cheap fly gear

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FishInTheRain
FishInTheRain's picture
cheap fly gear
<p>I&#39;m considering a 10wt fly rod for saltwater. I don&#39;t want to spend a lot of money, the rod probably won&#39;t get enough use to justify a big expense.</p> <p>Okuma has a rod for $66 and a reel for $58. I&#39;d still need line... &nbsp;Does anyone here have experience with this kind of equipment? Would it be useable, or would I just be waisting my money?</p>
Corey
Corey's picture
Fly Gear

I wrote a big response and then decided not to post it.  I was making too many assumptions about your local conditions.

So ... what fly gear do you already own, and why do you want a 10-weight?

Jknuth
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You can look on Ebay as well.

You can look on Ebay as well. 
I have been looking into building a 9 weight for salmon fishing and for bighead and silver carp. Ihave been finding used reels for as low as $35 
I have also found rods on there and rod blanks for decent prices. 
Shipping is often free now on Ebay

 


I have no clue on lines, so I would love to hear some input from those who know. 
I would imagine sinking line for a specific depth.  where I fish I will rarely have a pool deeper then 4 feet so I think floating my be fine. but I have NO idea.

 


Cant wait to hear what is said on this. 

TonyS
TonyS's picture
Ditto on Corey's question and

Ditto on Corey's question and what are you planning to cast?  That will have an influence on lines - if I was only going to chuck - streamer/attractor type patterns I'd go different than if I wanted to be able to drift drys, wets, and nymphs  - not real likely on a 10wt.

FishInTheRain
FishInTheRain's picture
Novice here.

I've been fishing for 2-3 years. During that time, I've probably dabbled into too many kinds of fishing. That has resulted in me spending too much money and not getting good at any one kind of fishing.

The fly gear I already have consists of a tenkara rod, a 4wt, and an 8wt. I mostly use them in fish water. I intended to use the 8wt for surfperch, but have not had much success because I have a fairly low skill level and because the waves are frequently larger here than they are to the south.

I have a kayak and am planning to get a slightly more capable boat that woud let me go on the ocean more often. It would also let me fish the local rivers.

Why do I want a 10wt? I'd use it with heavy streamers. I'm obcessed with leopard shark and lingcod. The Humboldt Bay strain of leopard is the largest. A 6-footer was caught a few days ago at my secret spot. (It's not much of a secret.) Fly fishing for lingcod is not popular, but what I've seen on the Internet makes it look like heavy gear is needed to keep them out of the rocks. Also, the streamers tend to be really large.

I went for leopard shark yesterday without success. At this momment, I think I would be better off waiting on the fly gear. I need to become more accomplished with sharks before I spend money on ways to make it more difficult.

I'll be able to go for salmon and lingcod more freqently after I get my boat. And, the boat will give me access to more kinds of shark. I can do salmon and lingcod locally, the sharks are two hours south in Humboldt Bay. It is likely that I'll get the fly gear after I get the boat. That gives me a little time to think about it. The EBay suggestion was helpful. I don't know why I didn't think of it. I'll start checking that while I work on getting the boat.

TonyS
TonyS's picture
Sounds cool!  And probably to

Sounds cool!  And probably tough!  I don't anything about fly fishing for those species but I bet you'd have little use for a floating line.  Even for shallow streamer work I prefer intermediate lines, there are some ok ones out there cheap.  They won't last as long (probably) as a more expensive line but such is life.  How deep do you need to go for the lingcod?  A super-fast sinking line might be needed if you need to get more than 20' down.  Shooting head systems are an option too.  versitile and less expensive, though they can be a tangled mess if you aren't careful. 

Corey
Corey's picture
Gotta agree with Tony

I think you'd be justified in looking at a ten-weight for the sharks, but I would master fishing for them with conventional tackle first.  Casting a big fly on a 10-weight is tiring and you're going to want to pick your battles. A fast-sinking shooting head would be a good choice for a line, and cheap. A lot of people invest in really heavy fly gear for no good reason, but for what you're thinking about doing it's perfectly approporiate.

Gunnar
Gunnar's picture
fly fishing for mako sharks

I don't remember any details from this podcast, but it's about fly fishing for sharks (makos) so there might be some useful leads in it. Don't even remember what size or type of rods they use. Big, I assume.

http://www.itinerantangler.com/blog/podcasts/2006/11/10/the_itinerant_angler_podcast_s_1/

Though I don't know anything about using 2-handed rods (or switch rods), it seems like that might be something to look into if you're going to be casting large flies and heavy line long distances for hours on end. You might also want to read up on what people are using for muskies and large pike, large stripers in the surf, and other large fish. The Itinerant Angler podcast has a lot of episodes about large fish on flyrods, if you skim through his archive, including a recent one on muskies that (I think) talked about using spey and switch rods.

I'd also think that you don't want to skimp on the reel if there's going to be a large, strong fish testing the drag. Be careful to read up on what people have to say about the reel's drag system in fights with big fish, since a shark will probably not be willing to come in easily and will probably run quite a bit. Also see if you can find out how well the reel dissipates heat, since a hard-running fish causes huge amounts of friction that can fry a drag. Maybe you can save some bucks on the rod, but don't go for a cheapo reel. Not saying you have to spend hundreds, but I'd be prepared to spend some money.

 

Redhorse ID cheatsheets, gars, suckers: moxostoma.com


2020: 10 days fishing 11 species 0 lifers. 2019: 34/45/13 2018: 39/40/5

TonyS
TonyS's picture
Two-handed rods are interesti

Two-handed rods are interesting... I've cast them a handful of times.  I wouldn't invest in one without finding somebody who uses them effectively first and getting them to explain it and let you try it.  They are VERY different.  I thought I'd maybe like, I never hit a point where I was remotely comfortable.  Argeed with Corey on the advice to figure out how to catch them on convential tackle first, it isn't required but I think it helps the learning curve dramatically with species that more difficult to catch.  

FishInTheRain
FishInTheRain's picture
Most recent final decision

We're probably stretching the definition of "fly fishing" here. The lingcod fishermen use heavy Clousers with sinking line. Most fish are hooked while jigging the fly behind a boat. The Clousers are made with circle hooks to protect the point from rocks. The fish come up, grab the fly, go down, and hook themselves. The big Clousers are tied with yak hair or lawn chair webbing. The webbing fits my budget better!

I thought I could do the same thing with leopard sharks in the 3-6 foot range since they are bottom feeders. It might not work in the backwaters of Humboldt Bay because the water is so muddy. I will stick with bait until I'm a bit more accomplished and/or I have that boat. We'll see how my "needs" develop before I spend the money on more fly gear.