dont know what i am doing

[dreamcaster4639 0]

I have been tying flies for about 6 years now and I think its time to fish them the proper way now.

My wife bought me a Cabelas setup 9' 4-5wt. I have whipped the end of the line to a loop, and made some furled leaders from a video I seen on here they are about 6.5ft. Tippet I have no idea. can I use just regular fishing line like 4lb? Are my leaders long enough? I will be fishing for pond size bass and panfish and I have a july trip planned for trout. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Crotalus 0]

Generally you should add anywhere from a few inches to a few feet of tippet to the end of your furled leader. It serves a few purposes - 1, to be consumed as new flies are tied on, 2, provide additional length of leader to prevent spooking fish (if needed), 3, provide additional tapering for small flies.

 

The length and size of your tippet will depend on the size/type of flies you are using and the fish you are pursing. Most people use tippet material (either mono or flurocarbon).

 

depending on the flies you are using at the pond the 4 lb mono may be sufficient, but for the trout trip you may want to pick up a couple spools of tippet material in different size.

[perchjerker 0]

With respect to the question about your leaders being long enough, I would say "yes". I fish almost exclusively for large mouth bass and their cousins, and use a 6ft furled leader. Depending upon the water I am fishing, I use 3-4 ft of 6-15# test monofilament for my tippet. One would need to know more about your furled leader to give sound advice relative to your question about tippet strength. Just remember, the tippet should be the weakest part of line-leader-tippet.

 

The same basic advice applies for fishing the 'rig' for trout.

[Rob H 0]

Take an introduction to fly fishing class from your local shop. It will be the best $150.00 bucks that you'll spend on fly fishing (if they do it correctly)and will save you a pile of money in the long run. Go to pro's.

R

[ditz2 0]

I use a 5' furled leader and 2 to 3 foot 6# tippet that is just normal mono. I fish BG and SMB in small creeks. If you would like to get 'simple' just put 6' of 6# mono on end of your fly line and have at it. If you get any longer than about 6' with straight mono you will probably have touble turning over the fly. If you are using poppers or hair bugs or larger streamers you and fishing water with trash ( trees, pads, weeds etc) you could go to heavier mono. I doubt that I would go to anything heavier than 12#. I never use heavier than 6# except in salt. I don't catch a lot of big fish either. Bass and BG don't require a lot of fancy terminal tackle. Don't make this stuff complicated. It can be as simple as you like. I carry a small shoulder bag with spare tippet material. A couple of fly boxes. Some clippers to cut the line and stainless needlenose pliers for hook removal if needed and rod and reel. sometimes just one fly box in my shirt pocked and clippers and pliers. Oh, and tippet material. I just feel better with lots of flies.

 

 

 

 

[ThreeJsDad 0]

Chris, Where do you call home? Is there someone local who could spend some time with you on a trout stream. Nothing except being on the stream can teach you how to be on the stream. If you were close enough I would be happy to take you out on the stream.

 

Paul

[dreamcaster4639 0]

That is all real good advice thanks everyone. I live in the middle of Nebraska no trout streams and no fly shops. There is a Cabelas close but I know more about the stuff than the people working there. Have to do it the old fashioned way trial and error and lots of advice from FTF.

[ThreeJsDad 0]

Chris, If I can give you one piece of advice that sticks it would be to observe more than you cast. One well placed cast from the right position is more valuable than 1,000 poor casts from a bad position.

 

Paul

[tidewaterfly 0]

Chris, these others have already given you some great advise. Since you're fishing for Bass & Bluegill's both of which are not generally line shy, you can pretty much do whatever you wish as far as what you use for tippet. On that size rod, 4 to 6 lb mono will be fine, and you don't need to buy "tippet material", regular mono will work well, and is less expensive than what is sold as tippet material. However, you'll want something that will not have a lot of memory. Otherwise, the added coils can hamper your casting & presentation. Not that presentation for you starting out will be that critical, particularly for those species, but you might as well start out doing it as best as possible. Most mono/copolymer/fluoro type lines have some degree of memory, and some are much better to use as tippet than others. Usually these types of lines that work well on spinning reels, and don't have all the memory coils, will also work well as tippet material. So if you have a line you like to use on a spinning reel, give that a try first.

 

I also want to add to what Paul said. I'm a big advocate of being observant. Observe not only the water, but your surroundings too. Take some time to just look & observe each time before you start actually fishing. Often, just paying some attention to what's going on will help you catch a few more fish.

 

I'm self taught too, trial & error. I've had the good fortune to have gotten some help along the way, but it was mostly correcting my bad habits I developed when I first started. First & foremost, work on casting properly. It's fun to catch fish, but it's not fun when you decide to try fishing different types of water & for other species & you find you're casting is not up to par. Have some fun & catch some fish, but spend time working on just your casting too! In the long run, proper casting techniques will catch more fish for you! Get some help when you can!

[JSzymczyk 0]

great advice so far! I almost always use 4lb and 6lb Trilene XL as tippet material- leftovers from when I fill my spinning reels. I have a few old tippet spools (the small ones) which I wind it on from the big filler spools to make it easier to carry. 10lb XL too which I use sometimes on my heavier rod. I've used a whole bunch of specific fly fishing tippet materials, and for the most part they do nothing that good old Trilene does. I do sometimes use some Seaguar Fluorocarbon tippet, but for bass and panfish you'll be just fine with mono. (and I'm not convinced fluoro in the 4-6lb range ever makes any difference over mono.)

[deeky 0]

Middle of Nebraska - I can sympathize. I'm up in Sioux Falls. Even mention fly fishing here and everyone assumes I am driving 5 hours across the state on weekends to flyfish.

 

Your setup is just fine. I use a furled leader in the 5-6 foot range with another 2 feet of tippet. Any mono will work. I use 4 lbs. As far as length, it's already been said that gills and bass aren't particularly line shy. I would say adjust your leader/tippet length according to fishing depth if you are using a floating line. Deeper water = longer leader. It will help the fly stay down a little better than a short leader that is hanging straight down. Also, when you are fishing deeper, have a leader or two made out of Uni Thread, 6/0. It sinks better and you won't have to spend quite as much time waiting for it to sink.

 

Deeky

[dreamcaster4639 0]

Middle of Nebraska - I can sympathize. I'm up in Sioux Falls. Even mention fly fishing here and everyone assumes I am driving 5 hours across the state on weekends to flyfish.

 

Your setup is just fine. I use a furled leader in the 5-6 foot range with another 2 feet of tippet. Any mono will work. I use 4 lbs. As far as length, it's already been said that gills and bass aren't particularly line shy. I would say adjust your leader/tippet length according to fishing depth if you are using a floating line. Deeper water = longer leader. It will help the fly stay down a little better than a short leader that is hanging straight down. Also, when you are fishing deeper, have a leader or two made out of Uni Thread, 6/0. It sinks better and you won't have to spend quite as much time waiting for it to sink.

 

Deeky

 

I know the feeling people look at me like im dumb when I say I am going to fly fish this year. A leader made of thread? How would u go about that. sounds cool could have different colors

[deeky 0]

Depending on what method of furling you are using to make a leader, you use it rather than the mono. If you are using a jig with pegs in it, just do the exact same thing as with the mono.

[nindja 0]

Just a quick bit of advice. Mono leaders tend to float whereas Flouro are heavier and sink. So plan accordingly with the flies. If dry fly fishing use mono.

 

Peace

Nevin