Fly Fishing gear and tackle explained
There’s no shortage of variety when it comes to fishing gear. Each type of fishing whether it be conventional or fly has an intimidating amount of gear and tackle to sort through. In this post we’ll break down the gear related to fly fishing and hopefully answer some questions.
The Truckee River Recommendation:
At the end of each section I’ll include my recommendation specially for the Truckee River.
Fly Fishing Gear – The Basics
The Fly Rod
Rod Weight (wt)
The first thing you’ll need to know about fly rods is the weight category system, It’s not as complex as it may sound.
Rod weight categories are based on the amount of actual weight in grains needed to bend the rod. You’ll often see weight abbreviated as ( wt ).
Because flies are comparably light weight to, let’s say a Kastmaster lure, they won’t go very far on their own inertia. The weight or mass needed to bend a fly rod comes from that thick line on a fly setup. The line has a certain amount of grain weight to it and it’s matched to cast on a compatible rod.
Rod weight’s range from 000wt all the up to 14wt. A 000wt rod will cast a very light line. A 14wt will cast a very heavy line, something that resembles an extension cord.
Typical trout sizes are 3wt – 6wt rods.
A few considerations go into choosing what rod to use.
- How big are the fish you’re hoping to catch?
- How heavy are the rigs or flies you’ll be casting?
- How windy could it get?
These questions can help narrow down your rod selection. For example, if you’re heading to the High Sierra Backcountry for 8″ Brook Trout, you’re probably not bringing your 9wt.
A 2wt – 4wt should do the job just fine and you might actually feel the fish fight during the process.
The Fly Rod Action
A fly rods action is a bit more subjective than weight categories.
Action has more to do with how the rod flexes when it’s bent. This can have a major effect of how the rod casts and how it feels when there’s a fish on the line.
The terms you’ll see most are “Medium” and “Fast” action. Some companies list action as “Tip Flex” or “Mid Flex”. You might even see the descriptors such as “Finesse” and “Distance”.
How is Action Determined?
A fly rods action is determined by looking at how the rod bends along it’s length when flexed.
Notice the photo above, this rod is flexing mostly at the tip section. There is some bend in the mid section and very little in the butt section. This rod would be considered a Fast action rod.
A medium action rod would have more flex in the mid-section through to the butt section.
You don’t see a lot of modern graphite rods described as slow action. Fiberglass rods tend to have a much slower action than graphite rods.
Why Action Matters
A fly rods actions will effect the way the rod cast and how heavy of a rig that rod can cast.
In general fast action rods cast easier than slower action rods. Fast action rods are more efficient at casting heavier flies/ rigs and mending at distance. However, there can be a downside in a lack sensitivity and the ability to take pressure away from the line itself.
A medium or slow action rod can be slow to load. In other words, it takes longer for the angler to feel the spring action of the rod. Typically, medium to slow action rods are better at casting light dry flies and presenting them with a delicate touch. They’re also great at absorbing the pressure of a fish on the line. The down side is they can be tough to cast and they are limited in their ability to cast heavier rigs and flies.
Rod Length
Rods less than 8′ are generally 3wt and lighter and meant for tighter spaces like small overgrown streams.
8′ – 8’6″ Rods are great for overhead casting.
9′ is a standard length for fly a fly rod and will do most things pretty well.
9’6″- 10″ Rods are great for roll casting and offer a bit of extra reach for mending.
10″- 11″ Rods tend to be for European Style Nymphing.
11″ and above are generally two handed rods. Switch and Spey rods are roll casting machines maximizing the amount of leverage an angler can employ.
Choosing the Right Rod
Talk to any angler who’s been at it for a while about how many rods they have and they’ll probably tell you they have more than a few.
If getting a quiver of rods together isn’t in the cards at the moment, that’s ok.
Everyone’s first trout rod tends to be a 9′ 5wt rod. This is because you can do just about everything you need to with a 9′ 5wt.
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Where do you fish most? Will you be casting more nymphs or dry flies? These are things to consider when choosing a rod.
The Truckee River Recommendation:
There are two ways to go here. You either have one rod to do it all or you get two rods each with a specific purpose. I prefer longer rods on the Truckee, they help get that extra reach, they mend well at distance and they roll cast well too.
