Brand new to Fly Fishing....

[bronxbull]

I need some help. I recently found an old Flueger 8' rod with a Shakespear 1094 reel. I know absolutely zip about Fly Fishing other than it looks like tons of fun. I would love to know if I could use this set up around Mad River, or anywhere (even for Steelies) ? I love to Trout fish but usually I use an Ultralight spin-cast set up with Salmon Eggs or other like bait. I already have wading gear and vests, nets etc. I would also appreciate some guidance and advise on line, leaders, and flies. Thanks in advance.

[Lance]

It sounds like you've got yourself a start up. That reel is designed for lines up through a 7wt so at the very least you should have a trout reel. :)

Look around on the rod for a line weight, it should either be around the label or just above the cork grip. That's what will be your biggest impact on what you want to do with the rod. How old is the rod. is it glass or graphite composite?? Based on the mfg. and length it will likely be somewhere between a 5 and 7 wt rod depending on the material it's made of. Once we get that id.'d we can get you going on the lines and everything else! :)

Welcome to the dark side! :mischeif:

[bronxbull]

It is a Flueger PSFY 8056 8' rod. It looks graphite probably around 10-11 years old. The line weight says #5/6. I hope this will help. Thank you for your help.

[Lance]

That's perfect for Ohio stream trout like the Mad or Clearfork. If you need to put line on it I would strongly recommend a 6 weight forward floating line. Being an in-experienced caster that line should load up better on that rod and make it easier for you to fish a variety of flies easily. You will also want to put some backing on the reel before you add line. While you'll almost never see your backing with a fish you'll need it to fill in the space of your spool otherwise it ends in too tight of a spool.

I'm not going to say you "can't" fish steel on that rig but I can guarantee you would definitely have your hands full and then some with it only being an 8' rod! ;)

As far as leaders go I'd start out with knotless tapered leaders, just for ease of use. Once you get further down the road on your casting you could go with knotted leaders. Tapered leaders are needed because they cause your line to roll out to the end instead of ending up in a pile. For trout you'll end up fishing leaders ranging anywhere from a 4x-7x diameter tippet. This translates to #6-#2 test.

I'll get into flies on the next post. Gotta run! :)

[bronxbull]

Lance, I really appreciate your help. I am excited and definitely anxious to hear about flies. My rig has some old line and backing on it already, and I have been working on casting a bit from what I have seen on an instructional video. I will buy some new backing and line on your advice and wait to hear about the flies. I feel like a little kid here with this thing, I love it and can't wait to go Fly Fishing. Thanks again.:D

[Lance]

I'm working on this for you. I got stuck here at work tonight so I'll try to get the list together tomorrow. :(

Over all, most of your average subsurface flies that work everywhere will catch fish there. Pheasant tails, sculpins stone flies and the like. The more specific flies are what's going to take me a few to put together. I know a guy that fishes there fairly often and I'm going to pump him for some info. ;)

[bronxbull]

Thank you so much Lance. I can't wait to get out there. I really appreciate e the hep. :bouncy:

[Lance]

Hey I'm still working on your list of flies for the Mad. He's been out of town part of the week. I should have it together for you pretty quickly though. :)

[Lance]

OK,
Here's what I got for you. He likes streamers (natural colors with a little orange), after that it's a lot of soft hackles and nymphs. The main mayfly hatches he worries about are the Hendrickson's, BWO's and Brown drakes. There are also sporadic caddis.

A number #14 Adams will work for the hendricksons as far as general patterns go but there are a lot of others that are more specifc out there. That's part of what makes it all fun!

[deerhunt45]

Good info...Lance, you are the man. Thanks :coolgleamA:

[bronxbull]

Lance, thank you so much for this information. I really appreciate your time and effort. I can't wait to get out there. I will try and fill up my fly box with your suggestions. By the way, any ideas on where to get my hands on these flies? I would love to fish with you and learn some stuff. Thanks again. :) :) :)

[Lance]

I'm always glad to help. :) I can't promise anything but I definitely wouldn't mind a trip down there to fish! I'll need to figure out what kind of drive I'm looking at and see what it would take to make an escape this spring.

As far as where to get the flies, there are LOTS of places to get what your after. The big box stores can cover these as well your traditional fly shops. A lot of it boils down to how much you want to pay and if you care where the flies are tied at.

Your good fly shops (like Mad River Outfitters) are going to be more expensive and most flies will range in the $1.75-$2.00 range. Part of what your getting for this is local support/info and locally specific patterns and depending on the shop all most if not all of there flies may be tied by local tiers.

The big box stores like Cabelas and Bass Pro and then places like Hills Discount Flies that sell flies dirt cheap bring in all their flies from over-seas, often times from chinese provinces, north africa and the middle east. They buy their flies at obscenely low prices and turn them over for .75 - $1 a fly at the most for Hills, and a higher mark up on the big box stores.

Then there are tiers out there that sell their own flies tied here in the area of the country you fish. They offer flies at prices somewhere in between those and can generally cover most custom orders. Some can also be a source of supplies should you decide to tie your own.

LOTS of choices! ;)

[Francis]

Local fishing store showed me how to tie flies and I'm glad he did. But I seem to have lost my box.:irked:

[bronxbull]

Thanks for everything Lance. Let me know if you make it down this way or maybe I can go your way. :)

[Lance]

How long would it take you to get up to the Clear Fork? That's about half the distance to the Mad for me.

[bronxbull]

I am about an hour away from Clear Fork, I live in Delaware OH. , so it would be a lot easier for me to meet you there. I would be glad to come up and learn some stuff. Just let me know when you might be making a trip and I wil try to plan accordingly. Thanks and looking forward to it.
:bouncy: