# Flyrod to use?



## Xtreme Outdoor Gundogs (Apr 12, 2012)

I’m new to flyrod fishing and wondered if there were any experts out there that might coach me on getting a great flyrod setup? Thanks In Advance


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## Poon Chaser (Aug 22, 2006)

It totally depends on what you're fishing for... for reds and trout a good 8 weight is perfect.


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## Capt. Marcus Canales (Aug 25, 2005)

**** chaser said:


> It totally depends on what you're fishing for... for reds and trout a good 8 weight is perfect.


i would suggest something heavier if fishing for hogs or other four legged critters. :biggrin:


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## devil1824 (Sep 4, 2010)

osoobsessed said:


> i would suggest something heavier if fishing for hogs or other four legged critters. :biggrin:


Yep,you may try putting this in the Fly section. 8wt. is a good start. Heavy and more forgiving. I mainly fish fresh water and use a 5/6 and a 3wt. You'll be tying your own fly's in no time. It's very addicting.


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## Capt. Marcus Canales (Aug 25, 2005)

devil1824 said:


> Yep,you may try putting this in the Fly section. 8wt. is a good start. Heavy and more forgiving. I mainly fish fresh water and use a 5/6 and a 3wt. You'll be tying your own fly's in no time. It's very addicting.


Exactly why I havent started fly fishing.....i know it will be just like long range shooting, very addicting hobbies and get expensive quick. LOL

Sent from my mobile T&A viewer


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## devil1824 (Sep 4, 2010)

Don't get into Home Brewing either. :biggrin: Hunting/fishing/rod building/fly tying/home brewing/3d shoots. There IS NO off season according to my wife. LOL.


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## RedFly (Mar 22, 2010)

If you're not sure if you'll like flyfishing, borrow one or get a cheap one. All the box stores are selling full set-ups for under $100 now. But they're bulky 2-piece with crappy parts... just saw a buddy break one after just a couple hours of fishing fresh water recently.

The best all-around rod for the money in my opinion is the TFO Professional. A 6wt in 4 piece is small enough to carry easily and I've caught everything from Hill Country Bass to 26" Redfish on mine. For $149 and a lifetime warranty I've yet to find a better deal. And the feel and cast of this rod is truly top-notch even on the flats.
http://www.templeforkflyrods.com/products/rods/professional.html

Pair it with a reel that can handle salt and has a light to heavy drag and you've got a very versatile rig. I like the Lamson Guru size 3 - so you can put more backing on it incase you hook a really big fish. I've not found a reel that can hold up to salt with such a nice drag for any less. 
http://www.templeforkflyrods.com/products/rods/professional.html

Good luck there's lots of good choices out there.


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## RedFly (Mar 22, 2010)

http://waterworks-lamson.com/products/lamson-guru/
here's the link to the reel


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## joey7848 (Sep 4, 2011)

There is a lot of opinions about fly rod types. Personally, I prefer fast action rods, but your casting style may be different.

If you're looking to target reds year round, you'll want something that can handle the wind conditions and fairly long casts. I think a fast action 7 or 8 weight is perfect there. These rods are typically not as forgiving and can be more difficult to master fly presentation on.

Another good trick is to weight up your line...fish 8 wt line on a 7 wt rod for instance. This will help you load the line easier on your false casts. Don't start with too long of a leader and practice accuracy above distance when starting.

Other than that, have fun and don't be frustrated when you miss the first 100 fish you sight cast at...that's the beauty of the sport. Casting and tying is just the beginning...reading fish and understanding conditions is the sport.


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## Poon Chaser (Aug 22, 2006)

osoobsessed said:


> i would suggest something heavier if fishing for hogs or other four legged critters. :biggrin:


Something like this???


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## RedFly (Mar 22, 2010)

joey7848 said:


> There is a lot of opinions about fly rod types. Personally, I prefer fast action rods, but your casting style may be different.
> 
> If you're looking to target reds year round, you'll want something that can handle the wind conditions and fairly long casts. I think a fast action 7 or 8 weight is perfect there. These rods are typically not as forgiving and can be more difficult to master fly presentation on.
> 
> ...


A "fast action" rod is simply a rod rated one weight lower than it should be for most people IMHO... So Joey I think you have the right idea putting heavier line on a super fast rod to get it to cast. Medium-fast actions have much more feel with a lighter tip and have more sensitivity in loading and overall feel. Just like a speckled trout rod has a soft tip (medium action) and a bass rod has a firm tip (fast action).