1. A great one size fits all rod for the Truckee River would be a 10′ 4wt. This is a rod you could Euro Nymph, Indicator, Hopper Dropper and Dry Fly. You’d set the reel up with a 4wt line and use a tapered leader when fishing it with traditional rigs. When Euro Nymphing you’d attach a 25′ section of 12lb maxima to the fly line then go for your sighter. Rigging this way you’d be able to keep your weighted line in the reel while you Euro Nymph with the long leader. I’d recommend the Orvis Clearwater 10′ 4wt for this.
2. For a traditional rod setup I’d go for the Orvis Clearwater 10′ 5wt . For the European Nymphing rod check out the Echo Shadow II 10’6″ 4wt
The Fly Reel
Reel Size and Balancing
Fly Reels come in a variety of sizes meant to hold more or less line and to provide the appropriate amount of weight to balance the rod. When an angler is holding a fly rod with the reel attached there should be enough weight behind the hand to allow for the setup to feel balanced in hand.
You can check this by holding the rod horizontally, placing a finger under the rod just above the cork handle. The rod should stay relatively horizontal.
Fly reels typically have a size range to fit multiple sizes of rods. They’ll usually have a description such as “4-5”. Meaning the reel would fit a 4wt or 5wt rod. Always consider the length of the rod when choosing a reel, longer rods weight more and may need a slightly larger reel.
Cast or Machined Aluminum
Most reels are made from aluminum either cast or machined. Machined reels are more durable and higher quality.
Cast aluminum reels are less durable and more affordable.
It really comes down to personal preference. Lot’s of cast aluminum reels come with quality drag mechanisms and will get the job done just fine.
The Drag Mechanism
Click and Pawl, Disk, and Sealed Disk are the most common drag types.
Click and Pawl reels are very simple and offer only a small amount of resistance when line is pulled from the reel. They’re light weight and make great reels for setups 3wt and below.
Disk drag is the most prevalent. It offers a smooth resistance and can be set to many different tensions.
Sealed disk drag reels are contained in a water proof housing and are often used in reels 6wt and above. They are mostly intended for use in the ocean and other corrosive environments.
Arbor, Retrieve and Spools
Arbor is referring to the diameter of the inner part of the spool.
Large Arbor reels typically will hold 150yds of backing and a 90′ fly line. They pick up line at a higher rate of speed than a smaller arbor reel. They are the most common these days.
Mid to small arbor reels are not as common. They can hold much more backing however the pick speed is far less when a lot of the line is outside of the reel.
Retrieve is referring to which direction the line is spooled on to the reel. Because the reel is essentially a wheel with a handle on one side the line will be spooled on in one of two directions.
Typically reels come set as “Left Hand Retrieve” for right hand anglers.
All reels have a way to switch this by adjusting a pawl or turning a bearing around. Just be aware that if you switch your retrieve after the line has been spooled, you’ll need to rewind the line as well to match.
Anglers often have the option to buy additional spools to fit one reel frame. Each spool can hold different types of line such as floating, sinking, intermediate and so on.
The Truckee River Recommendation:
Two options for you here, one is quality the other is affordable. Both are great reliable options.
Fly Line
Line Size
Fly lines have come along way and companies have made selecting the right size very easy.
Whatever size your rod is, you’ll choose the same size line wt.
Taper
They’re many different types of line tapers within one weight category.
These different tapers can dramatically effect the way the rod will cast. Just like tires on a car different treads can have a big impact on how the car drives.
There are two overall profiles Weight Forward (WF) and Double Taper (DT).
The line pictured to the right reads “Bonefish WF9F”. This is a line made for warm water salt water fishing designed for Bonefish. The “WF” stands for weight forward, the number 9 is telling us it’s a 9wt line made for a 9wt rod and the “F” is to signify that this is a floating line.
Weight Forward Lines (WF)
They are a few basic categories of line taper. Light presentation (think dry flies), General purpose (does most everything ok), and Aggressive forward tapers (think heavy rigs or flies).
Below are some examples of Weight Forward lines with differing taper profiles.
These line diagrams show the taper profile of each fly line. All are 5wt lines however they’re each different. The head length and the shown thickness of the line can give you an idea of how and where most of the grain weight is distributed along the length of the line.
Faster action rods will handle the aggressive taper lines better. Medium action rods will handle the light presentation lines better.
