Category: Fly Fishing Basics

I’m sure that you have noticed that fly rods are generally longer than other types of
fishing rods. This is because the shorter the fly rod, the less efficiently you can cast. It’s
the length and arch of the rod during a cast that propels the line. However, the longer the
rod the more it weights, and the more difficult it is to cast around trees and other
obstructions.

Most fly rods range from seven to nine feet in length although the two handed “spey” rod
may be fourteen feet or even longer. Short rods are more manageable on small streams
where bushes or tree limbs are involved. Conversely, longer rods have advantages in
open water areas, during winds and whenever long cast are desired or required.

Long rods are useful when fishing areas of heavy vegetation where a longer rod can be
of help in keeping your line free. In a situation like this one you may just think the length
of the rod is of critical importance.

Most anglers prefer to use a shorter rod in smaller streams and tight spots. Some
disagree and still prefer a longer rod claiming it gives them better control over the line in
tight spaces.

Use longer rods where extra distance in the cast is required. Everything else being equal,
longer rods will cast farther than shorter ones.

Line mending is easier with al long rod because you are able to hold more line out of the
water. A longer rod allows you to pick up more line off the water and swing it around in a
larger loop configuration.

One popular nymph fishing technique is called high-stickin. Longer fly rods are much
better than short ones for high-stickin because you can keep more line off the water and
fish further away from your position.

Spey rods are much longer than regular single-handed fly rods. There are both single
handed and two-handed Spey rods. They range in lengths of up to fourteen feet and
longer. The extra length offers both an advantage and is necessary for making the basic
Spey cast.

Copyright James Marsh 2012

The action of a rod is a description of the flex in the rod when it is bending. Actions are
usually 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 bend
or flex uniformly throughout most of the rod’s length are referred to as “slow” action rods.
Unfortunately, there are no standard rules to follow when it comes to a manufacturer’s
description of action.

There are some variations in the terms used to describe action from one manufacturer to
another. For example, one manufacturer uses “tip flex” action for fast tip actions, “mid
flex” action for actions between fast and slow actions, and “full flex” for slow actions.  

In other words, the action of a fly rod refers to where the rod flexes. Action will determine
the tempo of one’s casting stroke. Fast action rods generate more line speed..In general,
it takes a little less effort to cast farther with a fast action rod.

Fast to moderately fast rod actions allow you to throw tighter loops with less wind
resistance and greater distances. They are used for many saltwater applications as well
as big river applications. These rods are preferred by many for nymph fishing and
casting streamers. They generally require quicker, shorter fly casting strokes than other
actions.

Moderate to slow action rods provide a smoother, softer action and make it easier to
make the roll and mend cast. They are a little easier to cast than a fast action. Many
anglers prefer this action for fishing dry flies. It is used for a wide range of fishing
applications.

Slow action rods are also more forgiving and cover up casting errors better than fast
action rods. It’s also easier to feel the rod loading. Some angler think a slow action is
better for close-in accuracy. Slow actions help protect light tippets. It is typical of older
rod actions, whereas fast actions are relatively new.

the fly rod action you want in a fly rod depends on the species of fish you will be fly
fishing for and where you will be fly fishing. If you intend to fish for big trout on a big river
then a fast action may be the thing. If you plan on fly fishing a spring creek then you may
prefer a medium or slow action fly rod.

Copyright James Marsh 2013

The tippet is the final deceptive component in the overall fly-fishing system and of
course, is what the fly is tied to. You probably can’t even see it in this shot. It is also the
weakest link in the overall system.

Smaller size leaders are designated by their length and the tippet size number, which
is designated by a “X” that identify the size and breaking strength of the tippet. The larger
the number immediately preceded by  “X” the smaller the diameter and lower the
breaking strength of the tippet. Larger size leaders do not use the “X” system to
designate size. They are identified as being extra light, light, medium, heavy or extra
heavy and may also be designated by the diameter of the tippet. If the tippet size is larger
than the zero ”X” size designation, they are referred to by length and tippet size
designated as the tested breaking strength. For instance, a designation of a tippet may
be, a nine, foot leader with a .015-inch diameter tippet, or nine-foot leader with a
breaking strength of ten pounds.

The larger the tippet, the more difficult it is to make the fly look and act natural. So
from the standpoint of the presentation the tippet should be as small in diameter as
possible. However, since the tippet is also the weakest link between the angler and the
fish a balance of choices must be made between the quality of presentation of the fly and
the risk of a fish breaking the tippet.  