With a casting lesson and a little practice any decent novice can cast a medium-fast TFO Pro 6 wt 50 ft regularly and 80 ft when it all comes together.

I'm no pro and fish the salt 6 times per year or so, and with the average 15 mph wind day (why sight-cast in more?) I always reach for the 6 wt and haven't pulled out the heavier rod in over a year now. Last time I practiced casting in the park my buddy who fishes more than I do brought his nice fast action G. Loomis 7 wt (with 8 wt line) and we set staked paper plates to the ground at 40, 60, and 80 ft. With a little line dressing we were hitting 80 ft consistently, but when I used his rod I was less consistent because I couldn't feel the rod load as well even with the over-loaded line.

So the distance contest started and in 10 - 15 mph crosswind both of us cast over 90 feet multiple times. But my TFO Pro was the only one either of us could cast over 100 ft. I did it 5 times in a dozen tries.... and that's when you cast the backing out of the reel and half way up the rod with a 9 ft leader... with a little practice (or a good lesson) you could do it too! Although I don't doubt Lefty Kreh could cast farther with a super fast action, I really think the benefit of fast actions with the listed line is to be able to cast 40 feet with only one back cast... not total distance at least for the average fisherman.

Use yarn for a fly to learn to cast on grass by they way.


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## joey7848 (Sep 4, 2011)

RedFly said:


> A "fast action" rod is simply a rod rated one weight lower than it should be for most people IMHO...


I think you may be mistaken here...fast action refers to where the rod bends when casting...faster rods will bend closer towards the tip and slower rods will bend closer towards the butt.


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## Joe. T. (Jun 7, 2008)

average 15 mph winds would be a dream here on the coast.in the prime months 20 to 30 is average here in corpus.stalking fish on foot to me is much easier when the wind is blowing.fishing the east shore with a good se wind at your back makes it easy to sneak up close to fish. XOG just get yourself a decent setup no need to break the bank on your first setup(cabelas)set it up with what it calls for.over lining ,faster rods,different length leaders will all come in time. 30 to 50 feet is really all you need on the flats unless you plan on doing alot of blind casting.good luck


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## THE JAMMER (Aug 1, 2005)

joey7848 said:


> I think you may be mistaken here...fast action refers to where the rod bends when casting...faster rods will bend closer towards the tip and slower rods will bend closer towards the butt.


Joey Knows. Are you the Joey from FTU who built my beautiful sage RPL390??


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## joey7848 (Sep 4, 2011)

THE JAMMER said:


> Joey Knows. Are you the Joey from FTU who built my beautiful sage RPL390??


No, I'm not, but sounds like he built you a nice rod. I throw a Sage TCR 7 (aka broomstick) and I love it.


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## bigfly55 (Apr 18, 2012)

After selling many hundreds of the set-up you are looking for, here are some of my thoughts on a TX coast setup. Before you even cast a rod, take a lesson. If you do not have some sort of a casting stroke, then you are hindering yourself majorly. If after that lesson you decide to proceed, I would say that a rod designed to cast a 7-9 weight line is good. I WOULD NOT OVERLINE IT!! This creates flaws in your casting stroke that will be hard to get rid of over time. If anything, underline your rods... When the manufacturers put a line designation on a rod, it is done with the first 30' of fly line outside the rod tip (a +- 50'cast). Soooo if you are wanting to cast further, you are actually much better with a line below the designated rod weight. The only time I could possibly see overlining a rod is for bass fishing (short casting distance) with big heavy(wind-resistant) deer hair flies. Another mistake that a lot of people make is to get a "matching" reel for their new 8 weight. I fished with the Abel TR3 for years and had about 50 yards of backing on it. The reel was really light weight with just a click/pawl drag sytem. Even when catching the biggest reds I had ever seen (LA), I rarely had a fish get more than 10 yards of backing out of the reel. I also used a LOOP graphite reel that was great. My point is to get a physicaly lighter reel. You are generally going to be casting a fair bit and the lighter weight reel will help you be able to cast all day. Do not be afraid to cut the last 10-20 feet of running line off your flyline. This will allow the line to fit on the smaller reel easier, and with most saltwater lines being at least 100' long, you don't need that much line. Just make sure to cut the level running line (the part attached to your backing), and not the weighted tip! Hope this helps and try to take lessons from more than just one person if possible. Each teacher sees different things, and a new set of eyes observing your casting is always a great idea.


