Which Fly Fishing Rod Should I Use

Fly fishing is different from traditional fishing methods in several important ways. These important distinctions serve to make the fly fishing rod the most important piece of fly fishing equipment you buy.

Traditional fishing uses a rod equipped with nearly weightless, transparent, mono filament line to cast a weighted hook into the water. Fly fishing essentially reverses this process by using a weighted, translucent line to cast a nearly weightless hook into the water. The action of the fly fishing rod is essential to being able to cast the fly.

Fly fishing is also different from traditional fishing in that the fly fisher never puts their rod down. Fly fishers cast the entire time they are fishing. This makes the decision of which rod to buy very important. Anglers who are fly fishing will spend the entire fishing day with the rod in their hand making casts.

The method of bringing in a fish is also different when fly fishing. While the fishing reel is very important in traditional fishing it is not nearly so important in fly fishing. Fly fishing uses a technique of stripping line by hand. The fly fishing reel is largely used as a storage compartment for spare line.

The choice of which fly fishing rod to buy is indeed a very important decision that will impact your enjoyment of the sport a great deal. Nearly all modern fly fishing rods are made from some type of graphite compound. There are a few bamboo rods still made but they are quite expensive compared to a graphite rod. There are many choices of graphite fly fishing rods available though.

Fly fishing rods are categorized by weight (for instance, a 6-weight rod – also written as 6wt). The weight of the fly rod you buy will be determined by where you intend to fish. It is important to use line that matches the weight of the rod when fly fishing. Some rods are designed to be multi-weight rods and may safely be used with several different weights of line.

One general rule when shopping for a fly rod is to purchase the most expensive rod you can afford. This advice is based on the understanding that the rod is the most important piece of fly fishing equipment in your fly fishing outfit. You can always upgrade your reel later if you decide you want a better reel.

It is always a good idea to visit shops that sell fly fishing gear before making a final decision. Even if you plan to purchase your fly fishing rod through a shop on the Internet it will be helpful to actually handle several different rods before making a final decision. Remember too that while fly fishers tend to be an opinionated bunch, fly fishing rods are largely a personal preference. If a rod just does not feel comfortable in your hand it does not matter how many experts recommend that rod. Your choice will also be influenced largely by

Fishing Tackle Guidelines

Fishing can be an extremely enjoyable and relaxing adventure. As long as you have the right tools, the fishing safety knowledge, and a little support from friends or family, you could perform your fishing successfully.

However, the most overlooked factor in buying equipment is choosing the right fishing tackle. You should follow these simple guidelines in selecting tackles.

1) You should choose the correct fishing flies that you would be using to catch the fish you will be targeting to catch. The basic rule in choosing the kind of fly is to know which fish is abundant in the actual environment.

2) Once you have determined which fly to use, you should be able to choose the proper line to use. The three commonly used tackles are fly-fishing, plug casting and spinning. The difference between the three is that spinning and plug-casting makes use of bait as weight to drag the line from its reel to the target point of fishing.

3) Fly lines come in four different types – weight-forward, double taper, shooting-taper and level taper. Within the four different types are many variations. However, once you have decided what kind of fish you wish to catch, you will be using only a particular fishing line.

Fishing lines have numbers that rank from one to fifteen. However, the most common among anglers are the lines numbered from 3 to 12 in weight. As a basic rule for ideal catching, the first 30 feet of your line should be weighted and matched to the rod.

4) The next thing you should buy is the rod and reel. The most suitable equipment for beginners is spin-casting gears that are easy to handle and provides the least setbacks. For any kind of fishing, the recommended spin-casting reel is mounted on a light-action 6-foot casting rod and spooled with an 8-pound test line. The reel and rod could be purchased as a package in many fishing stores.

5) You would need sinkers, hooks and bobbers. Sinkers and hooks could be bought in different packs with different styles and sizes. When selecting bobbers, always keep in mind the smaller the bobber, the better the performance. The struggling of the fish would depend on the size of your bobber.

6) Professional anglers prefer artificial lures. The recommended sizes of lures are 1/8 ounce up to ¼ ounce.

