Fishing with flies for those that hate fly fishing.
I was asked to do a quick thread on the topic. This is geared to the new comer that wants to fish with flies but cannot master the fly rod. When I ran my fly shop and made fishing rods I saw a lot of people give up fly fishing because they did not have the time to devote to mastering the fly rod. They would really lose it when they went to mountains and spent the day getting fly line out of every tree or bush on the stream. I would get them fishing with UL gear. I was fishing with flies on spinning gear when in high school. The outfit I had then was 8 or 10 pound line on a 5 ft med action rod and a clear plastic bobber. It had a spring loaded stopper that you could push and allow water to go into the bobber making it heavy. The more water you put in the heaver it got so you could cast a mile. You could fill it all the way and it would slowly sink so you could fish down toward the bottom. My fly was tied from 24 to 36 inches behind the bobber. I caught everything from bass to trout on that rig. When I got out of the service in 64 a retired friend of my dads got me started on fly fishing big rivers with spinning gear. The set up was simple. A 6 to 7 foot med action rod with a Mitchell 300 filled with 6# line. The line was bought at J C Penny co for $1.00 and that was a 1/4 pound spool. You tied the fly on and put a 1/8 oz crimp sinker about 30 inches above the fly. You would cast up stream and let the current carry it all the way down stream until you line would straighten out. You never knew if you had a fish on until the float came to the end of it's run and as you started reeling in line you would feel the fish on. The fish hooked them self and the theory was the small fine wire hook would stick when the fish started off and the 1/8 oz weight would set it. We rarely hot tangled or lost a fly. As time passed I refined the system to now using UL gear. You can still use the dry fly or floating popper but now use either ice floats for micro floats. I have some micro tapered torpedo floats that work will for this. Take off the float and put on A split shot above the fly and i can fish the bottom. You can take a floating fly or a micro foam float and put it 18 inches in front of the fly and fish the bottom and the fly will be just off bottom. For mid depths you can use a micro slip float or use a micro split shot and use the count down method to fish from just below the surface to the bottom. I think for the best buy in a rod is Bass Pro Shops Micro Lite. I have a 4'6" Fast taper that will handle 1/64 to 1/8 oz. lure and up to 6# line, A 6 ft UL and a 12 ft european match rod with an extra fast tip and UL. All have a purpose and I want to say the 6# line is not UL. UL stops at 5# line. 4 pound line is the norm but more and more are going to 2 pound. When you get to these smaller lines you do need a good reel and a poor one will continually break or wear you line out. You need to use and open face spinning reel and the limpest line possible to avoid tangles. There is a learning curve with the open face spinning reel is learn to trip the bail with your hand and not the handle. If you use the handle to trip the bail it sometimes will throw a loop in the line. When you cast flip the bail open to cast then close the bail with you hand then reach up in front of the reel and pull the excess slack out of the reel before you start turning the handle. If you want further information I strongly suggest you get a copy of "Tom McNally's Fishermen's Bible" 2nd edition. Long out of print but available on the used book market. He has a mini book section in there on the UL story, Well worth the effort to get one. I use a Pflueger Triton reel in the smallest size. I like fast or extra fast tapers as the allow for more whip when you cast. It also has a more progressive taper to handle small to big fish better. If you have more questions please ask.
