We have taken several posts to provide a brief overview on getting setup with a rod, reel and line. The configuration of a 9’ 5 weight graphite rod and matching reel will really serve you well for standard trout fly-fishing in most Eastern streams.

Let’s wrap up our Rod, Reels & Lines Posts with a look at some setups at some entry-level budgets.

How Low Can You Go?
The Cabela's Genesis Fly Combos are good for anyone who wants to start fly-fishing at some of the lowest prices. Cabela’s gets you started with a graphite rod, reel, backing and fly line for less than $50. The biggest knock on this combo is the reel seems have some amount of plastic in its construction. There are other Cabela's Combos that have some better construction if you are looking to upgrade. I would only suggest this $50 combo for someone who is not really sure if fly-fishing is going to be his or her thing.

A Name You Know
If you are willing to make a little more committed to fly-fishing Orvis is a brand that that provides some better quality and choices. Orvis doesn’t hold the luster it used to by some anglers, but it is still a very good start. The Orvis Streamline 905-4 Tip Flex Fly Rod Combo is a 9’ 5-weight fly rod, Clearwater cast-metal reel, WF Fly Line, and backing. This was the type of combo I started with over 27 years ago. I still have the 4wt version of this setup that I load it into my truck every time I head out. The current package is $159 and will serve you well for many years.

Rolling Your Own
Scouting the Internet you can find a variety of brands and deals. A little bit newer company here in the East is Albright Fishing Products. They offer some surprisingly good values for rods and reels. Combined with some line you can pick up yourself and you have a pretty good deal for about $114.00.
• Albright Rod TW90562 5/6 9' 2 piece for $30.00
• Albright TWR5/6 aluminum built for $40.00
• Cortland 333+ WF Floating Fly Line $30.00
• Cortland 20lb. 150 yards Backing $14.00

Before making a purchase you might want to stop into you local fly shop and check what they have to offer as well. Aside from gear they should be able provide a lot of good local advice too.

Most of the products in this price point have some trade-off in construction and typically poor warranties compared to some of the higher end gear. There are plenty of more choices if you feel like you want to push your budget over the $200. You can jump into the forums to get plenty of sound advice.

Time to get started. Our next post we tie this stuff together.

So we are closing in on all the feather tossing stuff. As mentioned in earlier posts it is the line that carries the fly not the fly carrying the line. This presentation of the fly to the trout is completed with proper line set up. The main course of any line setup is the fly line, but the backing, leader and tippet complete the meal.

The first course of the line setup and attached to the reel is the backing line. Backing is a braided line designed to provide support to the overall line setup when your fly line gets striped out from your reel as a fish is hooked and then takes off and as a buffer to keep the flyline away from the arbor(or axle) of the reel. This keeps the fly line from being wound in larger loops and reduces memory.

The only place I have ever seen my backing while trout fishing in Pennsylvania is on my reel. Point being it will be pretty rare to have a brookie take you down to the braids on a typical stream. For larger game fish and even steelhead fishing it is highly advised to take more notice to proper backing configuration. Around a 20lbs test braided backing line at about 100 yards is plenty to get you going.

Our meat and potatoes is the fly line and this is the stuff that makes all the magic happen when casting on the stream. Most major fly line manufacturers create some really great products today. Lines are designed with specific capabilities for float, increased line speed, distance and accuracy of a cast. In principle a fly line is intended to float on the surface for dry flies or sink for sub surface action.

Often engineered around a braided line for core support, the outer coating determines if the line is a floating or sinking fly line. Floating lines are made up of a polymer, often a PVC, that will provide a stiff line in casting and contain lots of tiny air bubbles to keep the line afloat. Sinking lines will provide that same stiffness for casting, however the outer core will contain metals in the line for faster sinking action. Lines are rated by weight and matched to the rod weight. So you match you 5wt rod with a 5wt line. Go with the floating lines when you get started and you can add a spool of sinking line later if you want.

One of the final discussions about fly line is the designation of Double Taper (DT) or Weight Forward (WF) lines. DT lines can be reversed after the front of the line has worn out and use the back end of the fly line. WF can have a better delivery of casting. There are more nuances to fly lines with length of the tapers, sinking speeds and such. Some manufactures created products based on types of fish to make it easier when choosing the overall correct type of line.

