Fly Fishing Gear

All the information you need, to consider what fly fishing gear you will need, in order for you to find what you're looking for fast and easy.

Whether you need fly fishing equipment for bass, salmon, trout in freshwater or sailfish in saltwater, you'll find it on this site, from the top fly fishing companies on the web.

We have compiled some useful fly fishing resources and information about fly rods and how to find the best, most affordable rods for your type of fishing.

It's quite easy when you know how to:

• Select the correct fly rod with the matching fly line.
• Chose a fishing fly (fly fishing lure)
• Cast a fly line.
• Start to retrieve.
• Hook into your first fish !

The Fly Rod

Fly Fishers normally use a 6 weight, 9 foot fly rod with a stiff action as an all rounder rod. This rod will behave well on rivers and large dams, under windy conditions and fighting bigger than average fish. Before you decide to buy your rod, think about the type of fishing you intend to do. If your favorite river or dam is large and the chance that you will hook into a big fish is good then this rod will be suffice to battle the fish. Should you fish in strong currents a change to a 7 or 8 weight will be necessary, if the stream is small and the fish are small then a 4-5 weight will be strong enough –the lighter the rod the harder the fight!

The Fly Reel

Although the fly fishing reel is in some ways less important than the rod or line, its importance should in no way be underestimated.  When properly selected, the reel balances the rod and can be crucial when playing a fish.

There are three main types of fly fishing reels: single action and multiplier. While both are excellent choices, the single action reel is probably the best bet for beginner fishers. With the multiplier, for every rotation of the handle, the spool rotates more than once (and this is where it the name comes from). The lines of automatic reels are retrieved by pushing a lever.  However, these are heavy and are no longer widely used.

Good fly reels have an adjustable drag to control the amount of friction on the line when playing a fish.  They also typically have a mechanism to reduce or prevent backlash as line is stripped out.

The Fly Line

Fly lines are matched to the weight specified on the Fly rod and are a relatively thicker than normal monofilament lines. The line consists of an inner Dacron core coated with a smooth vinyl plastic cover. Depending on the circumstances lighter lines are used with lighter rods to cast smaller, lighter flies, whilst heavier weight lines are used with heavier rods to cast larger, heavier flies.

The weight of the fly line is an indication of the weight (in grains) of the first 30 ft. of line.  If you plan to fish for small fish in streams, dams, lakes or rivers, your first line should probably be a 4-5 weight, floating line. The following will give you an idea of some of the types of fly fishing lines available.

• Floating line: used to present a fly on or near the surface of the water. This is the most commonly used line for fishing with dry flies early morning and late afternoon when there are lots of insect hatching around the waters.
• Intermediate line: very slow sinking line.
• Sinking line: used to present the fly right on the bottom.  Sinking line is heavier and more difficult to use.
• Sinking Tip line: designed so that only the beginning of the line is heavy enough to sink.  Sink depth is determined by how much of the line is weighted.  (This line is easier to cast than a full sinking line).
• Double Taper lines: can be used on both sides – if the one side gets worn out, change to the other side!

The Fishing Leader & Tippet

The selection of the fly fishing leader and tippet is of absolute critical importance as this are the last two connections on the fly line. These are the final connection between the fly fisherman and the fly. It is the section of line between the fly line and the fly. The main purpose is to transfer energy from the line down to the fly, allowing for a natural presentation of the fly to the fish. These connections must be strong enough for the fly fisher to retrieve any fish that he might hook into.

Properly selecting the correct tapered leader and tippet for the type of fishing you are about to do is crucial to your success in catching fish.  Nothing spooks fish quicker than a large oversized tippet.  An undersized tippet, on the other hand, can result in the fly fisher losing their fish before they even start reeling it in.

The leader in fly fishing is tapered from thicker at the butt section (where it connects to the fly line), to thinner where it connects to the tippet.  Its usually divided into 3 sections, the butt is tied directly to the line, and is the longest portion of the leader, about 60%.

 The middle section is next and its main purpose is to taper down to the tippet without losing a lot of strength.  The final section is the tippet, which is actual section tied to the fly. Being the thinnest section, it needs to be strong, yet allow for a natural drift, without alerting the fish that your bait is connected to a person that will pull back.

Modern day commercial leaders usually achieve all this in one product.  Although there are still knotted leaders out there, knotless leaders remain the most popular choice. It is possible to construct your own leaders and many people do just that.

Resources:

Zero G Freshwater 864-4 Fly Fishing Rods This is a new 4-piece rod in our award-winning Zero Gravity rod series, perfect for travel.

Carries onto a plane easily and packs down quickly for backcountry or backpack fishing. The 864-4 is ideal for medium-sized streams.

Battenkill Disc Drag Reel 3/4 (4 oz. for line weights 2-5) 2 7/8 More people choose the Battenkill than any other reel for one reason-value. All Battenkill reels are backed by the Orvis 100% guarantee of satisfaction-you can never lose your investment.

When you compare price, features, and guarantee to any other reel on the market, there's no question.True disc drag, not inferior caliperThe drag has a wide, easily adjustable rangeMore drag surfaceEasy conversion from right- to left-hand retrievePrecision-machined drag gear