Fly fishing is a hobby that has seen great advances with technology over the years. While the fish and flies have remained the same, advances in rods, reels, and fly lines have greatly improved, especially in the last 30 years. As the popularity of fly fishing has increased exponentially, the competition to produce the best fly fishing rods has intensified with many manufacturers vying to produce the next best fly fishing rods. It takes time on the water to develop an idea of what a person will like best, so to speed up the process, below is a quick guide to make sure you start your fly fishing career off right with the right equipment, starting with a fishing rod
Fly Fishing Rod Basics: Fly fishing rods vary from standard fishing rods in that with a fly rod you are casting the line versus a standard rod casting the lure. Much less is needed to build a rod that casts a weighted lure than it does to cast a nearly weightless line that is designed to lay in the water with the utmost finesse. Therefore, a fly rod of any quality will be slightly more expensive than a standard fishing rod. In fact, for a person just starting out with bait fishing, a cheap rod will work just fine. It is quite the opposite with fly fishing rods. A quality rod will greatly improve your experience compared to a supermarket combo pack where you get a complete setup, including rod, reel, line, tippet, and even flies, for less than $50.00. If you expect to continue fly fishing, it will be money well wasted.
Materials: Over the years fly rods have seen many changes in the materials used to construct them.
· Bamboo It’s been a longtime favorite for its action and nostalgia, but it’s expensive and not usually the best choice for someone’s first fly rod.
· fiberglassalthough strong with plenty of action, it is heavy and almost non-existent in the fly fishing world these days.
· Graphite: The best bet for a first fly rod, as well as the best option for experienced anglers, are rods made from a type of graphite. Graphite rods are lightweight and can be designed to put the flex where it’s needed, which changes depending on the situations an angler plans to put themselves in.
Weight: The size of line that a rod is designed to cast is known as the weight (wt) of the rod. This also means the size of the fish you are likely to aim for, where the lighter the weight of the rod, the smaller the fish you will be targeting. For example, a 4 wt rod is ideal for dry fly trout fishing, while a 10 wt rod is designed for casting large flies at large fish such as King Salmon. Follow the link below at the end of this article to see which weight bar will be best designed for the type of fly fishing and size of fish you are likely to encounter.
Length: With different types of fish, in many different types of areas throughout the world, different rod lengths must be developed to handle the varying conditions one may find themselves in. For trout in small streams with lots of brush and trees, a six or seven foot rod may be ideal, while in a large river for rainbow trout, a 14 foot Spey rod might be the best choice. However, for most situations, a 9 foot rod will be the most popular and versatile rod in most situations that a beginner will encounter.
Rod sections: Most fly rods can be broken down when not in use and for travel, just like standard rods. However, due to the length of the rods, a rod that breaks into two pieces will still be long and won’t travel as well, especially if you are backpacking or flying with your rod. That is why it is advisable to go with a cane that breaks into 4 pieces. The connections for the sections, called ferrels, are so well done these days that you won’t know it’s 4 sections.