Starting Fly Fishing

It wasn't me!

Used to fly fish when I was younger. Would quite like to start again. I've forgotten a large amount of what I used to know about equipment and such, so would appreciate some help in getting started again. I live in Blessington, so the majority of my fishing would be between the Liffey and the reservoir, so I'd appreciate opinions on a general purpose setup to do both types of fishing as well as possible. I don't have any of my old kit, so looking for recommendations of rods, reels, lines, everything really, and if people could give prices for the stuff they're recommending I'll know what to budget. Thanks in advance.

J. Ramone

Hi IWM,

You should be able to get a deal on a good rod reel and line setup for around €150-€200. At that price performance wouldn't be too far off premium gear and would probably be on par with what was top of the range 10 or fifteen years ago. If you spend much less there your casting ability may be limited plus there is the nice feel factor of good quality tackle. Having said that your success may not be seriously hampered if you stuck with a budget of around €100. Above that price generally there is a law of dimishing returns where you pay a high price for a small improvement in function.

Line choice is as important as rod choice in terms of casting performance. For starters a floating line is all you'll need. I do a lot of fishing and have some sinkers which I never use, preferring sinking polyleaders attached to my floating line. Double taper or weight forward line is a matter of debate, my preference is double taper for a few reasons.

Coolwings gave a good guide to line weights in an earlier post. An ideal setup for general river trout would be a nine foot rod rated for a no. 5 line. This would adequately cover all methods, wet or dry. For lakeshore or boat a 10 foot rod rated for a 6 or 7 line would be a good choice. Either setup would cover both situations you mentioned but a 10 foot rod is a bit tiring for dry fly fishing.

'Fast' tip actioned rods are great for distance casting or punching line against heavy winds but are not as versatile as a more moderate action which is easier to load on shorter casting distances. Disc drag reels are unnecessary where trout do not exceed a couple of pounds. I have caught more salmon using a leeda rimfly reel without drag than any other. This would now be considered a very basic entry level reel. The most important factor for reel choice is whether its weight balances the rod. An unbalanced outfit is uncomfortable to fish with.

As a rough guide to how much you might spend proportionally a suggestion might be rod €100 reel €30 and line €40. You should get flyline backing, leader and flies thrown in with the deal if you buy in one shop. As for brands, I haven't compared many lately but in the past I have had great value from Daiwa rods, Scientific Anglers lines and Leeda (BFR) reels. Recently though I've fallen for a few trendier brands.

Best of luck.

coolwings

Some other interesting discussion on this subject is here: Recommend a good fly rod

That post about fly line selection is here:Fly line numbers and selection of a suitable line

I agree with J Ramone on the Daiwa + Scientific Angler combo. You might find it hard to stay within budget with such gear, when the other bits are added. But if you go that way you won't be changing/upgrading for a long time, because you will like the stuff you have.

If you need to lower the rod budget, look at the Irish Fly Rod 10' # 6. Not such a good pedigree as the Daiwas which are a rod for life, but absolutely good enough for the first 2 - 3 years and maybe a lot longer if you can resist the tempting glossy brand catalogues!

Oh yeah. Learn to tie flies (as soon as you can stop watching TV for 2 weeks - which is what it takes). You tie the best flies, and as many as you want, and learn so much about flyfishing just by osmosis along the way, it's hard to quantify the big increase in catches that results from flytying.


Hope it helps

stevoman

i use a daiwa and a scientific angler line set up. My advice from my experience. as regards the daiwa wilderness rod i just couldnt fault it, great in every way. the scientific angler line though i wouldnt go crazy about. you have to oil and slick the line regulartly to stop it from breaking etc. if it was me again i would buy myself a snowbee line and go the extra €10.

coolwings

With floating lines it's imposible to buy one good enough. The requirements are very high from a low cost product. Sinking lines are much less critical.
Cheap floating lines work.
Better floating flylines work better.
The expensive ones are better still.
But how good is OK? Depends on how good, discerning and demanding you are yourself, and the trout you fish for.
The best floating lines are smoother, harder surface, float a tad higher, last a bit longer, compared to the ones "below" them. It's a relative thing.
The better floating line allows you to cast further with less resistance, strike faster, and catch more ..... really.
But when you're learning to cast you thump them into the ground and bushes, and you crack the surface coating. So your 2nd floater will last 5 times longer than your first.

