[GAILFORCEII]

I'm trying to start striped Bass fishing with a fly, could anyone tell me what sort of outfit I should start with, Fly reel, Fly rod, Fly line(sinking or floating) any info would be greatly appreciated, Also if anyone would like to fish off my boat in exchange for a few tips please pm me. Thank you.

This post edited by GAILFORCEII 12:25 PM 03/24/2008

 

[636943]

I'll give the quick response. A few searches in this forum will come up with a ton of similar threads.


9 weight or 10 weight is what you're looking for. If you're just targeting stripers, and big ones at that, a 10 weight is best. If you want to do Blues, Weakies, Stripers, and Albies, go with a 9 weight.


Buy a NEW rod with a lifetime warranty. Used rods don't come with warranties, and these things break fairly often. I'm good for one break a year with about 100 days on the water, both salt and fresh.


For a reel, you're gonna want a large arbor reel with a sealed drag if you intend on beating this thing up and don't mind spending some $$. If you're not doing any surf fishing whatsoever, the sealed drag becomes less important.


I HIHGLY recommend the Teton Tioga if you want to get into this with minimal $$$ investment. It is a machined aluminum reel with a good drag that will cost you around $100. All other machined reels will cost you at least twice as much.


Stay away from Nautilus reels at all costs, their drags fail more often then they work.


For your first line, buy a full intermediate. I recommend a shooting head system, hands down, but that may be down the road.


Just remember, when you look into buying an outfit, you're gonna spend $50 (bare minimum) to $100 on the line, leaders, tippet, and basic necessities. The line you choose is AS IMPORTANT as your rod and reel. So keep this in mind.



As for brands, I recommend staying away from TFO at all costs. Their rods are cheap, but the company is doing some real bad stuff. They are outsourcing all their work and have affiliations with private clubs that are doing some bad things to native trout in the USA.



I could go on for hours, hope this helps.

 

[hauler]

In the Brookly area I'd go with a 9wt rod, with matching reel capable of holding 150-200 yards of backing with a nine weight Intermediate fly line. That would do you well on all the fish in the bay and prep you for stuff on the outside including Albies, bones and skippies.

There's more to it but search this forum as guys getting into it have gotten a lot of feedback over the years.

Recommend reading Lou Tabory's "INSHORE FLY FISHING" which will cover it all for you.

There's also the Salty Flyrodder of NY who meet monthly at the Queens Botanical Garden should you be looking for a club for comraderie or know how.

For flies I'd load up on Clouser Minnows, Deceivers, Crease Flies and Half and Halfs to start you off.

 

[ghostrider]

I'll throw in my two cents worth

First off, welcome to the fly fishing fraternity. Once you get the hang of it, you're going to love it.

Most of what I'm going to say has already been said by the other guys who have answered your post. As far as rod/line weights go, I would suggest a nine weight for all around salt water fly fishing. I would also suggest an intermediate style line to go with that outfit. The reel should be a large arbor type with a good disc drag that can hold, at least, 150 yards of 20 lb. backing.

While there is no need to "break-the-bank" on a fly fishing outfit, it's not wise to "go cheap" either. From personal experiance, I suggest an ORVIS CLEARWATER ROD coupled with an ORVIS ROCKY MOUNTAIN LARGE ARBOR FLY REEL for a starter outfit. The rod is guaranteed against any type of breakage for 25 years. ORVIS will stand behind any of their products. I believe the rod costs about $200 or so.

The best thing to do is go to the local library and take out a few books on salt water fly fishing and read them over. This way you'll get a feel for the whole thing. I strongly suggest you get a few casting lessons from a pro. BELIEVE ME, it will be worth the money.

As some of the others already said, scan through the discussion boards, as this subject has come up before. I hope you really enjoy your trip into fly fishing. You're going to love it.............GHOSTRIDERai

 

[ihavegills]

Hey Gailforce. I would pass on the boat and get the hang of it on land. I'm across the bay on the weekends April and May and have some great flats/drop-offs that hold fish for the fly. Get a trip or 2 on the smaller fish on land and then you can go in the back, back (assume you know where I'm talking) for the larger bass on bunker with some bigger patterns. I have no problems with 20# fish on the 8wt. but they own you! Let me know if interested. I'll let you know when the catch is consistant and I tie so I have many starter patterns if you need.
I like to splice 2-3ft pieces of Seaguar for leader. I go 50-60# in 10# increments and usually end around 20#.