7 replies to this topic

[Kowalski]

Hey folks

 

I picked up some fly fishing gear on sale earlier this year and realized I need some help figuring out what more I need to get. I'm pretty much a newbie at fly fishing, played around with other people's rig's a few times but no real clue. What I picked up was :

 

South Bend Black Beauty 2 8'6" Fly Rod

Okuma SLV Fly Reel - 5/6

Cortland 444 Rocket Taper Line 30 yd - 8 lb Olive

Sufix 832 Fuse 20lb braid

 

From youtube and google, I know I need a tippet and leader at the very least. I figure we'll be targeting bass, maybe trout. Any help or suggestions much appreciated! 

Cheers

PK

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[fisherman2280]

Rod, Reel, backing, fly line, leader and tippet.

 

Waders, nice vest to hold everything - lots of pockets.

 

Dry flies, nymphs some streamers.

 

And lots of practice, it takes tome to master casting correct and getting the fly to just kiss the water perfect.

[finnigan]

Which weight fly rod did you buy??
The wf8f on the Courtland line you bought doesn't mean it's 8lb. Wf8f stands for weight forward (which is the type of taper) 8 weight and f is for floating line.

You'll want to buy a fly line that is balanced with your rod. For example I mostly fish a 9'6" 4wt that has wf4f line on it.

If you do in fact have an 8 weight fly rod you'll have a heck of a time getting all your backing and fly line on the 5/6 wt reel. You'll have to cut back on some of the backing and possibly some fly line. But make sure you don't cut the tappered portion of the fly line off. Take it off the back end.

[FrequentFlyer]

take the line back, and get a 6 weight line. the fly rod you listed is rated for 5/6 weight. the 8wt line will over stress your rod and possibly break it.

 

other than that, i personally would not use a 5/6wt rod for bass, just cause of the size of some of the flies, it may not have enough power to throw em with the wind resistance that comes with bigger flies, ie: larger poppers, larger streams

 

for flies, get some poppers for top water, some bigger woolly buggers, 

[wantbrowns]

Hi.

I agree with FF: u will need a 7 or 8 wt rod/line for bass simply becuz u will be tossing relatively large, wind resistant flies (like poppers) and will need to use heavier leader becuz u will have to horse bass away from or out of weeds and logs.

As for backing, u won't need much becuz, while bass put up a good fight, they don't take out line and run like trout.

U could also fish for pike with the 7/8, but be sure to use a leader that has a wire tip with a steel snap as they can easily cut thru nylon or flourocarbon with their teeth.

As for ur 5/6 setup, it'll be fine for just about any type of trout, save steelheads (u can catch them with a 6 wt, but will likely have to fight with large ones to the point of exhaustion in order to land them with lighter leader, effectively killing them).

Good luck

[Kowalski]

Great advice - thanks fly guys!

[wantbrowns]

Might be a bit late now, but will add one more thing: if u have just two setups, make one a 5 or 6 (which will be okay for pretty much all southern Ont trout) and the other a 9 wt (with a large arbor reel that has a strong disc drag), which u can use for salmon, steelhead, pike, and bass.

[tombo]

I use a 10ft 3wt for nymphing, 9ft 4-5 for fishing drys, 9ft 8-9wt for bass, pike & steelhead. 5-6wt will be too much rod for most southern Ontario trout. IMO you will never throw big streamers for bass & pike with a 5-6wt. Happy shopping!!