First Fly Rod

[chillerz69]

Hey guys,

Looking at buying my first fly rod ever since I tried one of my friends. First question is, would you recommend a 6wt or 8wt for a beginner? I will mainly be fishing for australian bass, flathead, and maybe the odd trevally or tailor if I see them smashing the surface.

Secondly, if you think an 8wt would be the go, has anyone here had any experience with the following combo? If its no good, then any recommendations on a beginners fly combo? My budget would be max $300.

http://www.a1flyfishing.com.au/shop/.../prod_448.html

Thanks for any help

[chris69]

Hi there chillerz69,its a hard thing on a budget,ive never heard of that brand before but you can give it ago for the price, the only thing with the combos the fly line might not be a good thing but will be great to begin casting on the grass to learn with and then get a better line with the money you save on that combo and yes the 8wt is a good start as the wind is not your friend.Agood line to concider is a scientific angler bone fish clear intermediate sink line or a Rio tropical I/I clear tip intermediate ive used both and the SA lines are the best but a bit dearer,these line are slicker and fast than the one that are supplied in the combo kits and you will feel and see the difference.

Tip.....being a 4pc rod from day one you put it together rub the male section of each peice on your fore head or nose it sounds silly but the oils in your skin help lubricate the ferrals,but yo dont have to do it every time and you put the sections together at 60degrease and twist them while pulling down to line the sections up , over time they will aline strait as the twisting will slowly ware a groove and this locks the sections so the dont come loose while casting and the same for pulling them apart you twist and pull the opposite way you put them together,have fun if thres anything ealse you want to know just pm me cheers Chris.

[Apollo]

Chris is spot on. I use an 8w for about 90% of my fly fishing and they are a good allround tool and can handle some of the larger flies and a bit more wind.

Another option to consider with the buying is to try and source a better rod secondhand and then a reasonable line (ones Chris suggests or I like the Rio Outbounds, but it is a personal choice and is different for each rod) and then finally a budget style/secondhand reel to fit within your budget. The reel is less of an issue with fly gear when chasing the bread and butter varieties and it is really only the speedsters that get you back on the reel. I chase the varieties you mention and add queenies, school/spotty macs and have got away with a lower end reel on the 8w. 10w is a different story!

If you find a secondhand rod, you are considering, post it up here or flick Chris a PM for an opinion.

One thing to think about though, is to try and get a lesson or two or.... from a qualified instructor to sort out your technique from the start. Much easier than trying to fix it later. There are plenty around, so if you post up where you are from someone should be able to recommend an instructor to consider.

All the best and welcome to the world of swish.
Steve

[chillerz69]

thanks so much for the quick and insightful replies guys. I had heard that a 8wt is a lot easier to cast for beginners but was just worried it would be too heavy to present the smaller flies say for bass etc? Anyway it looks like an 8wt is the go. Ill have a look around at buying seperate rods and reels, and also some higher quality second hand rods. Can you guys recommend any brands of rods to be looking for? (forgive me, I come from a purely spin and baitcasting background lol).

Steve, as for the lessons, I am based on the Gold Coast and have heard about the south east queensland fly fishing club (I think its called that). If you have heard of it then you reckon that would be a good place to start?

Cheers

[chris69]

Thats the best place for you to go, someone should take you under there wing and yes a better second hand rod and reel might be a good thing to think about....but.... when you have been doing it for a while and learn to cast and when you have gotten the most out of your rod casting wise and have had a cast of some other rods then you will no more about different rod tapers and what they can do, you will find out what is best suited to your style of casting, every one is different ,a midflex or medium fast rod is the easiest rod to cast in the begining until you know were your heading theres a lot in the cubdoard gathering dust.

Ive been doing it for 15years now and have got a 6wt-7wt- 2 9wt 3 10wts 2 12wts and the reels and many lines and started out small and have added as i needed too,i use to get out on the lawn a few times week and cast on the foot path or in a park and i praticed and praticed, some days were good some days were bad but the one thing i did was never end my casting session on a bad cast i stayed until i put in a good one, feel and timeing is everything after awhile it will just come natural, the hardest thing in the begining is to take the cast out of your wrist from the spining and bait casting gear.

[Apollo]

The SEQFFC are a great bunch of guys and have casting days, etc. I am sure if you went along to a meeting or two and asked around, there would be quiet a few of those spare 8w gathering dust (as mentioned above) in a member's cupboard that you can pick up to start with. You can call their President - Mark Hosking on 5522 4802 for information.

There are also some saltwater fly fishing forums around that are full of very experience people for info.

If you have question on brands, etc, Chris is more experienced than I so flick him a question.

[chillerz69]

thanks again guys, after reading some other posts I think I might stretch the budget a bit and get a templefork bvk 8wt rod, with a cheapo real and some decent line. How does the intermediate line handle surface flies? Does it pull them under?

[chris69]

You can use a surface with a intermediate line if you dress the belly of line with some floatent and a long leader but it will eventualy pull it under,if you want to fish the surface with a popper yes a floating line is the go and with a weighted fly you can fish deeper when needed on a floating line you just have to let it sink a bit longer.


And yes the TF bvk are a good thing they came second to the loomisNXR in a 8wt shoot out of many new rods in the line up and yes you will get away with a cheap reel ,get a large arbor this is best for keeping your line from getting memory and coils,its only when you want to chase bigger fish and fight them on the reel you do need good quality reels for that been through it ive popped cartrige reels with mack tuna and have warped spools with longtail tuna,but for your bass and bream and flathead and small trevaly you want need to buy high end for that,have a look at a Vision Koma VK 7-8 on motacke site or you can pick one up on ebay, redington are cheap and ok in some models have a look around for the money you want to spend and always wash you reel and line down when you come back from fishing.