Tippets are usually made of nylon monofilament. Fluorocarbon tippets are popular
because they are less visible to the fish than monofilament tippets and have higher wet
knot strength. There is also what is called “bite” tippets, which are made heavy for a short
length in order to protect the leader from the sharp teeth of some species such as the
northern pike. These are usually made from single-strand wire, heavy monofilament,
nylon coated wire, fluorocarbon and other heavier material. Bite tippets, sometimes just
referred to as bite leaders, are not the weakest link between the angler and the fish.

The larger the fly, the larger the size tippet you can use without it adversely affecting
the presentation of the fly. For example, this larger size streamer fly can be effectively
presented on a much larger size tippet than this very small dry fly. Ideally, you would use
a very small, light tippet for the dry fly – as small as possible without it compromising your
ability to successfully fight and land the fish. Most anglers would much rather take their
chances fighting a fish on light tackle than to fish heavier tackle knowing that their
chances of getting a strike are little or none.

The length of the tippet is, of course, reduced each time you tie on a fly. At some
point, the reduction in tippet length will began to adversely affect the presentation of your
fly. For this reason, it is smart to tie on a new tippet of the proper length or change to a
new leader altogether any time the tippet becomes too short.

Long tippets are more so affected by wind than shorter ones. In fact, wind can easily
form an overhand knot in the tippet during a cast. This effectively reduces the breaking
strength of the tippet as well as the presentation of the fly. As a rule of thumb, you should
always use the smallest size leader and tippet that you can get away with.

Copyright James Marsh 2013

The leader serves two important purposes. One, it conceals the fly line and two, it
serves in the delicacy of the presentation. The fly must look and move about freely
as if it were unattached.

Just as your rod and fly line is tapered, so is your leader. Most anglers use factory
made knotless tapered leaders that are gradually and uniformly tapered
throughout their length. Knotted, leaders are made by anglers. They have a large
diameter butt section that quickly tapers down to a level tippet to best suit specific
fishing applications. Knotless and knotted leaders each have their advantages and
disadvantages.

Knotted leaders tend to cast better and present the fly in a more delicate manner
that the factory made knotless leaders because they are not uniformly tapered
from the butt section to the tippet. Made properly, the longer, larger butt section of
a knotted leader and quicker taper are easier to cast in such a manner as to
completely straighten the leader. This is especially true if there is much wind.
Longer, lighter knotless lines are more difficult to cast in such a manner as to
completely straighten the entire length of the leader. The down side of a knotted
leader is the time required to make the leader and the fact that the knots tend to
catch debris and vegetation in the water more so than the knotless leaders.

Certainly you can get by in almost any fly fishing situation using factory made
knotless leaders; however, the more you refine the leader size, length and taper to
accomplish its purpose in certain types of water, current and wind conditions, as
well as the type of fly presentation needed for a particular specie of fish, the more
you increase your odds of success.

Some manufacturers has specialty leader that are designated by fish species such
as this “bass” leader that is designed to roll over larger flies and take the abuse of
snags that it normally is fished around when one is fishing for bass.

Similar to fly lines, factory made leaders come in a variety of densities, such as
floating, intermediate, slow sink, fast sink and extra super fast sink.    

Some manufactured leaders as well as those rigged by anglers have a section of
the leader that easily stretches called a shock leader. This helps protect the leader
from the sudden surges or strikes of fish.

The choice depends upon the type of fly that you are using, the specie of fish that
you are after and other specific conditions that you may encounter.

Copyright James Marsh 2013

Since the standard fly line is only about ninety feet long, hard fighting, fast moving
species of fish can strip your reel of line quickly and that is where the backing comes into
play.

Normally, backing line is made of braided Dacron that doesn’t rot or mildew. Other
material, such as Micron, is also used. Both are better than monofilament that may
present problems by coiling.

Even the smaller size fly reels need some backing to fill the spool. The amount of backing
needed is determined by the size of the fly reel and the weight and length of the fly line
that you intend to put on the reel.

Fish that make long, hard runs demand larger amounts of backing. Small fish would
rarely strip your reel past the end of the fly line and the backing’s main purpose is to help
fill the reel spool.

The manner in which you put the fly line backing on a fly reel used for strong, hard
fighting fish is very important. In essence, it is essential that you put the fly line backing
line on very tight. This prevents the running fly line from cutting or working its way down
into the backing line. Lots of pressure during a long fight can do this and destroy the
backing line. It cannot be spooled on the big saltwater fly reels or salmon and steelhead
reels in the same manner as you would spool backing on a reel used for panfish.

Most trout fly reels require about fifty yards of 20-pound backing. Dacron fly line backing
is used most often on reels used for trout fishing.

Steelhead anglers like to us a lot more than that. Most steelhead fly reels are spooled
with 175 or more of 20-pound backing. Some prefer 30# test backing and in this case,
less would be necessary.

Bonefish, permit, tarpon, and other larger size gamefish require even more backing. It is
common for reels to be spooled with 200 to 250 yards of 30-pound test fly line backing.
Gel spun fly line backing is usually preferred for this type of use.

Copyright 2013 James Marsh

The color of a fly line is considered by most anglers to be an unimportant issue. That’s
because in a perfect world, the fish never sees you fly line.  Of course, the main purpose
of the leader is to make sure that the fish doesn’t see the fly line. Of course, the fish may
very well see your fly line and in those cases probably a less visible fly line would be
probably be preferred.

Since a floating fly line is viewed by the fish silhouetted against the sky, lighter shades of
fly lines may be less visible on clear, blue-sky days, whereas, darker shades of fly lines
may be less visible on dark, cloudy days, or early and late in the day. Wet or sinking fly
lines are probably more visible to fish than floating fly lines and darker shades of colors
are generally considered best for those types of fly lines.

Several manufacturers have developed fly line colors that are designed to be as
inconspicuous as possible under the specific conditions that are normally encountered
when you are fishing for certain species. Some of the newest saltwater fly lines are clear.
To  date, to our knowledge the clear fly lines all sink and no one has come up with a
clear, floating fly line. Also, although I fail to see any difference in them, the only clear fly
lines on the market to date are designated for saltwater use. That should not make any
difference.

Something I personally don’t like at all are some of the extremely bright colored fly lines.
Fluorescent colored fly lines spook the fish your tying to catch in many cases and under
most circumstance. A bright orange, red, or yellow fly line makes it easier to see the line
but I fail to see why it’s difficult to see most any color fly line.

If you “line a fish”, meaning you cast the fly line directly across the fish, most of the time
you will spook the fish regardless of the color of the fly line you use. The problem
involves just how close you get the fly line to the fish and how deep the fish is. Fish near
the surface have a small window of vision due to the refraction of light. Fish deep in the
water have a large window of vision but couldn’t see the fly line as well as they could if
they were close to it and it was within their window of vision.

This point can be argued differently and different anglers have different opinions on the
effects of color of a fly line. I just don’t understand the need to use anything but subdued
shades of colors of fly lines. I see absolutely no advantage in the bright colors.

I think it’s mostly like almost everything else and the colors are far more for the anglers
than anything else. Never-the-less, it’s a fact fly lines come in every conceivable color
you can think of.

Casting a tapered line is much easier than casting a level line and for that reason, we
only recommend that your use tapered fly lines.

All fly lines, except the level line, are tapered. The distribution of weight varies in a
tapered 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. The
overall length of the standard fly line is usually seventy five to ninety five feet.

Most tapered lines begin with a thin portion at the leader end and gradually increases in
thickness to form what anglers call the “belly” of the line. The belly is usually about thirty
feet long and for the most part, at least, is the portion of the line that you cast. The rest
of the line is called the “running” line. These types of lines are called weight-forward
lines.    

There are also double-tapered lines that taper down on both ends of the line. From the
middle of the line to either end the line is tapered the same. Double tapered lines can be
reversed to use either end. This may offer an advantage in that the line may be used for
a longer period of time.

A shooting-tapered line, sometimes called a shooting head, has about thirty feet of head
on the end of a very small floating line. Shooting-tapered lines can be used when
exceptionally long cast are required or in heavy winds. For most fishing situations and
again, especially for the beginner, we recommend the weight-forward line.

Also, there are multi-tip fly lines that eliminate the need for carrying extra spools and
lines. Multi-tip lines come with different tip sections usually about twelve feet in length.
Factory-welded loops lets you easily change multi-tips without interfering with line guides
by creating a hinge-free casting connection.

Multi-tip lines usually come with floating, intermediate, fast sinking and super fast sinking
sections. They come in handy when you want a different taper and want it without having
to re-line your fly reel or choose a different fly reel.

Keep in mind, the taper of the fly line is a huge factor in the way any fly rod cast. It affects
the casting distance, accuracy and ease of casting.

Now, although a rod may be designed with a certain species of fish in mind, there’s
actually not such thing as a trout rod, or a bass rod, rather rods that are designed for
certain size fly lines.  There’s also really not such a thing as a trout fly line, a bass fly line
or a sailfish fly line as such. If you rely only on species of fish designations, other things
you should consider may be overlooked. For example, you can fish for bass or trout will a
sinking fly line or a floating fly line. You can fish for either species with a Spey fly line
(one specifically designed for Spey Rods) or a regular fly line.