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## THE JAMMER (Aug 1, 2005)

Bigfly 55,

Totally agree with your comments about reels, however, I can't agree with the "underlining" comments. First of all what line you use is directly related to the stiffness of your rod ( no pun intended), as covered by Joey earlier. With a stiffer rod, old RPL+'S, etc., you can very easily overline those rods, which will really pay dividends if the wind is blowing.

I always use stiffer, fast rods, so probably every rod I have, about 18 of them from a custom sage 16 wgt with an abel super 14, down to my 2 weights for trout on the upper rio grande, are over lined. I learned a lot of my craft from the late Chris Phillips, who forgot more than I'll ever know.


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## bigfly55 (Apr 18, 2012)

I too learned a lot from good ole Chris and am sorry I was not in the state at his time of call to the higher fishing grounds. I also meant no disrespect towards anyone with my comments. I do also now remember Chris overlining a lot of his stuff. However, I have also learned a lot in individual discussions with Lefty, Chico, Mel and many other highly regarded industry types. Especially the rod designers. It was with Lefty that I really learned about underlining a rod for distance casting. When I was around competition casters on the West coast, we used 7 weight rods with 5 weight lines while practicing. You really get your timing down when doing something like that. It is also just my personal observation after teaching multiple hundreds of people to cast (i tought for almost 15 years pretty solid and now just occasionaly) that overlining at least 90% of the time leads to casting stroke issues down the road. 

And you sound about as bad as I used to be Jammer with 18 rods lol. At one point I had 17 rods and 26 reels...

One last thing I would say is to make sure and cast a variety of rods before purchasing one. Most any shop will be more than happy to let you cast multiple rods before you buy one. I would also suggest trying to do it on water if possible...


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## Golden (Aug 1, 2006)

Too bad you just missed the Texasflyfishers annual Auction and I saw many brand new to slightly used rods with reels go for less than $100.00 some had lifetime warranties too.

How about a sage 3 pc. 9wt rplx with a lightspeed reel, line, extra spool, rod sock, and reel bra for less than a hundy! Stupid cheap. Sorry you missed it (last Saturday) Next year is a long time to wait.


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## THE JAMMER (Aug 1, 2005)

bigfly55 said:


> I too learned a lot from good ole Chris and am sorry I was not in the state at his time of call to the higher fishing grounds. I also meant no disrespect towards anyone with my comments. I do also now remember Chris overlining a lot of his stuff. However, I have also learned a lot in individual discussions with Lefty, Chico, Mel and many other highly regarded industry types. Especially the rod designers. It was with Lefty that I really learned about underlining a rod for distance casting. When I was around competition casters on the West coast, we used 7 weight rods with 5 weight lines while practicing. You really get your timing down when doing something like that. It is also just my personal observation after teaching multiple hundreds of people to cast (i tought for almost 15 years pretty solid and now just occasionaly) that overlining at least 90% of the time leads to casting stroke issues down the road.
> 
> And you sound about as bad as I used to be Jammer with 18 rods lol. At one point I had 17 rods and 26 reels...
> 
> One last thing I would say is to make sure and cast a variety of rods before purchasing one. Most any shop will be more than happy to let you cast multiple rods before you buy one. I would also suggest trying to do it on water if possible...


Well I am certainly not one to argue with those guys.Although I have seen Chris throw 120' of line and go into his backing. Lefty is the best. I met him at a trout conclave in Farmington NM. back in the 80's. I used to live in Albuquerque and fished the San Juan every month.

He was on this beautiful lawn about 30 yards wide and 60 lyards long. All of the attendees were lined out sitting down on the sidelines while he did his presentation. He had his line out on the ground at about 10:00. He said, "I don't know what all this talk about 10:00 2:00, etc. is, I don't care what time it is the fly is going to go in the direction you point your rod when you start your cast." He proceeded to point his rod over at 2:00, while the line was still on the ground, and he said, "You see that lady sitting over there with that big hat on, (she was on the right sideline about 80' out), I think I just saw a trout over her shoulder." He then proceeded to do one back cast, and throw an absolutely perfect cast where the tippet literally dropped over that lady's shoulder and the fly fell on the ground just behind her. Amaziong.

This has been a great thread.


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