Which Fly Line, leaders etc!!

[William Burns]

Like most fishing tackle there are so much commodities & possibly lots of propaganda and its worse for the likes of me as I?m a complete novice. Even flies are overwhelming where to start. There is Airflo Forty Plus, Ridge Line, Sixth Sense, Freshwater Delta, Tru?Cast, Cortland?s 444, Rio Accelerator, Midge Tip, Midspey Sink Tip, Windcutter, Scientific Anglers Supreme 2, Ultra 4 Floating & Wet Cell. Which WF 8 fly line and which taper, leader or fluorocarbon line works most excellent on Stillwater?s for casting but predominantly presentation as that has a large part in catching Trout? Please Help?.

Will

 

[Shrek]

If it were me, I'd buy a Snowbee Prestige XS fly line.

Leaders would probably be either Rio or Airflo.

Fluorocarbon. Don't know as I don't use it. I use Drennan Double Strength Mono.

 

[William Burns]

COOL thanks; I'll have a gander at the snowbee prestige xs.I personally don't like fluorocarbon but the leader I'm using for now is Ultima Hi-tech Vintage super strong which seems okay.

Will

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

The Snowbee Prestige is an excellent line. I have 4 of them in different weights.

As regards leaders, for sinking flies I use fluorocarbon all the time. In in fact I even use a fluorocarbon tippet on a nylon tapered leader when fishing dry flys. The fluorocarbon sinks quickly which is what you want.

It's been many years since I used a full nylon leader.

There is a review of Peter Cockwill's new book - Trout from Small Stillwaters - on the home page of this sight. It's only ?16.99 and it will put you right on all the questions you ask.

Peter is a friend of mine and I can assure you this book is top class.

Peter Cockwill is a master fly fisher make no mistake about that.

 

[William Burns]

money is tight at the moment but I enjoy reading as I'm a member with readers union where you get fishing books a lot cheaper; I will buy the book soon.Not sure whether you know Tree Tops Fishery in Wales here but I'm going on Friday,wish me luck as I've never been there before.There is a rig I'm thinking of but will it work where you have a number of flies on your leader attached by each hook 4-5ft apart but is 4 safe to use this technique?

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

Check the rules, they may not allow you to use 4 flies.

If you are a newcomer to fly fishing, I would strongly advise that you use only one fly at this stage. Casting a multi-fly leader, especially against the wind is not easy.

Only really proficient casters can do this.

The tangles you can achieve can be most "interesting".

 

[William Burns]

Made a mistake I was ment to say 3,soz.Went to my mate who owns a tackle shop & he's shown me how to make up the multi fly leaders & amazingly as I've read your reply,you said what he had so I'll stick to the basics as it is rather windy.

Ron,do you think yellow & white Cat whiskers or gold headed nymphs will do as the trout are going to be low in the water with it being cold or can I still use dry flies just in case they're higher up?

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

If catching fish is your aim, I wouldnt worry about dry flies at this time of the year. Get yourself a few flexifloss bloodworms and a few reddish coloured buzzers. A cats whisker is basically a lure, yet it should work.

Get yourself a few Vivas as well.

 

[Trisantona]

See who's catching fish then ask what they are getting them on,say sheepishly,i haven't got one of them is it like this ,chances are they will give you a fly,(they are having a good day and someone is taking an interest),**** Walker once said you should tie flies in threes,one to use one to lose and one to give away,catching on a home tied fly is great but seeing someone else catch on one of your flies is even better.

 

[William Burns]

I am a LARGE fan of the Diawl Bach(being Welsh of course) & the fact they have caught well.

The flies I'm thinking of taking with me are Black Daddy Longlegs,Blobs,Trout fry,Black & Red Buzzers, Viva's,Black Fritz,damsels,sedges,and the Diawl Bachs, The flexi-floss bloodworm I bought this morning,weird how this one's presented & how they can catch so well,maybe it's the flexi-floss that has a large part in it.

 

[William Burns]

I?ve heard so many informal stories where novice fly fisherman like myself have arrived at a fishery and given advice & flies to them. I consider that to be very solicitous of them as I know of coarse and in particular Carp and Pike anglers that are very enigmatic on baits and rigs.
Members of Fishingmagic are very obliging to give any recommendations they can from there years of comprehension of angling and I want to thank you all with all earnestness for all the help you have given me.

