I thought I would be cheeky and ask here first - rather than risk being told off for not reading the FAQ on a fly fishing forum.

About 3 years ago I rediscovered fishing and went mad buying tackle.

I was determined to have a go at saltwater fly-fishing so I ended up with a Masterline 9'6" 7/8 weight outfit - which hopefully will do for heavy stillwater / light saltwater ...

I will sooner rather than later have to get some proper casting tuition, but it seems silly not to take advantage of the local rivers and practice on coarse fish.

However I can't see fish of any quality hanging around for long with me splashing around with an 8 weight line (one day grasshopper ...).

So I'm thinking about a 4/5 outfit .. and, with the lack of room behind me in most cases I can see I will need to learn roll-casting .. and/or maybe a shorter rod ?

Havent got a clue about fly fishing mate. Like to sit and chill while im fishing. But i love that people are interested in fishing as i never seem to meet like minded people who do. But i can tell you that i dont think you will get much by means of size with course fish as it seems to me that i usually see the smaller fish jumping for flys! Sometimes a finicky roach of average size might jump out for a fly but to be honest i have limited knowlege, and im only saying what i have seen while fishing.. Ask me owt about a line and float and i'll probably be able to give some good advice.

from the limited experience i've had at fly fishing up in Scotand i'd say so long as you have a long enough leader say about 7 foot on a 9' 6" rod it shouldn't spook any really hungry fish (starving maybe )but even if you're not catching anything you'll still be getting some practice in at casting.

just make sure that you gear up your main line as it'll be a powerful rod designed for heavier tackle

not sure if it'll help just my tuppence worth


ATB & Tight Lines chap

g-loomis,rod..........weight 7 line,with a 5ft sinkin tip should do the job m8............what course fish u goin for?

I imagine it would most likely be perch, or ultimately the elusive chub .. basically anything that will take my fly / lure ...

I was seriously impressed watching Nick Hart catch every sort of fish on the TV recently - a rare programme where Henry Gilbey didn't have me constantly swearing at the telly - seeing Nick catch Chub in a mucky urban stream in Taunton was especially impressive - it wasn't trees that were in the way, but laundry

I have a perverse idea to one day be able to freak out the bivvy crew at my local duckpond by taking a carp off the surface - I imagine that's where I will be practising anyway while it's the close season ....

Presumably my 8 weight setup would cope with small carp and pike ?

get yourself some carp rods n big-pit reels, wang them out, put them on alarms, sit back, drink tea & get stoned and wait for a bleep... works for me

failing that (and for want of a sensible answer), there are plenty of fisheries that offer day tuition, and will more than likely provide the kit too if you ask. a bit of practice with the proper kit for a while could help with the casting n that.

Mullet hang round the south west coast all year it just needs a nice day to be on the beach.I reckon you could catch them on the fly cos mackeral,scad and bass can be had that way from the beach in summer.

Oh yes, how chuffed I would be to do something even Matt Hayes has trouble doing.
I'm within 45 minutes of a marina with a resident school of mullet

I can see I'll need to overcome my dislike of driving distances and arrange myself a holiday ...

I used to have a No.10 rod and line - I was fishing huge reservoirs like Stocks on the Yorks/Lancs border and Ladybower; but the same rod was used to good effect on smaller lakes, ponds and rivers - I even used it on small chalkstreams but it was really overmuch for them. It hauled a decent pike out of the Ouse one year. Point being, I am not sure a 7/8 will be strong enough for saltwater. I may be wrong, but I'd be looking for a 10, which would for sure handle your saltwater and yet be quite useful for lakes and rivers. But there's some handy fly-men on the site, who may have a different take on the matter.
Its deffo worth getting tuition. Poor skills make fly casting hard work and quite hit-and-miss; whereas the right knowledge and skills mean you can fish all day long with barely any effort and have a much increased catch rate. And whatever else you do try and master the roll cast or Spey cast as I call it. Being able to cast without back-space is invaluable.
There's nowt like the feel of a take on your fly-line. The manual nature of the task is what makes it so absorbing.
Tight lines M8!

Thanks Arnie,

I suppose it depends on one's likelihood of hooking something bigger than a stocked rainbow in North Devon

Of course if I wanted to cast huge pike "flies", my 8 weight is going to be somewhat challenged, but Nick Hart suggests an 8 weight for the sea - 'tis all about light tackle these days http://www.hartflyfishing.demon.co.uk/

I feel inclined to get myself a 4/5 weight rod ... and a weight forward 4 weight floating line ... it's only just dawned on me that all I need is a spare spool for my existing reel .. or take the sinking line off one of the two spools I already have ..

