Recommend a good fly rod

gsxr1

No work and very near the liffy in sallins.

Got my day permit and went to the river with my old 9' silstar fly rod.

out of practice. Have not bothered with fishing for years but fancy going at it again.

Got new fly line. Lad in Mc Cartys recommended a 7 line for my 8 rod as it was old , worn and did not recover very well.

My line was not landing nice in the water at all.

had a 8 'sinking leader with 2' nylon and very small wet flies.

but my line would land in a heap .

The old rod could be part of my problem.

Is it possible to get a good trout rod for around 50 euro. Even second hand?

coolwings

I think that if your leader lands in a heap, then that is casting practise and not the rod.

A sticky line could prevent the shoot and take energy out of the cast. The new line would eliminate this as a possible cause of your problem. The line should be smooth and glossy so as to slip through the rod rings friction free.

The #8 rod on the Liffey would be classed as a "salmon" rod. The trout are very shy and will not tolerate a heavy line being dropped onto the river surface nearby. It takes incredible skill to let such a line down gently enough for the trout in this water, especially as the season passes and the water drops to summer level and clarifies. You will find that your fishing creates a disturbance which creates a "rise free zone" in the area around where you are fishing.

A # 5 or #6 line is considered normal to heavy-ish in this area in summer, but that is what I use and manage fine with. These lighter rods are also more gentle when you strike into a rise, and if you're using size 16 - 18 hooks and the fish is a good one, they will not tend to break the hook or straighten it, as a heavier rod will often do (unless used very very gently).

It's a wide river and the fish can be a ways away. The difficulty of getting distance with such light rods can be overcome by using #5 or #6 shooting heads (a DT #6 cut in half with thin backing line on the reel end) or WF lines.

So a 9' 6" to 10' 6" rod of #5 - #6 is suitable. Many Liffey fly anglers would even say # 4 - #5 is preferable, especially in summer.

A bit of practise, and also adding a stiff upper section to your leader (eg 10 - 12lbs monofilament) with the tippet of finer material or fluorocarbon will get the leader to extend the way you want.

A good rod for €50? Not likely. I imagine such a rod would be not very nice to use, and only suitable for fishing for unfussy trout. The Liffey demands distance and accuracy as well as delicacy, a demanding requirement for a rod.
€150 is more possible if you choose well among the rods priced normally at about €180 - 190, and get a good deal.
2nd hand you will find a decent €50 rod I guess. Or a good new rod made from fibreglass would be about that price. The glass rod has the soft action for the striking coming from the material of which it's made, but is thicker and will weigh more.

gsxr1

thanks for the tips. I must have been wasting my time out there with that rod. Guess I will keep it for a lake.


Its very hard for a novice to get good advise like this on tackle.

Im going to go down and pratice with what I have again next week. till I can get something better. My skill is the limiting factor at the moment.


There was fish taking flys all around me. But none on my line.


Do the brown trout bite on a slow line recoverly or a fast one?

I have done loads of wet fly fishing in fishererys but them rainbows go for anything. I take it the river fish are a little more fussy.


could anyone recommend a good make and model?

I was looking online at some within my budgit.

seen this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/THESEUS-HIGHLAND-SPIRIT-TROUT-SERIES-FLY-ROD-8ft-5-6_W0QQitemZ300301109134QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL?hash=item300301109134&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

coolwings

gsxr1 wrote: »

... thanks for the tips. I must have been wasting my time out there with that rod.

Not at all, it will do for the moment and even if another would be better, it still works well enough, fish away and practise and learn, while the water is high and cold they are less discriminating.

gsxr1 wrote: »

... Its very hard for a novice to get good advise like this on tackle.

My experience is that the tackle shops generally give very good advice to their customers. This forum answers most questions too. Going it alone will take more time, reading, study on and off the water, and practise.

gsxr1 wrote: »

... There was fish taking flys all around me. But none on my line.

Say hello to River Liffey trouting! It's advanced fly fishing with a new trick to be mastered every trip. But there are big ones there .... If they didn't take your fly it was different from what they were taking in some way. You just got to figure that out and fix it.

gsxr1 wrote: »

... a slow line recoverly or a fast one?

The recovery rate that allows your fly to mimic the ones they are eating is the right one. Did you get into the water and check what flies and nymphs were being carried down on the current? Were they moving or being carried along in the downstream drift which carries the food to the river brown trout?

I think an 8' rod might cause you to spend a lot of time removing your fly from the vegetation on high banks behind your fishing position. A 9 1/2 to 10' rod is better on a big river.

stevenmu

If you want to buy 2nd hand gear, there's classifieds on flyforums.co.uk here. I'm sure some of them would be willing to post to Ireland.

Another option is to keep an eye out for expos/fairs etc. My dad picked up a very decent shakespeare rod at a small fair recently for €50, also at the expo recently in swords there was some very good looking rods being sold as ex-demo or seconds (i.e. small scratches etc) again around the €50 range. I think there's an expo due in Galway in the next month or so.

When I was looking myself I almost bought a kit from tacklediscounts.co.uk, there own website is being revamped at the moment but there ebay shop is here. From reading around, the general opinion is that their rods/kits are good value for money, they're not worth anywhere near what they claim the RRP is, but for the amount you actually pay they are considered quite good.

