Fly Fishing Help

[MrDucky]

Howdy all... I got a Fly rod for christmas from my wife and son . It's a shakespeare http://www.shakespeare-fishing.com/product...oducts.php?p=73 combo kit from walmart , its 8 feet tall and has a shakespeare 1094 rod. It came with line and also a tappered leader , im sure its not the best but im hoping it's up to par . The good thing is this was an inexpensive start to fly fishing for me . Friday my wife and i are buying a fly tying kit from Lileys fly shop (Wapsi http://www.wapsifly.com/wapkits.html )its not the deluxe kit but 1 right below it . I was wondering the types of flies we should tie , We fish at taney and roaring river . Also i need to know if theres anything more i need for my kit , Im also buying a strike indicator and some other stuff friday from lileys . So i guess i need tippets , not sure what that is and leaders , if any of ya know any links that will help me it would be awesome . lol i would like to be able to bring the fly pole monday (new Years day) and kinda have a clue LOL . thanks

[duckydoty]

You are better off to quit now before its too late. Dude---It never stops after this point.

I'll bring a vise on Monday and I think somebody else is. Give you some tips on easy flies to tie.

Midges, sowbugs, strip leeches, and wooly buggers are good starter flies. I think there are some patterns posted under the fly tying section of this forum. Just buy the stuff you need to tie these to start off. The kit should have all the tools you'll need to start and some basic starter materials. Pretty soon you wont be able to drive down the road without looking for roadkill

Duckydoty

[Zach Bearden]

Ok Tippit is the material that you tye onto the end of your leader. Talk to someone that is really knowledgeable about this type of thing I hear that Leonard knows almost everything... I normally use scuds when I get a chance to go up... I did really good on a chamois worm (a scud hook with a small strip of chamois on it... tyed like a san juan worm.) When it comes to tippet I say it all depends on what your fishing for and how big your fly is... I think the normal size of a fly on Taneycomo is between 6-22. (correct? If not sombody please correct me.) But I found that, that particular rod was very hard for me to cast... Im not sure why But I use the next step up from walmart for trout...

You will also need to buy backing for your rod 20lb is what most trout anglers use...

Thats all I have to say Good luck with fly fishing!!!! Dont give up if you mess up... Also its really good to go out into a open space with a peice of yarn on your tippet or an open pond is also really good.

Bye!

[Phil Lilley]

What's with the ducks???

MrD... drop me an email and let me know when you're going to be in the shop and I'll make sure I'm around. Can help with your questions.

[MrDucky]

so there's line , the green stuff , then the leader and then the tippit??

[LostMyWife]

Yo Duck

I was were you are now about 6 weeks ago. Look at the articles in the main website. Read as many as you can.

Do some internet searches on knots. There are plenty of sites to pull from and most of the diagrams are great. Do the same thing for tippets, and leaders.

You will get hits from OzarkAnglers.com. Start there first.

Remember that everyone here is happy to help you. If they don't know the answer, they will hook you up with someone that does.

hang on tight.

You'll love the ride.

[Terry Beeson]

MrD,

I also started with the WalMart rig you have. It was good enough for me to decide I really liked fly fishing, but you'll soon want to graduate up to a better rig. The reel on those combos are good for holding line, but you get a couple of nice fish on the end and the "drag" is toast.

The typical fly rig starts with backing on the shaft of the spool - basically most people use enough to allow the fly line itself to be on the spool at the largest diameter. I may have some extra backing if you will be at Taney on NYD.

The fly line (the green line) is tied to the backing. If I remember right, that line is probably DT or "double tapered" and can go on either end first. If it is WF (weight forward), then you will have to be sure you put it on the reel the correct direction - with the large diameter toward the rod tip.

To the end of the fly line, the leader is tied. Different types of leaders and configurations can boggle the mind at times, but you have a tapered leader on that rig. It is tied with the larger diameter to the fly line and the smaller diameter is tied to a tippet, which is a single diameter line. You probably didn't get any tippet with the outfit. You will tie from 18-24 inches (some guys use more) of tippet material to the leader.

Finally, you tie the fly to the end of the tippet. Now you're ready to fish... Well, unless you want to talk dropper flies, indicators, and countless other configurations... I won't even try to start talking about knot preferences for each of these connections.

As for tippet, when you drop by Phil's, have him set you up with a couple of spools of tippet - say... 5, 6, or 7X... or all three.

By the way.... Leonard usually fishes at night with just 12 lb or so mono for a leader/tippet.... no taper, no tippet.

[MrDucky]

WOW theres alot to a fly rod . i think im gonna bring it with me to Phils in the morning . The backing thing i dont think i got with the pkg . thank you so much for taking the time to help me understand , I know its gonna be frustrating but when i learn probally better than spin fishing or plunking lol , is backing and tippit line expensive ? and i cant get all 3 , so what would be my best choice for taney?

[Snow Fly]

Mr.D

Go to the SPECIAL FORUM site at the beginning of the site and click on TIPS & TRICKS then find ANIMATED KNOTS really a good site to learn how to tie the different knots used in fly fishing. Hang in there and don't give up. Leave the other rods at home, you will be to tempted to go back to them when you first start out. Why? because you start thinking "I can't catch fish with a fly rod" you will and probably LOVE IT!

[Kansas Fly Fisher]

Hey, maybe we can do a bit of a casting clinic on NYD if anyone is interested. I'd be willing to help out. I'm not the best, and don't follow by example, but I can help with the basics.

John