Reel For Beginner

[dave potts]

Not sure about now, but as I recall Feathercraft used to give casting lessons in their parking lot on Saturdays. Might give them a call to see if they still do.

Dave

[Geoff]

feathercraft is alright IMO, i like hargrove much much better. i know tom will give you a quick lesson in the parking lot. not to sure if feathercraft does that anymore. its pretty easy to learn, id say i'd help ya learn but my casting is weird and probably wrong. ha

[Bill Anderson]

Just stay away from the Scientific Anglers reel that Walmart sells. I bought one for my youngest grandson and it held up one day. It has plastic gears and a plastic rachet,which wore out in one fishing trip, It's purely worthless junk.The cheap, Chinese made Pflueger Medalist reels are OK for the money.I have several of the older,American made Medalists, and they are famous work horse reels. You can find them on EBay, but they cost a bit more than the present Chinese made variety.But for the money, the older, U.S. made Pfluegers are tough reels and last forever.

[T Hood]

Thanks to all for the advice. I wound up with a Three Forks reel from Cabela's. Upon further inspection, the rod I received as a gift is a 6wt TFO Lefty Kreh Professional. I was told this is a nice rod. It makes me more thankful for the gift.

First lesson went well. Seems that fly casting is very similar to throwing a lacrosse ball. That makes the learning curve that much shorter.

Thanks to all for the advice. Now, for the 100 degree weather to break so I can catch something!

[junkman]

Looks like you did get a pretty nice rod from what I see of them on the web. now that you have a good rod and reel, now for the hard part. Good luck.

[T Hood]

Gentlemen:

Thanks to all for the advice. I appreciate the help.

Here's a new one: I've discovered setting the hook on a fly rod is dramatically different than a conventional set up. What are your preferred methods for hook setting? Do you favor a strip set or some sort of action with the rod?

I understand that there will be different techniques with different species. Right now, I'm just getting strikes from Bluegill and small Bass.

Again, any help is appreciated. Thanks for the time and the service.

Troy

[hoglaw]

I'm sure one of the real fly guys can help with that one better than I can, but in general I think the best way to set the hook is to do a good strip to pick up any slack, then raise the rod sharply and get it high. Most break-offs occur on the set I think. You want your rod up high and stressed so it can absorb the initial shock. If you strip tight with a low rod, you have nothing other than your fingers and line stretch to keep a fish from breaking off, and that won't cut it on a good one.

I know bonefishing we were told to keep stripping until it was tight then gently raise the rod. I've been told the same with regard to carp. For trout and small flies, the weight of the line being picked up off the water is sufficient to get a hook in, and as long as you keep that rod up and let the fish pull the rod, it stays tight.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Do you favor a strip set or some sort of action with the rod?

A little of both. You do have to exercise some control dependent on your tippet strength. A 1X will obviously allow a harder hook set than a 6X. By using both you do gain speed which is often just as important, or more important, than the amount of pressure. You can often recover and repeat a weak hookset, but a slow one is generally a loss.

[Jack Jones]

I guess it all depends on what you're fishing for. I know when fishing for trout, it's been tough for me to set the hook on dry fly pickups, but when I'm fishing buggers, cracklebacks, or other wets, they almost hook themselves when they take it. I just wait until I feel the resistance on the strip. Also, if the line stops drifting, I'll short strip and that hooks then. As far as nymphs, and such, I'm a disgrace on hooksets with those. Can't even usually detect a take.

That's my experiences. Learn from them as you will.