Fly Fishing....Where to start?

[chewy01]

Gday everyone,
being new to the site i'm unsure what can and cant be said and quoted but i was talking to a well known brissie fly fisho a while after getting my first flyrod and was very frustrated at my lack of sucess and he tlod me two things buy the best you can afford and regardless of what gear you end up with you will not catch anything on fly gear if it is laying on the floor of the boat.I was finding that after half an hour wihtout fish i would start using the spin gear and catch fish so that was it for the day. I only started catchin fish on it when i left the other gear at home,and while they werent monster bass at lenthalls it was a start. Give it a go and you might be surprised coz on its day will outfish anything.
cheers chewy.....

[queenfish]

Jeff
SEQFFC meeting is on the third Tuesday of the month.

vince

[Scott nthQld]

Thanks everyone for all your input. I've been doing a bit of research and I've only just realised how much there is to get your head around. Am saving the pennies up and hopefully I should see myself with a quality setup up and tackle and about $1200 poorer in a couple of months.

I also found a guide in Townsville that does fly fishing exclusively, so I might get him to take me out and show me the ropes.

[TheRealAndy]

Thanks everyone for all your input. I've been doing a bit of research and I've only just realised how much there is to get your head around. Am saving the pennies up and hopefully I should see myself with a quality setup up and tackle and about $1200 poorer in a couple of months.

I also found a guide in Townsville that does fly fishing exclusively, so I might get him to take me out and show me the ropes.

Dont believe it, you dont need to spend $1200 to get into it. I might get fried here, but there is a lot of toss in flyfishing. I am just getting into it myself, and I spent $200 for a weekend with an expert, and he was quick to dispell the myths. He more or less said that you can get going for about $200, and that your line should be your biggest investment. IF you spend $1200 it is not going to catch you more fish. At the same time, if you dont match your line to your rod, then it will hinder your learning <- this does not come from me. I highly recommend spending a weekend with an expert before forking out $1200. You will learn more about casting a fly line in a weekend with an expert than you will in 6 months on your own, and trust me its a lot harder than it looks! I spent the weekend in awe of this guy, he made it look so easy!

One thing i have learned about fly fishing, and fly tying more so, is that it does not need to be as expensive as most people make it to be. I am learning to tie all sorts of flies using rubbish from around the house. The tools and thread may set you back a bit to start with, but you can just about use any junk to get you going. Keep an eye out for that dead kookaburra or crow in your local park!!! I also keep my eyes open for anything glittery or furry that I can tie onto a hook! Just follow those patterns on the web, there is plenty of sites to feed off.

[tunaticer]

I agree with Andy, SWF basics need not be $1000 setups unless you are intending on hitting up sailfish on your maiden journey. Most SWFers start on the bread and butter fish from flathead to trevally and smaller tunas as the biggest they usually will encounter. There are a multitude of good rods on the market that suit SWF well priced at under 300 bills and as for reels look for something with a decent drag and enough backing for your intended quarry. I have 3 SWF setups that work very well for me and none of the setups cost me more than 600 including the fly lines and backing and shooting lines.

Go for a guide first up before you buy anything and ask him for guidance on selections that are not overpriced. Some names are well and truely privelige purchases and will do you no better appreciation for the SWF game.

Jack.

[queenfish]

Its true what has been said in the last two treads, I have the cheap and expencive ones, although I can fish and catch fish with the cheap ones, its a bit of strugle. like an old and new car, once you have the new one you injoy using it all the time,its faster more comfortable they both take you from A to B.
there are some lines that are 1/3 the price of the expencive lines yet they are as good, like it has been mentioned you have to match the line to your rod more so to your casting style, but all this come with experiance, it pays to test few rods to see which one will suit you.
Fly tyeing as mentioned before you can get materials very cheap from $2 dollar shops and spotlight, I use mostly mono line for tyeing treads from this shops coast $2 a spool it comes clear and brown, black. [even silver gold and others but these ones the colour pealls off.
it would be advisable to get a tuition from a good caster makes it lot easier at the end.

good luck hope didn't confuse you more.

cheers vince.