Our fly line is often big, brightly colored and you would probably never have a chance of catching a fish with a fly all knotted up to it. Our setup of line moves from delivery to presentation. A smaller, lighter and less notable line is needed to present the fly to those cunning Salmoninae (trout).

A monofilament leader that is about 7’-9’ long attaches your fly to your fly line. It is a very thin line and better suited not to be seen by wary trout. I like a 9 ft tapered leader, but there are a lot of variations. Some even use a straight line of monofilament that you find for your spinning line. Of course there are weights to this too. Damn fly-fishing is a heavy sport! Weight and size of the leader really depends on season, fly, fish and water conditions.

The sorbet of our setup is one more piece of line that is often used especially when dry fly-fishing on the surface. A piece of tippet line of about 18”-36” is tied on to the leader and then attaches to the fly. This is even smaller piece of monofilament and even less likely to be seen by the trout. Tippet is rated using an “X” system that ranges from 0X (.011” diameter) to 8x (.003” diameter). 4X to 6X are popular for trout. Back to the heavy lifting, 4X and 6X would range from 6 lb. to 3lbs depending on manufacturer.

Truth be told with that many different types of line discussed there are probably about 110,345 different variations to do what I just explained and many different personal preferences just to toss that feather we have been talking about.

In our final post I will put some of this together with gear, brands, setups and some pricing suggestions.

The US Youth Fly-Fishing Team will be holding it's Spring Northeast Educational Clinic from May 7-9 on the banks of famed Big Fishing Creek in Lamar, PA with the historic Sieg Center being our lodging, and base of operation. Offering clinics will be the following friends and fly-fishing greats : Joe Humphreys, Eric Stroup, George Daniel, Lance Wilt, Kurt Finlayson, and Brian Kimmel with a few more to be announced. Batting clean-up will be yours truly (I will teach how to apply ketchup and mustard to a hot-dog). The weekend will kick-off with an AWESOME educational session, led by Amidea Daniel, on the hyrdrologic cycle; stream entomology, and team building. That session alone will be worth your time! I have seen it twice now and I am still awestruck.

In addition: All attendees will be the head honchos at the Fly Fishing Film Tour on Friday Night-at the State Theater in downtown State College.

If you are a young angler, or know of a young angler who would cherish the opportunity to hang with a bunch of like-minded fishing dudes, to learn an incredible amount pertaining to fly fishing. see some cool vids, great eats and just some amazing hang time with some of the best America has to offer--SIGN UP!!!!!!

You'll be meeting young anglers, some of whom are members of the US Youth FF Team; some of whom will be members of the team; and some who just love to fly fish and learn about fly-fishing.

For more info: http://usyouthflyfishingteam.com/springclinic.htm

See ya there!

Coach Williams

In our previous post we discussed the characteristics of a fly rod. The reel is the next important piece of hardware and serves a much different role than with spin casting. With spin casting a reel is the centerpiece to bring in a fish. Not so much with fly-fishing for trout. When fly fishing for trout in PA the reel primarily holds all the line. With larger fish the fly reel plays a greater role in playing and landing the fish.

The finer fly fishing reels are machined from solid bar-stock aluminum. These higher quality reels will last decades. Most cost hundreds of dollars and in some cases are works of engineering marvel.

Less expensive reels are made from die cast alloys and perform with less precision. There are many fine products in this class that will last the fly angler for years. My old standby Lamson reel is over 20 years old and is still serving me very well.

Several entry-level fly fishing kits provide plastic reels. These plastic reels might be adequate to get familiar with the sport, but don’t necessarily hold up very long.

Aside from a reels defining fit and finish are the materials used in the drag construction. Simpler spring and pawl drags just put a light resistance on the fly line as as it is played off the reel. A higher quality disc drag system provides a smoother, even tension when you apply pressure to the fly line. This can become very important when playing and landing larger fish.

Bigger is not always better, a reel matched for the rod and type of fishing is the way to go. Most trusted manufactures are very clear which reels work best with those criteria.

Our next post gets back to throwing feathers and our fly line.

Much like Discovery Channel's "How It's Made" Ross provides a more personal tour to show the entire process of machining and manufacturing of the Ross Reel.