Remember the kind of tackle would depend on the fish you prefer to catch. Avoid buying unnecessary fishing items and enjoy your affordable fishing experience.

Excellent Fishing Rods for that Perfect Fishing Experience

Today’s fishing rods have incorporated modern features that are not typical of the more primitive cane pole. Modern fishing rods contain reels, which aid in the retrieval of fish caught in its bait.

A much-sophisticated feature is the spinning rod where the entire shaft of the rod, except the handle, can move around on its axis to allow flexibility when a fish caught on snare bait struggles through the water.

Like the classic cane fishing rods, the fishing gadget is thick at the handle (bottom) and is tapered and thinner at the tip. This basic design allows handling stability and flexible movement of the entire length of the shaft.

Types of Fishing Rods and Specifications

A typical fishing rod measures 6 to 16 feet (or 2 to 5 meters) and vary in ability to tolerate strain in fishing. The length has a lot to do with withstanding force exerted by the fish to the pole and determines the performance of rods used for angling.

Cane Poles

Cane poles are one of the smallest and less sophisticated gadgets in fishing. It is usually made of bamboo or other flexible wood material with the most basic fly line attached to it.

Unlike other more sophisticated fishing rods, cane poles do not usually contain reels or its equivalent to be used for reeling in or retrieving fish caught on bait. This very same action is known as angling.

Spinning Rods

These types of rods are the most popular today. They can be used either for heavyweight or lightweight fish although they were proven best for trout, walleye and bass fish. They vary in measurements from 5 to 7 feet (1.5 to 2.5 meters).

Spinning poles are commonly used in bass fishing competitions because of their flexibility and tolerance to stress. They accommodate bigger and tougher fly lines and stabilize them to avoid line tangles during the uncoiling of float lines.

Jigging Rods

These rods are best for heavy lures and baits especially when reaching around 180 to 200 feet under the ocean’s surface. They are made of fine, solid materials which accounts for their heaviness. The use of jigging rods is specifically due to alternating currents during the fishing activity.

Some oceans have erratic undersea current. That is why the bait and fly lines should be kept in place. Lures are also disturbed and cause confusion among fish if the lines are not long and heavy enough to withstand and tolerate water currents under the sea.

These rods are best for target fishes usually found dwelling at the bottom of the sea such as halibut and cods.

Float Fishing Rods

The modern float rod, made of a hollow fibreglass or graphite based composite materials, is an incredibly powerful and versatile tool despite its fragile looks. A good 13-foot graphite rod can weigh as little as 6 ounces. When you’re choosing a float rod, it’s important to pick one with the right sort of action for the type of fishing you do. For instance, a soft, highly flexible rod will be next to useless if much of your fishing demands hitting quick bites.

To assess the action of a rod, hold it horizontally as you would when fishing, with your forearm along the handle, lower the tip to about 12 inches from the floor. Try a smart upward strike, keeping your eye on the tip. If it dips and touches the floor, the action is too sloppy for float fishing and the rod should be rejected. With a stiff, fast actioned rod, the tip shouldn’t touch down on a strike when it’s held only 6 inches from the floor.

If the rod passes this test, have the tackle dealer hold the tip of the rod at waist height while you slowly lift the rod upwards into a nice bend. You will then be able to see if the action is more or less confined to just the tip, the top section or the middle, or if it’s completely all-through, which is preferable.

Other points to watch for when you’re selecting a float rod include the number, height and type of guides, and the length and diameter of the handle. Guides of hard chrome stainless steel are very popular and usually stand a couple of seasons of hard use before starting to groove, but lined guides provide a significant reduction in friction and subsequent grooving and line wear.

Float rod guides should stand high off the blank to keep the line clear of the rod. This will minimize line slap and eliminate line stick during wet weather. There should be one guide for every foot of overall rod length (although they will, of course, be placed at varying intervals, not simply every 12 inches).

The handle size is a more important part of float rod design than many anglers realize. Too many handles are too thick or too long, or both. A diameter of 7 inch is ideal for a firm grip, while a length of 22 to 24 inches is quite sufficient. There’s little point in investing in an expensive 11ft rod if its handle is so long that it sticks out behind your elbow when you’re fishing. As for the handle material, whether you choose cork or a synthetic material depends entirely upon your personal preference.

