You have a rod, reel, line and leader; the tippet is optional, now you need to put them all together. Don’t rush and put it together just yet. First things first. You will need some paraffin. You can use some from a small white candle or you can buy a block in the canning section of a grocery store. Now rub some of the paraffin on the male parts of the rod. This will keep the sections from coming loose and will also keep it from getting stuck together. The sections can break if they come loose, and when they stick together, it seems like they have been glued. Any excess paraffin can be wiped off, so don’t worry about using too much.
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On the loose end of the fly line you will find a tag reading “this end to reel”. You can tie it directly to your reel if you prefer or you can add backing to the fly line. Most reels are design to have backing wound onto the reel before the line is. Since the fly line can not fill a reel, backing helps to fill it up. With the backing on the reel first, the fly line will not reel out in small circles making casting more difficult. Plus you might need the backing if you ever hook a large fish.

Tie the end of your backing to the center of the arbor of your reel with an arbor knot. Wind the backing around the arbor at least two times to ensure it doesn’t slip. Tighten it well and carefully reel the backing to about ¼ inch from the top edge of your reel and attach the fly line at the “this end to reel” tag. Tie the backing to the fly line using an Albright knot. Then carefully wind it on the reel. The reel should be full and the loose end ready to be attached to the leader. Tie the fly line to the thick end of the leader with a nail knot. A blood knot is often used to tie on a section tippet material.

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A “leader” is a length of tapered monofilament; the thick end is tied to the end of the fly line. The “tippet” is a length of level monofilament, one end is tied to the thin end of the leader and the other end is tied to the fly.

The leaders are about nine feet long and transfer the power of the cast gently toward the fly. A numbering system was designed to match the diameter of the end of the rod because this is the part that is important. When looking for a leader the number system is backwards. The smaller the diameter the larger the number. It makes it easy that the tippets are number the same way. A 6X leader will fit with a 6X tippet. An end of the tippet is tied to the smaller end of the leader. Most of the knots that develop close to the end of your line near the fly are called “wind knot “ and since you get these when casting in the two feet ahead of the fly. The knots weaken things. If the knots develop in the leader, it can get expensive cutting off the knots, and changing flies. By tying on about 2 feet of tippet material, you can save your leader. The tippet material is not expensive and when it gets too short, you can just ties on a new length.

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The equipment or tackle for the fly angler has progressed over the years to be the high tech gear that comes with a price tag. Even though you tackle is made from high quality materials, the sport of fishing is performed in the worst circumstances. There is humidity, salt spray, UV rays, mud, sand, coral and extreme heat. All of these elements can damage your high quality equipment. During normal use your fishing tackle will take a beating. It will suffer scratched on rocks, dropped in the sand, and knocked around on boat decks. Even the fish will push your tackle to the limit. A running fish will make your fly reel spin at extremely high speeds, just imagine the heat the bearings are withstanding. Read the rest of this entry »

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You have selected a rod and now it is time to find the right reel to accompany the rod. A fly reel is not just storage space for the fly line. Your rod will help you fight the fish you have hooked, but the reel will help keep you from losing the fish. So, you will need to consider a quality reel. A high quality reel may last a lifetime costing a minimum of two hundred dollars, but a quality reel will last a long time and will cost over a hundred dollars. The cheapest fly reel will cost less than fifty dollars and it will work if you are only fishing for small trout. You will want to choose a reel that is resistant to corrosion. A quality reel will be resistant than a cheap one. The cheap one is likely to have only a coat of varnish on it that will quickly wear off. Another feature to consider will be the procedure of adding an extra spool. You want the procedure to be as simple as possible. Read the rest of this entry »

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Now before you run out and buy a fly rod, there are a few things you need to consider.  These are some major factors in fly fishing.  The first one is the kind of fish you will be fishing for.  The rule of thumb is the heavier the fish, the heavier the equipment needed.

The second thing you need to consider is the body of water you intend to fish.  Think of the difference between a babbling brook, and a roaring river.  The differences are not just the motion of the water, but also the wind, the clearness of the water is, and the distance you will need to cast to catch your target fish. Read the rest of this entry »

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Remember when you were a kid sitting on the bank beside some lake or watering hole with your pole dangling in the water, a night crawler on the hook, hoping a fish would bite? Sometimes you would get a bite and other times you would get just a nibble. Your bait would be gone, but the fish didn’t get hooked. People still fish that way. Some may use a boat, but they are still using the conventional method of fishing.

Sitting on the bank of a lake in the Grand Tetons, early on a summer morning, pole in hand and a night crawler on the hook it was very peaceful. It really wasn’t one of my favorite things to do. The scenery was beautiful, but I wasn’t one for sitting still too long. Then I got the chance to go stream fishing. We didn’t go often, but I went every chance I got. I thought the scenery was even more beautiful than the scenery by the lake. My favorite part of stream fishing was walking on the rocks of stream so that I could let my hook and bait float passed the trout that may have been sitting just under a rock. I never caught anything that way, but the attempt was exhilarating. Read the rest of this entry »

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