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For those wanting to get into fly fishing... I'll give you a little run-down...
In normal fishing, the lure and other end tackle are the weight. In fly fishing, the fly is not heavy enough to cast on its own. Instead, we use a really thick "fly line", which acts as the weight. You have yards of this stuff on your reel. Obviously you can't attach a hook straight to this line, as the fish will see it and freak out. Instead, we use a transparent monofilament line called a "leader", which has a "tippet" on the end of it. The leader and tippet together are usually around 9 feet long. The leader tapers down from a thick line to a thin line. The tippet is at the very end and attaches to the fly - the tippet is extremely thin, so that the fish don't see it and the fly can be delicately presented to the fish.
On that note - fly fishing goes hand in hand with trout. These fish are extremely timid and can be spooked by shadows or even the sun reflecting off your rod. You basically can't let them see you. Hence, it is evident why fly fishing is so effective for trout, in comparison to other methods.
There are many types of flies. The main categories are wet flies and dry flies. Wet flies sink, to imitate nymphs etc. Dry flies sit on the surface, to imitate a fly that has landed on the water, or a fly which is hatching from the water.
When you buy a fly fishing setup (an "outfit"), everything will be matched to the weight of the fly line you use. Below is a rough overview of different weights and their uses. For a beginner, you would usually use a 5 or 6 weight line. The heavier the line, the easier it will be to cast. However, heavier lines will scare the fish more.
0 - WTF? Basically a twig
2 - Tiny fish
3 - Slightly less tiny fish
4 - Typical panfish
5 - Considered a good all-rounder for trout
6 - Large trout, considered a good all-rounder for all freshwater fish
7 - Beastly trout, bass, other large fresh water fish
8 onwards - Huge freshwater fish and saltwater use
As stated above, your rod and reel will both be limited to certain line weights. Usually, rods specify one line weight, but you may often see something like "5/6", meaning it is ok to use with either 5 or 6 weight line. Reels usually support 3 different weights, eg. "4/5/6".
You need to consider the conditions you will be fishing in. If you plan on fishing in small overgrown creeks, get a 5 weight rod in a smaller size - eg. 8'6". If you are fishing on lakes, you will need a heavier line to cast in the wind. Likewise, you will need a longer rod for longer casts. You would be well served by a 9', 6 weight rod.
Another consideration is how many pieces the rod comes in. 2 piece rods are cheaper, but less portable. 4 piece rods are obviously much easier to store.
Inevitably, you will pick up a second rod for other uses. Personally, I have a 4 piece 5 weight and a 2 piece 6/7 weight. I use my 5 weight for fishing streams and my 6/7 weight for fishing lakes. I've loaded the 6/7 weight with 7 weight line, as there isn't much difference between 5 and 6. Hence, you need to consider what rod you might purchase in future. I don't do much creek fishing. If I did, I would get a 7'6" 4 weight and a 9' 6 weight instead.
For a beginner, I recommend the Redington Crosswater outfits or the St. Croix Triumph outfits. These are really cheap (US$99-140) but are good quality and will last you a long time.
Last edited by echosystm on Oct-21-2008 at 12:11
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