The size of a fly rod doesn’t mean its length. It refers to the weight of the fly line it isdesigned to cast. Now, it’s true that some fly rods will cast more than one line size, someas many as two or three; however, in those cases they will cast one certain line sizebetter than the others. I have already emphasized that a fly rod… Read More »Fly Fishing Gear – Fly Rod Sizes
In the early days before the 1940’s, most fly rods were made of bamboo. There are thosewho still use and prefer, I might add, bamboo rods this day in time. Fiberglass rodsgradually replaced the bamboo rods and to some extent, are still in use today, but moremodern day space age materials like graphite is the choice material of the newmillennium. Graphite is lighter and stronger… Read More »Fly Fishing Gear – Fly Rod Material
I’m sure that you have noticed that fly rods are generally longer than other types offishing rods. This is because the shorter the fly rod, the less efficiently you can cast. It’sthe length and arch of the rod during a cast that propels the line. However, the longer therod the more it weights, and the more difficult it is to cast around trees and otherobstructions.… Read More »Fly Fishing Gear – Fly Rod Lengths
The action of a rod is a description of the flex in the rod when it is bending. Actions areusually described as fast, medium or slow, and other increments, such as medium fast,medium slow, etc. Rods that flex near the tip are referred to as “fast” action rods where as rods that bendor flex uniformly throughout most of the rod’s length are referred to as… Read More »Fly Fishing Gear – Fly Rod Action
The tippet is the final deceptive component in the overall fly-fishing system and ofcourse, is what the fly is tied to. You probably can’t even see it in this shot. It is also theweakest link in the overall system. Smaller size leaders are designated by their length and the tippet size number, whichis designated by a “X” that identify the size and breaking strength of… Read More »Fly Fishing Gear – Tippet
The leader serves two important purposes. One, it conceals the fly line and two, itserves in the delicacy of the presentation. The fly must look and move about freelyas if it were unattached. Just as your rod and fly line is tapered, so is your leader. Most anglers use factorymade knotless tapered leaders that are gradually and uniformly taperedthroughout their length. Knotted, leaders are made… Read More »Fly Fishing Gear – Tapered Leaders
Since the standard fly line is only about ninety feet long, hard fighting, fast movingspecies of fish can strip your reel of line quickly and that is where the backing comes intoplay. Normally, backing line is made of braided Dacron that doesn’t rot or mildew. Othermaterial, such as Micron, is also used. Both are better than monofilament that maypresent problems by coiling. Even the smaller… Read More »Fly Fishing Gear – Fly Line Backing
The color of a fly line is considered by most anglers to be an unimportant issue. That’sbecause in a perfect world, the fish never sees you fly line. Of course, the main purposeof the leader is to make sure that the fish doesn’t see the fly line. Of course, the fish mayvery well see your fly line and in those cases probably a less visible… Read More »Fly Fishing Gear – Fly Line Color
Casting a tapered line is much easier than casting a level line and for that reason, weonly recommend that your use tapered fly lines. All fly lines, except the level line, are tapered. The distribution of weight varies in atapered line. Generally, tapered lines gradually decrease in weight near the leader end.This helps you present flies in a smoother, quieter manner and more accurately. Theoverall… Read More »Fly Fishing Gear – Fly Line Tapers
Now, although a rod may be designed with a certain species of fish in mind, there’sactually not such thing as a trout rod, or a bass rod, rather rods that are designed forcertain size fly lines. There’s also really not such a thing as a trout fly line, a bass fly lineor a sailfish fly line as such. If you rely only on species of… Read More »Fly Fishing Gear – Types of Fly Lines