For many years I used Scientific Anglers Aircel. Then I got better myself and Aircel Supreme was my minimum standard. Now I would not go below Cortland for my floaters on the river, but on the lake an Aircel is still fine.
You don't have to buy ultimate finesse until after you can appreciate it and use it to your advantage.

I always grease the final part (thin tapered tip) of my floating lines (permagrease) to aid them in their function, improving floatation beyond what the product can do as sold. The grease helps the thin tip float better,even after water penetrates in from the end making it heavier at the end.

The mono or fluoro leader has no grease of course, as it would cease to be "the invisible link" if it did.

I use Scientific Anglers for my sinking lines, but other makes high end version would keep me happy if I tried them I'm sure.

Steffano2002

I'm in the same boat as yourself It wasn't me!

Went fly fishing with a friend a couple of times and I love it! So now I'm looking for some gear.

I'm currently looking at this website: http://www.soniksports.com/ie/company/

Their rods and reels are getting good reviews and they're far cheaper than other brands (such as Sage for example). They're actually half price at the moment!!!

Looking to get the "SK4030" which is 9' foot rod rated for #5/6 lines. It's only €80 EUR (down from €160 EUR!).

pullandbang

It's hard to beat the Cortland lines. You can pick up some of the versions like the 333 range for €20 - €30 whic is not bad value and they are excellent lines.

J. Ramone

+1 on the cortland lines. I have 3 444 lines and one Rio selective on my reels. Cortland are the most durable I've used. Only reason I didn't mention them was cost. 333 have a great reputation also but I've seen them at inflated prices in Irish shops. At €30 they would be good value and the way to go. They're cheap as any in US/Canada.

It wasn't me!

Thanks for the advice guys. I'd like the facility to fish for sea trout and the like as well. Have a couple of coastal spots where bass and sea trout are taken on the fly. Would a 5/6 or a 7/8 rod be a good call for this and would it be too heavy for trout? Single-handed is all I'm familiar with; is it right to stay with this? Any advantages to a single-hand with a fighting butt?

Any opinions on something like this?

Sfinn

I would recommend the cortland 555 with the Dyna tip excellent floating line. Bought a Hardy Mach2 WF7 lately and I was not happy with it, just returned it.

For sea trout and estuary fishing i would recommend a 10.5ft rod 7wt line. Scientific lines never liked them but that's my personnel opinion. The diawa wilderness rods are excellent, but again you need to experiment with other rods and get a feel for them (join a local club), Its like buying a gun. But as a starter a diawa or the irish fly rods are great. The thing to remember is that the vast majority of blanks are now made in the far east and its the brand you are paying for. I have a David Norwich rod http://www.davidnorwich.com, hes one of the few that still make their own blanks. But thats a long term investment.

Fighting butts depends on the size of river/estuary you are fishing weather you need to single spey cast etc, etc. Most of the time no need.

what ever you decide enjoy:)

regards
S

It wasn't me!

Thanks lads. Trying to build a versatile setup that'll cover me for both trout and sea-trout type fishing. I'm looking forward to getting started again too. Been a good few years since I caught trout on the fly. Would that Flextech rod work well? 10'6", 6/7wt. It sounds like it'd be about right, but I'd like anyone's opinions.

coolwings

A #6 - 7 would be just right for trout and seatrout and alternating etween the two.

It's a tad heavy for educated river trout and a bit light for summer salmon, but could also be used for both if required.

It wasn't me!

Thanks guys, and are there reccomendations for reels? And selections of flies? Used to fish in Blessington and can't remember catching on anything other than nymphs (hare's ear gold head standing out in my mind as having been very reliable ) but dry flies would be best on the stretches of the Liffey beside my house. Should I have a second spool, one loaded with six and the other seven weight lines for different applications? Both floating? Thanks for the help so far guys, really looking forward to getting back into this.