Double Taper Lines (DT)
Double Taper Lines used to be a lot more common. They are still made and sold today but there are many more options with WF lines.
Double taper lines are great at roll casting being that the line has a fairly thick section near the middle. The other advantage is that one could take the line off and turn it around and have a relatively new tip section.
Below is an example of a double taper line.
Line Density
Fly lines come in varying densities including Euro Nymph,Floating, Sink Tip, Intermediate and Sinking.
Euro eymph lines are simply a thin coating of PVC on a braided core. They have no taper and no additional weight. They only euro nymph and that’s it.
Floating lines are by far the most common for trout angling especially on rivers. Embedded within the PVC coating are little air bubbles giving the line the buoyancy it needs to stay afloat. A floating line is good for dry flies, Indicator fishing and presenting shallow streamers.
Sink tip lines have a section of sinking line right towards the tip while the rest of the line is a floating line. They are often used to present streamers in rivers. The floating portion of the line gives the angler the ability to mend while the sinking portion helps the fly get down in the water column.
Intermediate lines are typically used in lakes and sink at a slow rate presenting the fly at a shallow depth. Sinking lines have a rating called IPS or inches per second, it refers to how fast they sink. an intermediate line usually has an IPS of 1-3″.
Sinking line are typically used in lake or the ocean to present streamers. They come in a variety of sink rates (IPS) such as 3-4″, 5-6″ and so on.
Warm or Cold Water Lines
Some lines are designed specificlly for warm water situations and some for cold. All trout lines are considered cold water lines. Lines made for bonefish, tarpon, and so on are designed for warm water.
The difference is in the amount of memory the line will hold. For example a warm water line placed in cold water will stay coiled up and has a hard time Straightening out.
The Truckee River Recommendation:
For your traditional setup, using weighted line I’d recommend the
1. Orvis Bankshot Float (aggresive taper)
2. Orvis Trout Float (general purpose taper)
Both whatever rod size you are working with.
For A Euro Nymphing Line I’d go with the Scientific Angler Mastery Competition Nymph Fly Line
Leaders and Tippets
The X Rating
The X rating is a gauge rating meaning the higher the number the smaller or thiner the line is. The actual thickness of the line is what determines the X rating not necessarily the break strength. For Example, check out the two spools of tippet below. Same X rating, same diameter but different break strengths, both are considered 5X.
You’ll see 0X through 8X in most fly shops. The most important sizes to carry are 2X-5X. That’s essentially a range from 10lb – 4lb.
Leaders
Leaders come in various lengths and diameters. They’re also tapered meaning they are very thick near the butt section and taper down to a thin diameter at the tip. The tip of the leader will be whatever X rating you bought it in.
Leaders typically come in 7.5′ – 9′ Lengths
Tippet
Fly fishing tippet is just extra line on a spool. You could buy a full range of tippets and build a custom leader if you wanted.
Most the time tippet is used to put together rigs and lengthen a leader thats been cut into or broken off.
Most common tippet sizes for rigging are 3X- 5X. Here on the Truckee River we tend to stick to 4X and occasionally drop down to 5X.
Fluorocarbon VS Nylon
This is a debate that’s been around for a while. Which is better? We definitely know which is more expensive, that’s for sure. Fluorocarbon tippets and leaders are usually around three times the cost of nylon.
Here’s what I know and use:
I use fluorocarbon tippets for my subsurface applications. It’s abrasion resistant, refracts less light and is slightly denser than water so it sinks.
I use Nylon or Monofilament as it’s sometimes referred to, for all my tapered leaders and top water applications.
Use what every works for you and your budget.
The Truckee River Recommendation:
I stick to 7.5′ 3X Nylon Leaders for my traditional rigs. That’s the only leader I buy. If I want a 9′ leader I’ll attach tippet. If I want to build a two fly nymph rig I add tippet. The section of leader I’m interested in is the butt section, it helps the rig turn over during a cast. Besides that, you’ll want to get confidant in your knots and start adding tippet to customize your leaders. Here’s the leaders I use: Orvis Super Strong Plus Leaders 7.5′ 3X
For Tippet I go with the best because this is where it matters. I’ll buy my 4X and 5X from Cortland: Ultra Premium Fluorocarbon Tippet
Thanks For Reading!
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