Fly Rod Help?

[Fish Hawg]

I would like to get into fly fishing for trout, I'm a novice. I have a cheapo rod and real and would like to upgrade. I want it for trout; in Lake Merrill and Canyon Creek. Or were ever I can catch trout. I was looking at a 9' 5wt Scott V2; It fits the wallet better than a Loomis or a Sage. Is the 5wt light enough for small trout and what if I hook an 18"er :grin: also on tippets is there a general size you use for trout? Like when drift fishing steelhead I use an 8# leader for summers and 10# for winters. Also what reel should I get for about 50-60 dollars? What about line (brand) floating and sinking tip? If you think there is a better rod for the price Please let me know. Any advice is greatly appreciated......Ross

[Stew]

A 5 weight would work but you might be happier with a 4 or 3 weight depending on where you are planning to fish.
GI Joes carries a decent North X Northwest series of rods and I think you can get a Redington fly reel in the $50 - $60 category.
Also you may want to try River City Fly Shop in Beaverton. Don is a great guy and can help put you into a good inexpensive rod/reel combo
<a href="http://www.rivercityfly.com/" target="_blank">
River City Fly Shop Link</a>
Good luck

[ 01-24-2004, 11:07 AM: Message edited by: Stew ]

[greenbuttskunk]

I second STew. NorthxNorhtwest rods are awesome for the dough. I have a few in diff. weights. 3-4 would be perfect for creeks and oyu can still land nice fish. 5-6 is the all around "everything" rod. I love the NXNW 5-6, it
casts a crisp line and is easy on the wallet.
Also, made in oregon, so it's easy on our ecomomy.
GBS

[lilnorthfork]

Ross - For trout the line you would probably use the most is a floating; I prefer a weight forward. I don't know anything about the multi-tips so someone else can fill you in on those. If you are fishing lakes you may want an intermediate sink. I really like the Cortland 444 clearCamo. Sierratradingpost.com sells some good lines at great discounts. In fact, they are a good source for lots of flyfishing gear. Cortland also offers discounted lines on their website. The 444 is tried and true. Check the earlier post here about the Cortland 555 lines... if I recall, the reviews were mixed. 5lb. leaders will allow you to add 3 or 4lb. tippet... good for most situations. Trout beware. lnf

[ 01-24-2004, 03:56 PM: Message edited by: Stew ]

[Fish Hawg]

I will take a look at those rods. What brand of line would be good for a novice? does the color matter?

[Fish Hawg]

Thanks for all of the help, I think I will go with a 4wt rod. When is it the best time to catch trout in the creeks?

[speyfly]

IMHO, if you want an all around rod for Oregon trout I think a 5wt would be as lite as I would go. There will come times when you will want to launch stone nymphs into a hard wind on the Deschutes or pitch a lead eyed woolly bugger into the pocket water below Keno dam so the 4wt would be lacking. The 5wt would work well on small streams and a good dry fly rod on the Deschutes, McKenzie or any other large river. I love my 4wt's but there are times when they can't get the job done.

PS, Up-lining your rod... If you go with a weight forward floating line you should cast the rod with both the designated weight line (5wt rod with 5wt line) and then go up one fly line weight (5wt rod with 6wt line) and see what feels better to you. I up-line many of my rods too gain performance.

[ 01-26-2004, 04:26 PM: Message edited by: speyfly ]

[Steelie28]

5 wt. for sure. You won't be outgunned if you decide to fish some rivers.

Steelie28

[monoman]

GBS

NxN rods are not made in Oregon! China or Korea.

[Fish Hawg]

Well I went today to look at a few rods and fell in graemlins/hearton.gif with a GL3 loomis rod 9' 4wt I might have to save a little more :tongue: . I looked at the same rod in a 5wt and thought it was to stout for the little fish I catch :grin: . I looke at some Orvis (sp) rods and they did not have the rod I wanted ,unless I had 375 dollars. I also looked at North X northwest. They did not offer a 9' 4wt :depressed: Thanks for all the Helpful info....Ross

[trout chaser]

I fish Merill a bunch. If you plan on fishing Merrill or other lakes like Coldwater, I would highly suggest getting a 5wt. They are the way to go if your fishing lakes and there not to heavy to fish places like Caynon Creek. A 4wt would be good if all your planning on doing is fishing small creeks.
The Greased Line Fly Shoppe in Vancouver has quality complete packages from $140-$180.

[TillamookChinook]

The best time to catch trout in creeks is when you are there.

A good feature to look for in a reel is an exposed rim on the spool so you can palm the reel to control the drag. You won't need drag on small fish, but when you get the occassional big fish you will need it.

I hope you find flyfishing as enjoyable as I do.

TC

[SSPey]

I cast the 9' #4 Scott Voyager when they first came out 4-5 years ago and thought it was a nice moderate trout rod. I liked it. The GL3 is a good 9' #4, too. I would get a #4 now, its perfect for most of our fishing. Then a #5 or #6 later.

This may sound dumb, but the best rod is the one that feels good to you. You MUST test cast it with the proper line. Your decision will be obvious. If the shop won't let you, take your money elsewhere, period! Mega fishing marts that make most of their money with spinning tackle will often look at you funny if you ask to cast a rod. They should know better. A flyrod ain't no purchase to make based on what it looks like.

[ 01-27-2004, 10:39 PM: Message edited by: floatnfish ]

[rob allen]

What i would do if i was trying to get into the sport with little money:

1, visit lamiglas( an Ifish sponser) in woodland and go through their seconds and find something for 60-150 bucks
rods in the 8'6"-9' in weights 4-6 would be ideal
with 4 being life for some situations and a 6 being to heavy for others. to have one rod a 5 is best. I used to fish summer runs on the Washougal with a 9ft 5wt

2. spend the 50 bucks and but a cortland 444 fly line in a double taper to match the rod Often Anglers workshop next door to lamiglas has some lines on discount.. you want one labeled DT-5-F if you get a 9ft 5 weight.

3. visit a fly shop that is an orvis dealer and but a Battenkill 5/6 disc. Mine has served me faithfull for 10 years plus and has many many trout over 20 inches to it's credit. this reel retails around 90 bucks I think. There is also the rocky mountain reel by orvis that is a very good reel for a little less money.


leaders and tippet
a standard trout leader will be a 9 ft tapered leader. you can buy then premade or tie your own. typically a trout leader will be tapered down to the equivelent of 3-4 lb maxima.. if you buy a premade leader but a "9ft 3x" and a spool of 3x tippet material. You may someday need to go to 4x or even 5x but not in the fisheries you mentioned. In general you want to use as heavy of leader material as you can get away with.

[lilnorthfork]

Hey FishHawg - lots of good advice here. My first "real" rod was a Sage 5wt.. Nice rod but I found myself wishing I had a 4wt instead... even on the Deschuttes. BUT, one day I discovered a small trout stream near my home... perfect 3wt. water. I find that 3wt is enjoyable on the Crooked and Metolius when it isn't windy. My point is you may end up with more than one rod in the end and you may not want a 3 and a 4 or a 4 and a 5, etc. Many flyfishers stick with evens or odds. Just my $.02. lnf

[daveg]

If I was limited to only one rod my first choice would be a 9ft 5wt 4 piece is very handy when traveling, even in a car. You can add a 3wt when you can afford it. A 3wt would be great for Canyon Creek, but very light for Merrill. I have caught browns in Merrill say 22 to 23" and 3.5#.

Line Cortland 444 is good also SA Air Cell supreme, the Scientific Angler ACS is probably a little less $ than 444. The SA Mastery series are also nice but more bucks.

Reels: if you want inexpensive but very fishable the Scientific Anglers system 1 is good, only a click drag but I have caught pretty large fish on one. I think they are about $65.

I have looked at the ECHO reels and they are about $70. Their rods are about $120. The Greased Line in the Couv is now carrying them and Mark Noble usually gives a discount on a complete package. River City Flyshop in Beaverton also carries these.

Another good but inexpensive reel is the Okuma, I have not fished them but know people who do and like them.

This is not a cheap sport. Some day you will come to realize that you have $400 of flies and purchase $100 a year of them or spend that much tying them. In a few years good equipment gets less costly. Welcome to the sport, you will love it.

[TheCamel]

"This may sound dumb, but the best rod is the one that feels good to you. You MUST test cast it with the proper line. Your decision will be obvious."

Not dumb at all. Truer words have not been written!

TheCamel

[will_e_fish]

That Battenkill reel is very nice and the lower end one Rocky Mountain(I think) would make a good salmon/steelhead with a good amount of line capacity.
IF you never have tried GLoomis you owe it to yourself to try it. I have a nice one but sorry to say it is not my "go to rod" if I bought a Sage same thing, but that is me. When I am out in the float tube or in thick brush fighting a coho I prefer one of my other war clubs.

[Son of Bigjim]

:laugh: a five weight is fine, use an 8 pound maxima chameleon tippet with a non-slip loop in the end for easy leader attachment. use a leader that tapers from eight pound down to about four pound :cheers:

[Steeliefly]

For a rod - go as long as possible. Anything Scott makes is great. I have three Scott rods, all of them 10' long (2, 5 wts and an 8wt for Steelhead). Reason I went long is for a higher backcast on the Deschutes and also for lake fishing. A 9 foot lenght will be good as well. The 5 wt is a good all-around rod for you and you should be able to use a 6 wt line when the wind is up. Steelhead should also not be a problem as long as you keep the size of the fly small (size 6 and 8, nothing above a 4 - non-weighted) As far as reels go, check out Reddington. I agree with the earlier post about River City - Don Nelson IS a great guy and will cut you a fair deal. He also won't steer you wrong. Buy from a guy, not a "big-box" store!