On the subject of light tackle - Henry Gilbey hauls in a huge norwegian coalfish on a carbon spinning rod in one of his programmes !

i know i'm resurrecting the dead here but did you ever get sorted out compost???

just wondering as me and CT have now got ourselfs some nice fly rod setups and a float tube setup so we can get to the really inaccesable swims on the stillwaters and wild loch's.

been doing lots of reading and i cant wait for the season to open now, only about 49 days to go, 7 weeks today

T1

I acquired a couple of very nice rods secondhand - a 6 weight and a 4 weight, and a new reel and a couple of floating lines, but the whole project has stalled somewhat due to casting classes getting cancelled and lack of transport ...

I used to go fly fishing in Kent. The main lake had carp in it as well as trout..(There was a reason but I have forgot what). Anyways, nobody was getting any fish (It was a really hot hot day and as I remember England were winning the Ashes) but I spotted a big carp about 12 foot away and had a few casts and got him. The guy said it doesnt happen often but it did from time to time. I never got a trout though.

keep your wrist locked, dont let it go floppy...think 11-1 clockface...back STOP forward.STOP.

It's a great feeling when you get your line to shoot out and get the fly to turnover.

I used my 8 weight on the irish sea for bass no probs...

good luck with the fly fishing mate. i too got back into fly fishing recently having started when i was a kid with my dad. the 4 and 6 should be perfect for what you're after. i always think the rating system is high anyway. i mean, you can play and land far bigger fish on smaller rods than the manufacturers and fishing world would have you think. it's mainly designed for the line weights in relation to the wind and size of fly you're throwing. and remember if you're using a sinking line or sink tip then you have a half weight more to throw and load the rod with.

perch fishing will be would great i'm sure. i really want to go after Zander on the fly having spent the last few winters scaring the big pike of the uk on flies. and this is what a lot of people don't realise: that with a fly rod and the right flies you can cross over species and types of water. it's a flexible tool and style of life, not just a means to fish with.

i got back from Tierra del Fuego, argentina a few weeks ago where i landed the biggest fish of my life in gale force winds. it was the trip of a lifetime. the smoke wasn't up to much, it being the end of the world and all, but the fishing was intoxicating.

peace

What did u catch and how big?

P

What me? sorry i'm new to this.

a 22lb sea-run brown trout. in a 70kn/h wind, i swear as god is my witness it was the most exhilarating day of fishing in my life. you can hardly cast a fly, the fish sit close in to the far bank so presenting the fly at the right depth in the quickest flow was a challenge and the mad thing about the Rio grande in Tierra del Fuego is: the fish like it when there's more ripple i.e wind. so the harder the fishing the better the fishing. The more impossible it becomes to fish the easier it is to catch the fish. . . !! yehhaaaa. it's making me crazy talking about it. good memories. . . .

Sorry Malana, my fault for making the q vague, yes wanted 2 know about ur catch, also, a bit off-topic, I'd be interested 2 hear bout Tierra. part of my ex's family live in Ushuaia and I've often wondered what it must be like down there, are all the houses painted orange so you ca find your way home from the pub in a blizzard???

and welcome to the forum,

P

TdeF is the business, if you like fishing and generally wild landscapes. this time of year there's light till 11.30pm at night and in the morning it's a silvery, golden hue on the landscape. i didn't spend any time in ushuaia as i wanted to fish the Rio Grande but did fly out of Ushuaia airport. and what a take off over the Beagle channel! that would be worth it alone. from what i hear Ushuaia is a groovy little place. fairly heavy on tourism (trips to see wildlife and the Antarctic) and the nicer of the two main towns on the island. Rio Grande is an industrial sort of place. the government made it a Zona Franca (no taxes for businesses) to promote economic growth so the population is a migratory one and the identity of the fuegian changing bit by bit.

basically it's fascinating place TdeF and if i had a relative of any kind, or ex or lover whatsoever i'd be down there yearly, to get away from it all and fish. the wind really cleans your head out if you know what i mean. sometimes you can be standing with a sensation of complete solitude just fishing the monster sea-run brown trout. and if you get into one, this electro music cranks up i your head and you fight it, the wind, the landscape, the whole lot and then land it and let it go again.

beautiful stuff Cumulus, i can't recommend the place enough.

it's all very recent for me so i'm still buzzing about it but go go go if you can, i promise you you'll be captivated.

peace brother

Wow!

Thanks 4 ur lines, inspiring stuff...

P