Will

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

Fly fishers, especially those who fish reservoirs, are a totally different breed to many so-called specialist coarse anglers.

There is an openess and comeraderie amongst them that does not exist in other types of angling, the exception being perhaps sea fishing

However there is a tendency for some competitive fly fishermen to keep their fly boxes under lock and also prevent others from seeing what's tied on the their leaders.

 

[William Burns]

Competitive fly fishermen you can understand in a sense.

I'm a fast learner as it only took me a day to cast well with the fly line,I had tuition from a gentleman that was fishing at the time,nice chap (did'nt get no flies though)lol.More anglers should be that way in all fields.

In angling I like to be the best I can no matter what species I'm fishing for.Fishing was a life saver & I adore the sport,I even go to sleep & wake up thinking about it;I'm very passionate of it you could say.

 

[William Burns]

At the moment I only have floating line & at Tree Tops You can hire equipement for ?2 so do I hire a reel with sinking line too or will the floating line be suffice for this time of year as I know the trout are lower in the water & have less energy.

 

[Shrek]

Why not just buy some intermediate and sinking tips to attach to your floating line? That way you have a very versatile line.

I use the Airflo tips when I go salmon fishing and they work very well indeed.

 

[William Burns]

I'll look into them,thanks Adrian as I've never heard of the Airflo tips.

The only Salmon I've caught is a par,one day I will visit Scotland but I know you can catch some amazing Salmon,Sea Trout,Grayling,Wild Brown Trout & Char here in Wales on the river Dee.

 

[Shrek]

William,

These are what I mean:

http://www.fishtec.co.uk/ProductsInCounter.cfm?subcat=3022&ShopRef=23&cat=363

Cheers,

Adrian

 

[William Burns]

Cheers Adrian,will get the sellection when I can.

Soz for not replying but went fishing at Chirk lakes fishery; absolutely fantastic.When I arrived they made me a coffee as I was frozen to the bone,gave me lots of information on what flies to use & what area to fish,even a fellow fisherman showed me where I was going wrong on my casting as my shoulder was killing me.I missed so many takes it got frustrating & was ready to pack up.Finally after 3 cigs & 2 coffee's an hour had past & I managed to catch 4 fish with the Diawl Bach,the best was 4lb 6oz.I never got any takes on the blood worms at all.

There is a Prestige XS Fly Line - Intermediate sink tip,colour Ivoy-Mustard ST sounds pretty cool,it's ?39.would that be better than the floating line?

William

 

[Beermonster]

Hi William. I fish Tree Tops frequently as I only live 3 miles from there and its a wonderful place to spend the day. Its only open at weekends until February 19th so dont do as I did and turn up expectantly on a friday afternoon only to find it closed.
I've only been fly fishing for 7months but the help and tips i've been given by Ron Clay, Adrian Hartopp and many more on this site have been invaluable.
I fish 90% of the time there on a floating line and that should more than suffice for you at the moment as most of the water isn't too deep but I do occasionally use an intermediate line. I use Snowbee XS lines and find them excellent. You can find them on Ebay for as little as ?30 but check the ratings of the person selling them carefully.
I started off fishing lures but for the past few months have been doing a lot of imitative fishing - i.e. fishing buzzers and nymphs. The white and green Cats Whiskers does well there as does the green Montana and most black lures. The marabou bloodworm has worked well for me and black or red buzzers too but haven't had a touch on the Diawl Bachs.
The fish in my picture is a 6lb 7oz rainbow from Tree tops caught 2 months ago on a trout fry. The best advice i've been given is to read some really good fly fishing books written by people who know what they're talking about. Ron's your man on the subject of good books as he is on most questions about fly fishing. Ian

 

[Shrek]

William,

If you get an intermediate leader or a sinking leader then you can turn your current floating line into the Snowbee Sink Tip, plus it's much cheaper.

Also, they take a little bit of getting used to as you can't just lift the line off the water, as you can with a floating line. I find the best thing to retrieve most of the line then roll cast the rest up into the air and cast normally from there. Takes a bit of practice, but it's easily learned.

Let us know how you get on, or if you hit any problems.