Fly Rod?

[fish_fishburn]

Hey guys, I am going to give fly fishing a try for the first time. I have a fly rod that I won almost 25 yrs ago and have never used it. It still has the shrink plastic on the handle. It's a 8'6 Martin Classic 7/8 wt. Anyone ever heard of it? And would it be okay to use for smallie fishing? All I need is a reel and some line. Theres no fly shops around here but does crappie or walley world sell anything that is worth buying for a newb?

[Musky or Specks]

For smallie fishing(which this is an excellent weight rod to use) I recommend a weight forward taper so a WF7 or WF8. Buy just a dirt cheep reel you won't use it for much fishing for bass. You'll probably have to go mail order if you havent got any place local. DO NOT REPEAT DO NOT buy a level line this is what most CT's and Wall-Marts sell.

[BillsTheBassMan]

As someone who just started this year, I've had to go through what you're going through.

 

Here's exactly what I'd get:

 

Reel - Pflueger Metalist - $40. It's just a tad heavy for my 6 weight, but it will do a 7/8 weight perfectly.

 

Line - DO NOT cheap out here. Your line is the most important part in your setup. Get Rio (my preference and the loop to loop technology is nice) or Scientific Angler with the forward taper as MoS specified.

 

Leaders - The Rio 3 packs of looped leaders are second to none. You spend more time in the water with that setup.

 

I CAUGHT MY FIRST FISH ON THE FLY TODAY!

but it was a chub

 

Good luck and enjoy! It is addictive. Even the practice is addictive.

[BillsTheBassMan]

Also - the worst thing you can do to your fly line is to step on it in between a rock. These lines are fixable but if you do something like that the wrong way your line will never be the same.

[fish_fishburn]

Thanks Bills. Is the reel a level line reel? Not sure what that is but Musky or specs says to stay away from them. I plan to be casting off the deck of my bassboat during those 5am calm as glass situations.

[cuzza]

Thanks Bills. Is the reel a level line reel? Not sure what that is but Musky or specs says to stay away from them. I plan to be casting off the deck of my bassboat during those 5am calm as glass situations.

 

A level line is one with no taper (see below), any fly reel will hold any kind of taper line, the weight forward ones are easiest to cast though

[BillsTheBassMan]

He means a level-line. Period. You want a forward tapered line - as the diameter gets thinner down the line it transfers the weight better and allows for easier, better, quality casting.

 

The pflueger metalist is just a standard reel - it will hold all line, like a Shimano Stradic will hold braid, mono, and fluorocarbon.

[fish_fishburn]

Ah okay, I understand now thanks.

[troutboy]

As someone who just started this year, I've had to go through what you're going through.

 

Here's exactly what I'd get:

 

Reel - Pflueger Metalist - $40. It's just a tad heavy for my 6 weight, but it will do a 7/8 weight perfectly.

 

Line - DO NOT cheap out here. Your line is the most important part in your setup. Get Rio (my preference and the loop to loop technology is nice) or Scientific Angler with the forward taper as MoS specified.

 

Leaders - The Rio 3 packs of looped leaders are second to none. You spend more time in the water with that setup.

 

I CAUGHT MY FIRST FISH ON THE FLY TODAY!

but it was a chub

 

Good luck and enjoy! It is addictive. Even the practice is addictive.

 

 

Theres a full aluminum flyreel at can tire for $15,it would probaly be good for creek fishing.

[bare foot wader]

I wouldn't splurge on expensive, tapered leaders as chances as you will go through your fair share of wind knots and tangles as you progress through the learning curve...plus everybody should be able to tie up their own leaders if need be on the river....buy a few spools of leader, learn a few knots and good to go

 

knots:

 

perfection loop - leader to fly line or nail knot if you're not a fan of the loop to loop system

 

blood knot, double uni, surgeon - all can be used for attaching section of leader together...I like surgeon for the thicker material

 

simple leader formula - 50/50/50 - 30/15/8 lb test of roughly same length....when you're learning stick to a leader not much longer than your rod....lots of leader formula charts on the net

[torco]

while I don't disagree you should be able to tie your own leaders. A knotless tapered leader from a reputable company will only cost 3-4 bucks each. So its a question of time vs money.

 

In the beginning my feeling is spending more time casting and fishing and less time tying knots on the water is probably going to lead to a better experience for the beginner.

[fish_fishburn]

Thanks for the info, very informative. 3 or 4 bucks for 1 leader Think I'll tie my own for now. Tieing a few knots is no big deal to me, all part of the big picture as far as i'm conerned. Anyone ever heard of a company called MARTIN? That is who made my rod, its about 20-25 yrs old and never seen water or a reel.

[Musky or Specks]

Thanks for the info, very informative. 3 or 4 bucks for 1 leader Think I'll tie my own for now. Tieing a few knots is no big deal to me, all part of the big picture as far as i'm conerned. Anyone ever heard of a company called MARTIN? That is who made my rod, its about 20-25 yrs old and never seen water or a reel.

 

 

http://www.martinfishing.com/

[bare foot wader]

IMO most tapered leaders aren't even all that good...very generic and limited in lengths...I'm mostly turning over 12-16' leaders which I've never seen in a store, you can play around with different lengths, diameter and diff material leaders and see how that affects your turnover....price of 3 leaders you can buy 3 spools of material and tie easily a dozen leaders

[BillsTheBassMan]

IMO most tapered leaders aren't even all that good...very generic and limited in lengths...I'm mostly turning over 12-16' leaders which I've never seen in a store, you can play around with different lengths, diameter and diff material leaders and see how that affects your turnover....price of 3 leaders you can buy 3 spools of material and tie easily a dozen leaders

 

Yeah, I tied my first 2-3 leaders the other day and it was fine, cheaper, and it worked good. The knot practice for anyone who doesn't know them is needed anyways - you want all knots to be second nature and strong. I practice knots when watching sports sometimes.

 

Ryan

[wask]

When I started out fly fishing, we'd just use regualar old mono in the beginning for leaders, just 4lb or whatever it was that was on our spinning reels.

 

I've since used leaders and leader material because it seems to be straighter, but I haven't actually fly fished in years.

 

That's my pledge for this season, to dust off the rod and break out the old Made in USA medalist and get back on the water.

 

If you really want a tough durable reel, find one of those old Pfluegers off of eBay that were made in the US, bulletproof and quite a few reproduction parts available for them.

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I tied my first 2-3 leaders the other day and it was fine, cheaper, and it worked good. The knot practice for anyone who doesn't know them is needed anyways - you want all knots to be second nature and strong. I practice knots when watching sports sometimes.

 

Ryan