Tackle
What does a beginner require?
Rod, reel, line, flies and fly box(es), leaders, tippets, net, priest, forceps
The rod.[Top]
You need a mid-to-tip progressive action rod, a good one does not mean a expensive one. It is worth giving some thought to where you will be
fishing and what is your target quarry.
The reel[Top]
The reel is only for storing the line and backing, it need not be expensive, as a first reel look at the
some of the graphite large arbor reels. These can be as cheap as £20. The
advantage of a large arbor reel is that the line is wound is larger diameter
coils which means it is less likely to "remember" these coils and
therefore does not come off the reel and tangle up on the ground. One of these
reels will not last for ever but will certainly give a couple of
seasons of use.
The line[Top]
There are a lot of good lines on the market so
look for a line suited to your rod (look at the # or AFTM numbers on the rod, if the rod
is rated as 6# then
you need a 6# line) To simplify things there are two main designs of fly line,
these are Double Taper (DT) or Weight Forward (WF).
A
double taper (DT) line has the main body or belly of the line parallel with equal tapers at each end.
A weight forward (WF) line has most of the casting weight of the line at the front
with a
slimmer running section behind.
Then there are two specific characteristics that you can choose, these are
floating or sinking. As in all things in life why have things simply when with a
bit of effort we can make it complex, so there are numerous variants of these
two types. But for a beginner we do not need to worry about them.
So to simplify the above information on fly lines as a beginner a floating line will give you better opportunity to practice your cast and adapt to various situations. Therefore for a 6# rod I would suggest you use a WF6F line( a weight forward #6 floating line). As for the line make, Snowbee XS Prestige, Courtland 444 ( not lazer), Shakespeare Worcestershire and various others are all good, expect to pay £30-50 for a good line.
Landing net[Top]
This will need to be wide enough for the size of fish that you hope to catch.
Landing nets
must by law use a net or mesh that is not "knotted" as knotted nets
damage
the fish. There are telescopic nets, folding nets, nets with built-in weighing
devices, ones that make the tea and coffee etc. When buying one, look at the
quality of workmanship, can you operate it with one hand. Is it easy to replace the
net /mesh if it gets damages or torn?
I recently used one with a rubberised mesh that had a rule printed on it, so
when you had the fish in the net you could measure it without having to handle
it. The rubberised mesh was less of a problem with the hook and was reputed to
be safer for the fish.
Flies and fly box(es)[Top]
Fly boxes - you can pay as little as a pound right the way up to tens
of pounds, what do you want? what do you need? A lot of anglers use simple
plastic boxes, some use old CD cases for nymphs and wet flies. Just remember to
dry your flies before you put them away or they will rust. there are even
fly boxes that will help prevent rusting!
Flies - A lot of flies are designed to catch fish and a lot to catch the
angler! (more of the later than the former).
Firstly we will divide flies into two groups those that a meant to float (dry
flies) and those that are not.
The majority of Dry Flies
are imitations of specific natural insects on the water and some are imitations
of the concept of a natural insect in other words a generic pattern.
The flies that are not designed to float fall
into different categories - nymphs, wet flies and lures. With nymphs
we have imitations of the insect prior to hatching into a fly, these can be
un-weighted so sink slowly or weighted to get them
to the fish when deep down in the water or there is fast current.
The wet flies and lures are either imitations of aquatic life such as fry or
they are designed to attract the fish even though they do not look like anything
that the fish will ever see or eat. This is a bit like a piece of string with a
cat, it is not going to eat it but it still chases it and bites it.
What flies should you buy? This depends on what water you are going to fish and
at what time of year - that didn't help very much.
For a river or stream I would suggest that you have some Pheasant tail nymphs
with and without gold heads (weighted), some black gnats (Dry flies), any local
pattern for an Olive (whatever is predominant in the area), some spinners to
match the Olives. If you are lucky and get to fish a river that has a Mayfly
hatch then the Grey Wulff is a good pattern along with Lunn's spent gnats.
For still water fishing I would suggest that along with the above I would add some Damsel fly nymphs, some chironomids, some emerging buzzers, and if your fancy takes you some local lure patterns at least have some that are black with silver as these are visible when the water is dirty
I am sure that every angler that you meet will have there own favourite patterns - find out what other people are catching fish with, that is how you learn.
Other items[Top]
Leaders, I
would advise you use knotless tapered leaders
Tippet, the
material that you add to the end of your leader to replace the end as it get
removed.
Floatant, used
to make dry flies float, there are liquids or gels.
"Sinkant",
used to make flies and leaders sink, gels and a mud!
Forceps, used
to remove flies from the fish's mouth. Also good for squashing down barbs.
Clippers, used
for trimming tippet or leaders
"Priest" if you are going
to keep any fish. Officiates over the last rites.
Those are the essentials.[Top]
For many years I carried a rod, reel, a couple of leaders, some tippet
material, a box of flies, a landing net, some floatant, a piece of amadou and a
priest and often a copy of An Anglers Entomology. The net attached to my belt, the rod in my left hand and everything else
in my pockets or a fishing bag. Fly-fishing should be a traveling light sport.
The original rod that was given to me when I was 11 years old was a Milbro
Trufly 8' 6'' with an Intrepid Super reel and an Aircell Supreme #5DTF line.
The line has been replaced many times. I still use the outfit now even though I
have other more "modern" rods.