[flyfisho]

I would have to agree totally with Andy ,The wank come from trouties . I also agree with what he said about spending some time with people who are willing to give you an unbiased opinion . I am an internationally certified FFF casting instructor one of a handful in the country , so I reckon I am qualified to recommend casting lessons , I don't know if you play golf mate but its similar in the way that both sports are easy to develop bad habits early on that can be hard to correct later on so it can cut years off the learning curve , and if you can't put the fly in front of fish it doesn't matter what gear your using . As well as this when I give lessons I also give advice on what gear suits , now I have a complete split of GLX Loomis rods from #5 to #15 and I reckon the best rod to cast for beginner to intermediate is a 6/7 innovator distance , I would defiantly liken it to my GLX #7 and for $140 bucks why not buy two . Reels are a different thing and it depends on your fishing Longtails and macs are going to destroy cheap crap , but there are reasonably priced alternatives , but fish like the bread and butter species only need something to store line , if you were careful enough you could hold it in your hand . For fish that will take drag look for a cork drag as a real rough rule of thumb.
I would have to say that I don't agree with the fly tyeing , and any stuff will do . Saltwater flies by no means have to be super tech but I think attention to detail , not only by the way it looks but the characteristics of the material you choose to tie with is extremely important . I would strongly recommend joining a club mate , I am the president of the sunny coast club and we really try to steer newbies like your self in the quickest direction so you don't get caught up in all the hearsay from guys who fish fly a couple of weeks a year

[flyfisho]

I might add that there was one day I was fishing while walking the beach at Maroochy north shore and caught up with two young fellas who had bought a fly rod from a major retail chain, they were fishing the same area but came over and started chatting , they were asking me about their gear , the guy in the shop had recommended a #9 Jarvis walker rod with small arbour reel that I can't remember the name of , the guy also paired it up with a floating line and no backing (they were told they don't need it) , they had a 5 foot 20lb straight through leader tied straight to the line with a double surgeon knot ,the shop assistant also sold them a tandem rigg marlin fly (around an 8 inch flashy profile) and said "you will slay the flathead wit this setup" . My point being is that when these guys asked me if they are likely to catch fish on this , well I had to tell them straight that they got ripped , How is any one going to persist with the sport when you have got so called experts in shops handing out crap advice like that . The rod cast like a broom stick and I think the line was under weighted to the rod (which enables you to carry more line in the air with a proper rod) and on top of that the fly selection was a joke.
As said before you don't need to re mortgage your house to get into fly fishing just make sure you research and get the best advice possible . Who would ever persist when in the same situation as those guys. I steered them in the direction of Tie N fly outfitters at Kawana were Gavin hooked them up according to what they wanted to spend , I have since seen those guys on the water and they are defiantly slaying some serious fish with proper setups .

[Scott nthQld]

I also agree that I wouldn't need $1200 to start with, but as I've learnt from experience, why not spend all I can afford on something that will last a long time. I have previously spent endless amounts replacing gear that I had skimped on, only to be replacing it again in the same period of time because it took me a while to learn to buy quality, not quantity. Though I still caught plenty of fish on the cheaper, poorer quality gear, I found that the drags in reels were shitting themselves midfight with a good fish, rods were cracking under pressure etc. The gear I own now isn't top notch, I will be the first to say, but I did buy quality this time around and now I haven't spent any money on replacing rods and reels since I learned my lesson.

The $1200 I have allowed isn't just going to buy my rod, reel and line, but make sure I am well on my way to being setup properly, so I don't find myself on a fishing trip and not having something I needed because I didn't know I would.

[flyfisho]

Scott I totally agree with you there as well, if you want to notch gear then by all means .
On top of the obvious (that being the quality) , buying good gear can help with your confidence levels , and also helps you enjoy your day on the water .
Mate you should defiantly go and buy what ever gear you like as it is you who is using it and there are definite advantages in quality gear, however in saying that good gear doesn't always come with the price tag .
I have a mate who I go fishing with, who some how figures that by using expensive gear you may be a bit of a show pony , but I figure that when you know what you want from your gear price comes second . I can't really figure that mate of mine out , I usually really enjoy fishing with that dude too.