Rods in the 12 to 15 foot range are now mostly made of graphite often mixed with boron, silk carbide or Kevlar. In general, the higher the proportion of graphite in the rod, the better it will perform. Flexing the rod in mock strike is a good way if assessing how much graphite the rod contains. A sloppy rod which doesn’t return quickly won’t have a very high percentage of graphite in its structure. Look for a rod with a snappy return and the sort of action which will best suit your requirements. Pick a delicate tip action if you intend fishing for small species, one which will bend right through to the middle and bottom sections if you’re going to be angling for fish that weigh pounds, rather than ounces.

Overall, a rod of around 13 feet will generally suffice, but 14 and 15 foot float rods are very useful for fishing into exceptionally deep lakes and pits.

Whatever length of rod you choose, if it’s a graphite rod, don’t fish near overhead power lines or when there’s lightning about. Graphite is an excellent conductor of electricity, and if your rod touches a power line you’ll get a serious, even fatal, shock.

Floats

The float is one of the most versatile bite indicators an angler could wish to use. It not only gives excellent bite indication, it also allows the bait to be presented in a natural way.

Plastics, such as polycarbonates, dominate float production these days. Early floats were made from porcupine quills or the quills of bird feathers, with bodies of cork, elder pith or balsa if extra buoyancy was needed. Of these materials, balsa is still used quite extensively, and for the ‘waggler’ type of floats a better material than peacock quills has yet to be found. There is no synthetic material to match it for its combination of strength, lightness and buoyancy, although synthetics can always beat quill on price and availability.

The most popular of all the top and bottom fixed floats are the wire-stemmed balsa or cane stick floats. Used only in rivers, these floats allow you to drift the bait slowly downstream. You can hold back hard on the float so that it travels slower than the current, and the bait (usually maggots or casters) will swing forwards ahead of the float. These floats work most effectively at quite close range, certainly no further out than about one and a half rod lengths.

Two other useful top and bottom fixed floats are the loafer (or chub trotter) and Avon. The Avon float has all its buoyancy concentrated in a balsa body immediately below the balsa. This allows it to ride evenly through turbulent water, such as weir pools, and it can be held back to swing the ball upwards without being dragged off course.

Loafers are made from solid balsa or clear, hollow plastic. They are, in effect, shorter, squatter versions of the balsa float. Being much thicker and carrying more weight, they hold steady in fast currents. Their thick tips are easily visible even when they’re fished a long way downstream and they’re ideal for grayling or chub fishing in fast rivers.

The most versatile of all floats are the peacock quill wagglers, which are fixed bottom end only. A handful of peacock wagglers of various sizes would easily meet three quarters of all float fishing requirements, either in still or running water. They are locked on the line with split shot either side of the eye, and in running water they’re always fished preceding the bait. If all the weight is concentrated around the float, very slow-moving swims can be fished well over depth so that the bait trundles along the bottom very slowly, with just a couple of tiny shots down the line. A peacock waggler works equally well with all the shots close to the hook for fishing with the lift method. With all the shots down at the hook, the float is fixed to the line with a rubber float band.

The bodied peacock waggler allows you to cast further than with the waggler because the extra buoyancy provided by its polystyrene body allows more shot to be used. As well as being useful for fishing distant swims, these floats are good in windy weather but remember to sink the line well to avoid surface drift.

To facilitate quick, easy changing of all waggler style floats, use a rubber or plastic float attachment. This threads onto the line just like the bottom of a float, and the float is simply pushed into it.

Darts are tiny, bulbous-bottomed floats with extra fine tips. Designed to indicate the tiniest of bites, they are good for fishing close in still water. Pole floats are also very small, sometimes with super-fine ‘bristle’ tips. They may be fixed bottom end only or top and bottom, and they work in just the same way as other floats. They are, however, much easier to control (which is why they’re smaller) because the pole tip is positioned directly above, with as little line as possible between tip and float.

