Any fly fishers who want to give advice to a newbie?????

[citychic]

My dad just gave me a huge box of his vintage hunting\fishing gear and one item was a fly reel and I've always wanted to learn. So I don't even know where to start and need help. His fly reel is a Martin model 60 single actionfly and says the line capacity is G\58 F\50 E\41 D\33 and C\25. Can anyone help me figure out what rod and size I need to fit this? Then what line and lead I need? Is there anything else I need to start besides some good flys? Thanks!

 

[Bettacreek]

Not much help, but I'd like to learn as well. I've never done too much research on it (besides the fly hatches and such), but I think the lead thinger (tippen?) is basically the same. One size fits all basically. The actual line (the colored stuff) is basically all the same too. I should just go to the store and grab a fly rod and go. I already bought flies last year, only to let them sit in the tackle box, lol.

 

[citychic]

Oh I'm getting into it big time! I got all the stuff to make my own flies and I even got the wood blanks to make lures! I'm off work in a few hours and going frogging\turling for the fist time and then doing some fishing later on. Hope to get all the fly gear ready by next weekend. And next month I get to go turkey hunting for the first time. Guess I'm just knocking things off my bucket list Have a great day there!

 

[Bettacreek]

Lol! I did my first round of turkey about a year ago. I want to do turtle/frog, but honestly, I don't know what I'd do with it. Might try turtle, but I know I'm not very fond of frog legs, and the rest of the frog just seems like a waste. Maybe use it to bait turtle traps? Lol. But, I just want to try it just for the fun of it. Set live traps, not trapping lines, so I could release them.

 

[citychic]

Got the gig spears and finding the perfect stick. Turtling was a bust. Laid out 23 lines and only one that bent the hook and got away. River must be dead my friend said. We went to another river over the weekend and saw a turtle so trying there this weekend. Thinking we'll use the frog\turtle leftovers for fish bait or coon bait . Went to the store to look at fly fishing stuff and dang - went and bought me this cool ugly stick combo for cat fishing - SWEET! Plus a bunch of lures on sale, and nitro worms and butter worms and 16 ga cleaning brush. I can easily get distracted! Did some garden clean out and soaked the peas to plant tonight and starting some seeds. Getting the jon boats cleaned out and registered and having the motors worked on. So now I guess I better get on YouTube and check out the fly fishing videos.

 

[Flytyer24]

You do have an old reel there... Those letters are now numbers... Those were used back when most people fished with split-cane or bamboo rods. That reel looks like it is for a lighter rod. Balance is the big thing... That reel is gonna counterweight your rod making casting a lot easier. (if it is matched well).
Here is a website to convert old letters to numbers.

css.sbcma.com/timj/flyline_chart.htm

First off what kind of fishing are you going for? All rods were not created equal...

I use a 8'6" 4 weight rod for my trout fishing... It is hard to cast in stiff winds or a long distance. If I am salt water fishing I could use a 12' 12weight rod. So you see it can change a lot. You can get a 5 or 6 weight rod that will cover most species.

Then you will want to match the line with the rod so 5 weight rod gets 5 weight line.... easy enough... maybe not. Then you have sinking vs floating lines I would start with floating... much easier to learn on. Then you will deal with all sorts or tapers just get the basic shooting head or weight forward line.

Get a leader that ties onto your line then tippet material onto the leader. This is basically monofilament that you tie on to preserve the more expensive leader.

Tie on fly and go...

It may seem like a lot at first but in reality it is more a fear of trying than anything else... it helps to finds someone who can show ya...

 

[Dirty Harry]

I have been fly fishing since I was around 12 or so, but can't say I ever heard of starting out with a reel and building from that. Usually you start out with what you are fishing for, then the rod, the reel, line, flies, etc. An excellent way to start fly fishing is fishing for panfish. They aren't nearly as fussy as trout. For that I would recomend an 8' to 9 1/2',4 or 5 weight rod. You can use heavier line than your rod number to help you get the line out easier. Try a #6 level or double taper, floating line. I usually cut the end of the double taper off a bit so it is only slightly smaller.They make an eyelet that will go into the end of the hollow line that works great for panfish. Just tie on about 6' of 4 pound leader line and a good spider fly and you are ready to kill um.

