maine.
Doc

 

[rxman]

Plumber,
it's never too late to start fly fishing and you don't have to be a purist to have a ball. Weather was in the 60's last Monday and I was out wading the river and caught a couple very nice brown trout on an Olive Green Wooly Bugger. Fantastic day with the Bald Eagles soaring overhead looking to get a few fish for themselves. After 3 hours my feet felt like cement blocks and frozen in the cold water but it was shirt sleeve fishing conditions. A real bonus fishing this late in the year in Maine.
Doc

Sounds Great...making me jealous lol

 

[Innes]

Well it's officially winter here. Time to start tying flies. Here's a picture of a Lenok I caught this year. I've caught bigger ones but I only took a picture of this one. Fish or take pictures? fish.

[/img]

 

[Dave_In_Philly]

Basic equipment:

Rod- a 4 wt with as fast action as you can find (the Sages are terrific and quite reasonable)

Reel- just get one, the modest ones work as well as the expensive titanium alloy ones. This is the least important component...

Quick, but novice question. What do reasonable and modest equate too in dollars? I googled the Sage rods and the cheapest is several hundred dollars and they run up to and over a grand. But at the same time Amazon sells complete sets for less than $50. So I guess my question (seeing as this is a pipe forum) is: what would a Savinelli Duca Carlo equate to in the fly fishing world?

 

[Innes]

Basic equipment:

Rod- a 4 wt with as fast action as you can find (the Sages are terrific and quite reasonable)

Reel- just get one, the modest ones work as well as the expensive titanium alloy ones. This is the least important component...

Quick, but novice question. What do reasonable and modest equate too in dollars? I googled the Sage rods and the cheapest is several hundred dollars and they run up to and over a grand. But at the same time Amazon sells complete sets for less than $50. So I guess my question (seeing as this is a pipe forum) is: what would a Savinelli Duca Carlo equate to in the fly fishing world?

I'm not sure what Amazon has for $50; might be used, maybe it's an Eagle Claw, etc. You can get a decent 4wt, 4 piece rod, reel, and line combo for about $200 which is reasonable to me. Orvis, Tempe Fork, Cabelas all have good starter kits with good warranties for about $200 and under.

 

[user 2031]

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[MisterE]

The Sages are relatively inexpensive I probably should have said. Compared to a Winston bamboo rod, say, it's a little like Stanwell is to Eltang. There are plenty of "basket rods" (to keep the metaphor) that might work pretty well and be cheaper still.

Check out Cabelas too, they have some great fly rod packages that come with everything you'd need to get started. I have a Cabelas 3wt I use from time to time that works great for the price. I love my Sages but the Cabelas ain't bad. Fenwick also has reasonable rods, but I find these rather floppy. A good quick action I what I like. It'll make accurate casting a little easier.

 

[KevinM]

I've been a fly fisherman for 30+ years. A comparison you can make between fly fishing and pipes is that you can spend a little, you can spend a lot, largely at your discretion. Some caveats for yez:

You need to match your equipment to what you'll use it for. I use a #5 wght line with an 8'6' rod for most of my stream fishing. For the salt, I use #8, 9', and for small streams a #4, 7'6". I also sometimes use my old fiberglas rods, and enjoy doing my Rip Van Winkle imitation when some know it all sez I oughta try the new graphite sticks Honestly, some anglers have no sense of humor.

Your choice is affected by where you live. I've found Eastern anglers who ply smaller streams prefer a moderate action rod. Western anglers for whom distance casting may be called for may prefer something faster.

Many fly fisherman love fast-action rods, but I cordially admit to hating them. I like moderate action rods, because I still cast mostly by feel, mostly with double taper lines which I learned on fiberglas rods. My preference is not based on "better than," it's just what I prefer. A fast action rod encourages a spinning rod type of casting stroke. A moderate action rod gives an action that looks more like what you see in A River Runs Through It. But really, it's up to the user's temperament.

More expensive doesn't mean better. There's a sweet spot in any manufacturer's lineup at which you're buying a perfectly satisfactory rod, one that hasn't been made to the cheapest possible price, buut you're not paying a premium for hi-tech materials, hand craftmanship etc. I like the value choice in rods. I own St Croix, Orvis and L.L. Bean sticks.

A fly fishing anecdote: Sage is a well known manuf of high-quality rods and, for quite a while, went overboard on fast action sticks. At least, they were way too stiff for my taste, and it was easy to spot a Sage owner by his/her frenetic casting stroke. Under load, the rod stopped bending just below the first guide, it seemed.

Sage then introduced a line advertised as "made for today's fast action rods." The reason was that the avg fly caster couldn't get enough speed going to flex a Sage rod using standard lines. Other line manufacturers followed suit. The little secret was this -- the new lines were manufactured to be half a weight heavier than the rod called for. So the line for a #5 rod was actually a #5.5. Old timers knew that the way to calm down a stiff rod was to "overline" -- i.e., use a #5 line on your #4 rod, for example.

