[paul w]

hi there

im a relative novice at fly fishing...never done true wild water just trout ponds really .....

but really fancy salt water fly fishing for whatever...mackerel pollock.. coalies whatever!!!

i have a fresh water rig but dont want to ruin it....i have purchased a saltwater 9 weight travel fly rod just to try not much money but i require a suitable reel to suit and line etc

any advice on models or whatever to go for much appreciated....i believe its good fishing where i am here in montrose.

or....anyone got something suitable to sell??

cheers folks

paul

[Ben Dixon]

Hi Paul,

Go for an an airflo depthfinder 300 grain for pollack (cheapest good option) and something like an Airflo 40+ intermediate, I rarely fish a floater in the sea.  You can either go buy a saltwater reel (still needs rinsed off) or buy a cheap plastic large arbour reel, rinse it well in freshwater after use and simply replace it when it dies.  Having the right line makes a huge difference for saltwater, flies for the species you are talking about are fairly straightforward too, clousers in blue & white, chartreuse & white, and red & white in sizes 2/0 to #6.  Fulling Mill bass blue in #6 & #8 and EP style baitfish patterns same colours as the clousers (don't bother with the red) in sizes 1/0 to 8.


Cheers

Ben

[Offthebard]

I also use Intermediate as the line of choice, probably best fished with one fly on the leader - droppers just get caught in the weed with fish on.

I use either an old LC100 reel or an Okuma Airframe 7/9 both of which are mainly plastic and with regular fresh water washing stay rust free. Also unlike aluminium reels the odd scratch from beach stones are superficial only and don't result in severe degradation.

Huge leaders are not required either something 9-10ft is fine it will help with casting bigger heavier flies.

If you know of any local burns outfalling into the sea you might try in the locale for seatrout as they may well be around.

Sandy.