thought i'd try catching gills and crappie this year on a fly rod. bought a 9', 6wt. st croix rod and a pfleuger real from gander mtn. could use your help choosing the line, leader, and the best knot to splice them. thanks.
Printable View
thought i'd try catching gills and crappie this year on a fly rod. bought a 9', 6wt. st croix rod and a pfleuger real from gander mtn. could use your help choosing the line, leader, and the best knot to splice them. thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dwaw
My first suggestion would be to take the outfit back to GM and have them put a line and leader on for you. In every fly shop I've ever been to, they will load the line (and backing) on the reel for free, as long as you buy the line there.
If you want to do it yourself, any basic fly fishing book or DVD will give you step-by-step instructions. LL Bean's FF Handbook (by Dave Whitlock) and Larry Dahlberg's Bass & Panfish DVD are excellent.
I'll say it again, though: I'd get GM or a local fly shop to do it for me. The difficult part of doing it yourself is getting the correct amount of backing on the reel. (The backing goes on first, then the flyline.). A shop can do this easily in just a few minutes.
Congrats on your new outfit. St. Croix and Pfleuger are a good combination.
Merry Christmas, DWAW!
6-weight is a bit stout for your purposes, but you can still have a good time with it as well as tame some nice bass with it.
I'd go with a straight-up WF-6-F line; don't spend a bunch of money on it - $40 or so is good! If it has a braided loop connector on the leader-end of it, good. If not, put one there. Then loop-to-loop the leader to it - 6 feet tapered to 8-pound or thereabouts should suffice. If there isn't a perfection loop on the butt-end of the leader, tie one there for loopoing to the braided connector on the line. Then tie around 1 1/2 feet of 8 or 6-pound mono to the end of the leader with a surgeon's knot (Double-overhand). That will give you some "extra" to tie flies to without overly shortening the tapered part of the leader.
Finally comes the hard part - waiting on spring!
Good luck!
Pete
thanks for the quick responses fellas. on the one hand Death says have GM do it. on the other hand Sneaky says (here's what you ask for) and do it yourself. let's see, have GM do it for me or bone up on my greek, translate what Sneaky said, and do it myself. sounds like i have all i need to make a decision. Merry christmas
I can't believe GM let you out the door without selling you a line and leader! :D
Seriously, though, I've loaded line, backing and leader on a couple of my outfits, but I've had Bass Pro or a local fly shop do most of them.
they did frisk me first and determined they'd have to wait on the rest. i think havin' them do it makes sense, at least until i learn the ropes a little bit. talk about "visions of surgar plums" can't wait til spring.
See if GM offers any beginning FF classes. My local Bass Pro has FREE classes almost monthly.
Next thing to buy, a heaping tackle box full of patience. Learn the basics and don't stray from them. You may get frustrated but if you stick with it it makes all the difference.
WF-6-F, If I remember right a 5x or 6x leader and pick a matching tippet. 6wt is a good one to learn on, too light a rod is hard to learn on, I know. I started with a 4wt and about broke it over my kneee I don't know how many times. I got a 7wt and learned quickly and was able to go to a smaller wt much easier.
I have used monofilament as a leader in the past and I have found I broke my leaders on fish way too much. I started going a lot lighter on my leader and this stopped but when I matched my tippet to my leader I never broke another leader.
And I will second the odea of a good 18" of tippet/line for the leader. It is a pain to tie on new tippets all the time if you start too short and lose a dozen in the bushes behind you on in your hat.
thanks for the input fish 4. i've re-read sneaky's post and your description and i think i need a visual reference for the pieces parts. its like going to a foreign restaraunt and trying to read the menu, w/o a picture i'm strugglin' big time. my plan though is, once i'm rigged up is to go out in the yard a practice getting my casting down and go from there.
If possible, get a casting lesson. It can save you years of frustration. At the very least, buy a good casting DVD.