Sage now offers a wider selection of actions, so anglers can find something in the lineup that matches their preferred casting stroke.

 

[docwatson]

Kevin,
Excellent response. I also have been a fly fisherman for 40 years plus and everything you say is exactly my feelings. I also prefer a medium action rod and use a line that is a bit heavier than called for to get more action on the rod. Learning to fish with fiberglass rods and old cane rods years ago gives an angler a real feel for the line unlike the fast action boron/graphite/titanium/carbide/tungsten/whatever action rods some makers advertise.
I have Orvis rods, Winston rods, etc. and catch as many fish and have as much fun using some lesser expensive rods such as Cortland, L.L. Bean, etc.
In a few short weeks L.L. Bean usually has a spring sale on their outfits that include rod, reel, line, and case for very short $$.
I would personally steer any new fly fisherman or experienced fisherman not to overlook these outfits, they are a bargain and won't break the bank account.
Of course, we could also ask some advice from our fellow BoB, lestrout, as his screen name speaks for itself. A true collector and fly fisherman extraordinaire.

 

[KevinM]

Thanks, Doc. The LLB retail store near me just wound up its fly fishing sale, I think. The famous Orvis tent sale on their Web site might still be going on. With the price of fly lines going through the roof, I tend to look for line bargains, whether needed or not. I got an Orvis sinking line which normally sold for $70 or thereabouts for $17.20. Even the missus couldn't complain too much about that, though she soon after added another exhibit to her purse museum. Last month I fell to temptation from Cabela's - - a 4-piece #5 Redington, 8'6", with hard case MSRPed at $180 for $50. It's a good examp of a basic rod with no fancy embellishments at a very reasonable price. If you're not rich you have to be patient

 

[docwatson]

Nice finds Kevin.
Reddington rods are excellent and you got a bargain in that deal. That's great. What a great find for an Orvis sinking line. And yes, it's amazing the prices of lines lately. What's up with that??? I have lines that I've used for 15 years that are still in excellent condition, so I guess I shouldn't complain about price if you cost average them out for that long a time.
We have almost a foot of snow here today, but soon to be gone I hope with warmer weather coming and the rivers will be in good shape for some early season trout fishing.
You can never have enough fly rods, like pipes!!! They just keep piling up!!! And I don't mean expensive ones either, because I, like you, have enough patience to find what I like and for the right price.

 

[MisterE]

^^ I love the Redingtons! My favorite pack rod ever was a 3wt 7'. Terrific small stream rod that went everywhere with me. I had it for about 12 years until the tip finally snapped unceremoniously while putting it together one afternoon. I never sent it off to get fixed. Maybe I should.

 

[williamcharles]

If fly fishing for panfish and bass counts, then I'm a fly fisherman...if it doesn't then I'm not.
I mainly fish for catfish. Channel cats on a fly rod can be real fun but I usually use level wind reels, high and low profile.

 

[finsup21]

I've been fly fishing in salt for about 10 years. A 9 weight fast action Orvis, 10 weight intermediate line most times, and an old Battenkill reel by Orvis as well. It was close to a high end rig at the time and still never fails. And while I love striper fishing you can't beat blues on a fly rod for serious action. Just be prepared to beat up and lose a lot of flies.

As far as the panfish goes, a nice fat sunfish or crappie on a light outfit is some of the best action you will ever have.

 

[KevinM]

>>>it's amazing the prices of lines lately. What's up with that???<<<

Funny you should ask. It's a petroleum product, of course, but there's more at work it says here. I also have very old lines that are still in service ... but that's not good for manufacturers. So one thing they've done is try to make old lines obsolete by bringing out specialty lines and specialty tapers.

F'rinstance, I used to go after smallies with a #8 outfit and a DT floating line. Silly me. Now the smallies expect me to have an $80 WF bass bug taper line. I 've also used a DT line for streamers. Now there's a special rod and line designed just for streamers.

You can still buy perfectly good lines in the mid-price range --- Cortland 444, for instance. But the new specialty products tend to drive up the price of lines in the mid-range, I suspect. To be charitable, they could also drive up manufacturing quality and enhance durability.

One thing I've noticed -- many line manufacturers produce WF floating lines that are usually advertised as suitable for "beginnners" or as "spares." I've lucked upon them at end-of-season sales for $10 or less. I've used one for casting practice in my backyard. I noticed it was a good, durable line for the purpose. Then I started carrying the practice outfit in the truck for opportunistic use. It passed that test, too. So I now have about $30 worth of these low priced, "beginner" lines, all in their original, plain Jane packaging. No one will know how little I paid for them when I put them to work astream

 

[billm67]

I haven't fished much in the last 10 years or so...but the bug has gotten me again. I have 6-7 rods and 5 or 6 reels. I live in Central PA, so I am in the heart of some prime limestoners. So most of my equipment is in the 4-6 weight. I have started tying some flies again...but boy the first ones are rough looking. I'll need to find some dumb trout to take one of my flies.