Also, there’s really not any difference in a saltwater fly line and a freshwater fly line. Most
all fly lines can be used in either type of water so such designations alone, are worthless.

Contrary to what you may think off hand, floating lines are not just used with flies that are
fished on the surface of the water. They can be used with wet or sinking flies in certain
situations. Wet flies sink due to their own weight and floating line can be used as a float
to present the wet fly at various depths.

Sinking lines have a higher density than floating lines and sink throughout their length.
The sink rate is usually designated in “inches per second”. Deep water and/or strong
currents require faster sinking lines.      

There is also what is called “sinking tip” lines, which have fifteen, or so feet of sinking line
on the end of a floating line. Casting these are not as difficult as casting a pure sinking
line.

Some manufacturers designate their fly lines as tarpon, bass, trout, etc. fly lines but that
is just another designation or name for a certain type of taper configuration that works
well for that particular species of fish. Most of these fly lines will also work well for other
species of fish that you would catch on the same size flies or fishing with the same length,
action, weight, etc fly rod.

As explained later in this series of articles on fly lines, you shouldn’t purchase a fly line
strictly based on the name of the fly line if it is designated for a particular species of fish.
It’s more important to make sure the fly line is the type you want for the fly rod and the
flies you want to cast.

Because there are a large variety of fly line tapers and weights, there are standardized
designations to identify various fly line types and sizes. The American Fishing Tackle
Manufacturers Association adopted a system of designating fly line sizes that is almost
universally used.

Example: WF8S

The first part of a line designation is the taper of the line, which is identified by two letters.
In this case it is the WF or weight forward.

Next is the number that designates the size of the line. In this case it is an eight weight
line. The weight of the first thirty feet of line measured in grains designates the size of the
line.

Last are two letters that identifies the type of fly line. In this case it is a sinking fly line. It  
could be a floating line, one that sinks quickly, one that sinks slowly, or one that only
partially sinks.

These designations should appear on the box or packaging  that the fly line comes in.

To review, a “WF8S” designation indicates the fly line is a weight-forward, eight weight,
sinking line.

Designations:
“WF” is the designation for a weight forward line.
“ST” is a shooting tapered line.
“L” stands for a level line with no taper.
An “S” indicates a sinking line.
“F” is for floating, “FT” for a sinking-tip line, and “I” stands for an intermediate sinking fly
line.

Try throwing a unweighted, small trout fly such as a midge as far as you can. You can’t
throw it very far, can you? That is because in fly-fishing, it’s the line you cast, not the fly.

Even a large fly, such as a bass popping bug is still very light. Casting it isn’t any easier
than casting the trout fly because the weight still isn’t a factor in casting distance. In fact,
the bug just increases the problem of air resistance and consequently, it requires a
heavier fly line than the midge to cast well.

The fly line is also a link between the angler and the fish but since fly lines are strong,
always stronger than the leader, the breaking strength of the fly line is not a factor in
fighting a fish as it is with lines used by other types of fishing tackle. So, the fly line
serves a very important purpose, but much more so in casting than in landing a fish.

When you are considering a fly line for a certain type of fishing, there are several things
that need to be taken into consideration. Knowing that, many manufacturers have taken it
way to far. Some are offering fly lines for specific fish species that are intended more to
fool anglers into thinking they need a certain kind of fly line (when they really don’t) than
a real need or purpose. For example, a Carp Fly Line should be no different from a Bass
Fly line. In fact, many of these specific use fly lines are almost identical to another fly line.
Minor changes were made only for marketing purposes.

This doesn’t mean that all lines designated for certain species of fish are a waste of
money. There are some species of fish that demand specific types of fly lines. Just make
sure you study what it is your buying and confirm the differences in the fly line are
justified.

Different types and methods of fishing does require different type of fly line. For example,
a fly line designed for a regular single handle fly rod may not work for a double handle
Spey rod. Even a single handle Spey rod should have a different type of fly line than a
regular single handle fly rod of less than nine feet.

As you can see, the type of fly rod and type of flies should dictate the specific type of fly
line, not necessarily the species of fish you are pursuing. As you will see in this series of
articles, there are many different types of fly lines that have different advantages and
disadvantages depending on their use. For example, a floating fly line and a sinking fly
line each have different applications but it doesn’t necessarily relate to the species of fish
you are pursuing.