Finally, what I got myself is a GRXi kit from hartflyshop, and I see the prices are down a bit again since I bought. I have been delighted with it, to be honest it's my first rod so I've nothing to compare it against, but it's been a great rod to learn with, and from what I've read it's a rod experienced fly-fishers love too.

With all that said, I'd say to go with Coolwings' advice first, the rod you have could be perfectly fine and you may just need some casting practice or maybe a clean/new line. I know I'm very new to fly-fishing, so maybe it changes when you've more experience, but I find that every time I go out for the first hour or so all of my casts end up in a heap on the water (at best ), it takes a while to get the rhythm and the feel back. But if you do want a new rod/kit anyway, hopefully the above will help.

stevenmu

Oh, and one last piece of advise. You probably already know this, but it's something I keep catching myself doing even though it's the most obvious mistake, don't try and cast onto the water, remember to try and cast a few feet over the water and then when the cast straightens to just let it drop gently down.

When I watch others casting they seem to be able to almost roll there line out inches above the water and when I try that I just make a big splash, but if I remember to cast a few feet up and then just slowly drop the rod to guide the line/fly down I can get a pretty gentle presentation.

(for the record, the other big mistake I keep making is too many false casts, I keep false casting until I get my loops perfect, then I cast just one more time and make a mess of it, instead of just letting it go one or two casts previously. Whenever I do remember not to false cast over and over, I actually get a much better cast)

gsxr1

thank you both for your helpful advise.

I am really looking forward to lashing the water next week again.

even if I dont catch. tis a wonderful way to spend the day.

practice needed.

riverbum

Hi gsxr1,
I fish down south on the suir and others so I can't give advice about the Liffey like coolwings and steven can but I can agree with the fact that your rod may not be that bad and may do fine for learning the river.
A couple of things that wil probably help are 1 your leader makeup, you don't need to go the expense of buying tapered leaders but if you make your own you will find that they will land better and straighter on the water. To your fly line start with 2-3 feet of 6 pound mono and then to this 2-3 feet of 4pound and then the same of 2 or 3 pound on the end. Obviously you can change the breaking strains accordingly but this set-up makes for a nice taper . And 2, take your rod out to the garden or down to the park and practice, practice, practice. When I started years ago I had the same problem of lines landing in a heap and lot of it was not allowing the line to straighten behind me before casting forward. When you're in the park watch your line as you cast and make sure it straightens fully behind on the backcast before you cast forward. After time you will be able to feel the rod loading with your wrist and you won't need to look but this is very important for good casts. Also make sure you have a calm day when you do this, theres no point in complicating your casting with the addition of wind, get to know your rod first and become profficient with it before you tackle the wind.
Don't spend big money on a rod before you have mastered casting because you won't notice the difference in its handling.
Shimano make some good fly rods for starters for about 100 euros if you do want to change and at least it would elliminate the worry that it may be your rod.
Best of luck.

bernard0368

Fishing the Liffey is a challange in its self, the trout are extemely shy. I never use anything bigger than a 5# here. The flies have to be tiny. You should also expect to walk it a lot to find the fish. There are plenty to be had and as mentioned before they can be a good size. My best is 4.5lb trout last season and a 5lb salmon on paddys day. Another thing to consider is keep the leader as thin as possible trying to sink the last few feet using a sinkant. At the moment a gold beaded pheasant tail is working great (20 on last sun 25on paddys 15 yesterday). As a learner the best way would be to hang it under a dry so as to see when the fish takes. once the dry fly sinks strike.
I fish that area from the aquaduct down nearly every weekend so if you want to come along I have no problem showing you a few tips and areas. however chest waders are esential.

gsxr1

bernard0368 wrote: »

Fishing the Liffey is a challange in its self, the trout are extemely shy. I never use anything bigger than a 5# here. The flies have to be tiny. You should also expect to walk it a lot to find the fish. There are plenty to be had and as mentioned before they can be a good size. My best is 4.5lb trout last season and a 5lb salmon on paddys day. Another thing to consider is keep the leader as thin as possible trying to sink the last few feet using a sinkant. At the moment a gold beaded pheasant tail is working great (20 on last sun 25on paddys 15 yesterday). As a learner the best way would be to hang it under a dry so as to see when the fish takes. once the dry fly sinks strike.
I fish that area from the aquaduct down nearly every weekend so if you want to come along I have no problem showing you a few tips and areas. however chest waders are esential.

Thats where I was . but went up as far as the railway bridge. .

I have waders but it was too deep to use them up steam. Might park in sallins and walk up from there next week.

Is the permit valid in that area? I get the permit in that chain saw shop in Naas.

What would happen if I put a 5# line on my 8 rod?

bernard0368

Your line needs to match the rod so a 5# on a rod rated for 8 wouldnt be any good. At the aquaduct there is a way under the canal beside the house. Head down that way. The pass should be good for the whole river.

jellybaby21

Ebay is good i got a new 8ft 5 weight air flo rod for around 50 euro if something like that would be any good to you on the liffy.