Skill 1
Selection of Equipment
The first and most fundamental of all of the 12 skills is the selection
and assembly of your fly fishing equipment. You will need a road, a reel and a
floating weight forward line. The line will be identified by a code and a number
which matches, or exceeds by one number, the AFTMA (American Fishing
Tackle Manufacturers Association) size line printed on your rod forward of the
cork handle. An AFTMA number indicates that the rod is technologically
engineered to best accommodae the size line with the same number. Average
fishing situations will call for a 6 or 7 to start with. This will let you have an end
line strength of around 6 pounds, good enough for a healthy fish fight, and that
covers most situations. If you were after steelhead for example, the choice
would be a 9. The rod should also have a minimum of nine guides to hold the
line. The more guides there are the easier it is for the line to slide out.
Fly rods come in many lengths and actions. By actions, I mean whippiness.
The stiffer the rod, the better it is for dry fly fishing; the softer the rod, as in the
action of a buggy whip, the better for wet fly fishing. When learning, pick out a
medium action 8 ft. 6 in., 9 ft. or 9 ft. 6 in. rod, preferably graphite with a cork
handle. These graphite rods will typically be in the $80 to $110 price range.
Fly reels are simple, single-action, center-pin devices that are used to both store
the line and backing, as well as to play large fish. In choosing one, make sure
spare spools are available for it, because as you progress in your fishing, you
will require several speeds of sinking lines ie., fast, medium and slow, as well
as at least one line with a sink tip. These lines are designed to sink into the water
at different speeds. A reel with spare spools will allow you to snap other lines
onto the reel easily.
Backing line is next. You will need 50 yards of 20-pound test soft backing line
made of braided nylon or dacron. This connects the reel to the fly line.
The next item you need is fly line. Floating, weight-forward fly line should be
used to learn with. This is symbolized by the code WF-6-F (weight-forward
floating line). The weight of 6 will match your rod. The code is found on the fly
line box. It is a standard format with meaning:
The taper codes are WF for weight forward, DT for double taper, L for level,
BBT for bass bug taper, SWT for saltwater taper and so on. The function codes
are F for floating, S for sinking, F/S for floating/sinking and so on.
Leader is attached to the end of the fly line. You will need a tapered,
monofilament nylon leader, not to exceed the length of your rod, which is
around 9 feet. Start with size 3X, 5-7 pound test at the tip, about 9 feet long.
Snap hooks are the final part of the assembly. These come in a small package. A
snap hook is a little piece of spring steel, size 1-2-3, which is tied to the end of
the leader. Always select the smallest size available.
Finally, at the end of the line, you have what this whole process is meant to
accommodate a fly. Flies are simply snapped on or off.
You are now ready to assemble all this equipment in the second basic skill. |