One mistake most people make when starting out is that they seem to think you are whipping the rod like cracking a whip. That is not the case. You pull the line up with the force from your forearm. You can feel the weight of the line as it travels backward. Just as the weight nears being fully at the end of the arc, you slowly but firmly send it forward with your rod. Your line should be in a sideways U shape as it goes forward and should roll out and fall on the water just as it all has gone forward. The leader will continue to travel forward and the fly will land on the water, just like a real fly would.

Another thing you will have to get used to is fishing by sight. You will not feel the fish hit the fly and you don't use a bobber. You will only see a little swirl on the surface of the water as the fish hits your fly. With practice you will learn to set the hook at just the right time. You will also have to learn how to retrieve line by hand while keeping your line tight, ready to set the hook. I could go on and on, but you really need to find someone near you and watch, then practice. You can practice your cast in the yard with an old line without a fly on. Good luck.

 

[shaner]

thanks for all the info guys. ive been slowly gettin it going, this heat and humdity we have been having has been a slow down for sure for me,

 

[shaner]

You do have an old reel there... Those letters are now numbers... Those were used back when most people fished with split-cane or bamboo rods. That reel looks like it is for a lighter rod. Balance is the big thing... That reel is gonna counterweight your rod making casting a lot easier. (if it is matched well).
Here is a website to convert old letters to numbers.

css.sbcma.com/timj/flyline_chart.htm

First off what kind of fishing are you going for? All rods were not created equal...

I use a 8'6" 4 weight rod for my trout fishing... It is hard to cast in stiff winds or a long distance. If I am salt water fishing I could use a 12' 12weight rod. So you see it can change a lot. You can get a 5 or 6 weight rod that will cover most species.

Then you will want to match the line with the rod so 5 weight rod gets 5 weight line.... easy enough... maybe not. Then you have sinking vs floating lines I would start with floating... much easier to learn on. Then you will deal with all sorts or tapers just get the basic shooting head or weight forward line.

Get a leader that ties onto your line then tippet material onto the leader. This is basically monofilament that you tie on to preserve the more expensive leader.

Tie on fly and go...

It may seem like a lot at first but in reality it is more a fear of trying than anything else... it helps to finds someone who can show ya...

been all over looking for tippet material , no one carries fly fishing equipment in this small area, so i used some spiderwire, i had 8lb stuff , it seems to work good for now

 

[Flytyer24]

You do have an old reel there... Those letters are now numbers... Those were used back when most people fished with split-cane or bamboo rods. That reel looks like it is for a lighter rod. Balance is the big thing... That reel is gonna counterweight your rod making casting a lot easier. (if it is matched well).
Here is a website to convert old letters to numbers.

css.sbcma.com/timj/flyline_chart.htm

First off what kind of fishing are you going for? All rods were not created equal...

I use a 8'6" 4 weight rod for my trout fishing... It is hard to cast in stiff winds or a long distance. If I am salt water fishing I could use a 12' 12weight rod. So you see it can change a lot. You can get a 5 or 6 weight rod that will cover most species.

Then you will want to match the line with the rod so 5 weight rod gets 5 weight line.... easy enough... maybe not. Then you have sinking vs floating lines I would start with floating... much easier to learn on. Then you will deal with all sorts or tapers just get the basic shooting head or weight forward line.

Get a leader that ties onto your line then tippet material onto the leader. This is basically monofilament that you tie on to preserve the more expensive leader.

Tie on fly and go...

It may seem like a lot at first but in reality it is more a fear of trying than anything else... it helps to finds someone who can show ya...

been all over looking for tippet material , no one carries fly fishing equipment in this small area, so i used some spiderwire, i had 8lb stuff , it seems to work good for now

It's just monofilament... So anyhting will work... 8 lb is good, going for big boys??? Mostly people buy tippet because it comes on those nifty little spools. I like really light tippets so there is no interuption to my presentation... And it makes you fight them carefully.