GREAT ADVICE!!!! Also, don't try to modify things, stick to the basics, in other words, KISS, (keep it simple stupid), very few lessons in fishing are more true to this saying than fly fishing.Quote:
Originally Posted by deathb4disco
Get 3 lessons and/or get with a seasoned fly fisherman who is willing to watch you cast and help you fine tune everything. A video is also a great thing to have so you can refer back to it. Get a quality video that will progress you through floating lines, sinking lines and sinking tips if you can.
Hey DB4D -
You klnow Jimmy Jacobs?
Pete
UNCLE! i talked to an old louisiana transplant fly fisherman when i was at gm today. i'm taking my reel in after Christmas. i'll ask him if he knows anybody in the area who can help me get started on the right foot. btw sneakypete does your "nom de plum" have any green hatted significance?
Quote:
Originally Posted by sneakypete
I know of him. I read one of his books.
I have approx 16 rods and 2 spey rods of many wgts. Regardless of the line rating on a given rod I go one line wgt heavier. I find the casting to be easier. Also rule of thumb is, leader length should be equal to rod length - 9ft rod, 9ft leader (this is the total length with the tippet included), dry fly fishing (9 ft rod) I enjoy fishing a 12 ft (ie tippet) leader. Tapered Leaders, save yourself money, they make tiny-tiny-tiny rings (I purchase silver rings from a guy in Berlin, Germany - 10 rings, 5 years ago and still have 5 or 6 left, they sell steel rings in the US and show them in some catalogs) . When you cut up all your tapered leader tippet, tie on the ring and just tie tippet (material) length as needed.
One tapered leader using the "ring" will last you all season and save alot of money.
IMO, if you are talking about only fishing panfish and bass, keep it simple. I just tie a piece of mono (2-4lb for panfish or 4-6lb for bass) onto my backing line. I use loop knots on both and just pass the tippet line through the loop I make on the backing line. You will catch fish and save some money. ;) Now if you are talking pike, trout, salmon or other species, then you have to upgrade to better lines.
Flyrod man - Maybe I'm justsuck at casting, but if I use that long of a leader, I would be tempted to wear full body armor because I would have alot of flies hitting me. Even more so with any heavier weighted flies... deep clousers, zonkers and such. Do you go shorter tippet with heavier flies?
I'm with Atticafish if you start with a short mono leader 3 to 4 ft. attached to your flyline it'll be much simpler to use and learn. Did that when I was a youngun and caught lots of fish. And then when you screw up the back cast, snag surrounding trees and brush it'll be a lot easier and cheaper to replace. After you become a expert then go to long furled leaders and fine tippets, fancy dry flies, and all that happy nonsense. KISS does work! And them gills, crappies, and bass don't care if you ain't fancy. Good Luck and have fun it'll be an experience, but sure is a fun way to fish.
DWAW -
Don't know what "green hatted significance" means. I got the name from a bunch of guys who found out I was "sneaking" around the marsh in a pirogue catching redfish on flies. It has since become the name of seven boats besides a nickname.
DB4D -
Just wondered, since you and Jimmy both suffer from the same ailment and live in the same area.
Incidentally, I have also written a few books - "Fly Fishing the Louisiana Coast" and "Redfish" being presently published. The fly fishing book might be interesting, even for a Cracker! :D
Merry Christmas now, and tight lines later!
Pete
thanks for everyones input and willingness to help an old dog with a new trick. merry christmas to all of you.
Gee, I wish I had known. I took my first LA redfish trip two years ago. My buddy and I went out with Dan Ayo from Houma.Quote:
Originally Posted by sneakypete
Danny's good! Hope you all had a fun trip.
Pete
Quote:
Originally Posted by sneakypete
Yes, he is. I liked him a lot. The trip was only OK, though. The weather did not cooperate. :(
My buddy and I did get out first reds on the fly, though. :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by sneakypete
Thanks for the tip!
Attachment 35167
Thanks for the plug!!
And watch that oncoming weather - it got BAD for a while over here this AM!
And a Merry Christmas to all y'all again!
Pete