For float fishing at night, you can use luminous elements which are glued to the float or attached to it by a length of tubing. Alternatively, battery-powered floats (which are more or less the same shape as a bodied waggler) are available.

Most floats used for live or dead baiting for predators are cigar shaped slider floats. The line either passes through an eye at the bottom of the float or it’s a tubed float through a hole running right through the float from end to end.

Drift floats have little vanes or sails which catch the wind to take them and the bait (live or dead) out beyond casting distance. These are useful for predator fishing from the bank on large waters.

Fixed Spool Reels

The fixed spool or spinning reel became widely available in the 1940s. It was said then that “anyone can cast a long way with a fixed spool reel”, and that statement still holds true today.

There are several different types of fixed spool reel, but they all work on the same basic principle. On the retrieve, the line is wound around the spool by a rotating bale arm. The spool doesn’t revolve, but it does move up and down along the line of the rod to facilitate even line lay. The spool needs to be almost full of line for best casting: line should fill the spool to just below the rim and be wound on firmly. Many anglers fail to appreciate this and their casting deteriorates as the level of line on the spool drops due to wear.

Although the spool doesn’t turn when the line is being retrieved, it does revolve to give line to a running fish. The spool turns under the control of a drag or slipping clutch, which can be adjusted so that the spool turns and gives line before the breaking point of the line is reached. An anti-reverse mechanism (some silent, some audible) prevents the handle from turning backwards when the spool is rotating.

Fixed spool reels are available in a variety of retrieve rates. A ratio of about 4:1, which will retrieve around 20 inches of line for each turn of the handle, is suitable for most purposes. However, many anglers prefer a 3:1 ratio (about 15 inches per turn) for spinning when they want to work the lure at a slow, steady rate, or a 6:1 ratio (30 inches per turn) for cranking in lures at high speed when after pelagic species in clear water.

The Closed Face Reel is a type of fixed spool reel which doesn’t have an exposed hale arm. The line passes through a hole in the completely-enclosed front face of the reel, and is wound round the spool by a rotating steel pin. During casting, this hale pin is disengaged from the line by finger pressure on the front face of the reel, or on some models by pressing a button at the rear. Depending on the make, the drag control is either mounted on the handle shaft or at the rear. Most reels will only allow the spool to rotate and give line when the anti-reverse is on, but a few allow line to be given by back-winding.

Closed face reels are very efficient for light line fishing, but their use with lines in excess of 4 or 5 pounds test is not recommended. The fixed spool or spinning reel is ideal for float fishing and ledgering, as well as for spinning in both fresh and salt water. All the closed face reels and the smallest fixed spools will hold around 100 yards of between 2 and 4 pounds test line, and are ideal for jigging and lightweight float fishing and ledgering for species like perch, the smaller cyprinids and crappies.

For anything heavier, the medium sized fixed spool reels should be used. One reel and two interchangeable spools should cover all your needs: one spool with 100 to 150 yards of 5 or 6 pounds test, plus a deeper one holding 150 to 200 yards of 8 to 12 pounds test. The deeper spool should be crushproof, as the constriction of the line can be considerable when you’re playing larger species such as carp, catfish, pike, salmon or big bass.

Lightweight graphite bodies, disengaging spools and rear drag levers are all useful on this type of reel, but most importantly the reel should be hard wearing and free running, with a wide, deep spool for easy, long casting.

The largest fixed spool reels are those designed for surfcasting and estuary fishing. These should be corrosion-resistant (many aren’t) for regular use in saltwater, and have wide, smooth-lipped spools capable of holding somewhere between 200 and 250 yards of 15 to 25 pounds test line. More so than for any other type of fishing, beach reels need to be very smooth-running, so look for those whose spools turn effortlessly on ball or roller bearings.

A sensibly-sized, torpedo-shaped handle is essential for a good grip, and a sensitive, progressive drag (either front or rear) is a must for playing fast, hard-fighting fish. Spools with conical-shaped inners are preferable for long-distance casting, as are small, manually-operated hale arms which won’t accidentally snap closed during a powerful cast.