Fishing The Fly Scotland Forum

Rosanne Lyden-Brown

A fly fishing newbie.
« on: 06/08/2018 at 12:51 »
Hello,

I've just been given by the recent widow of a fly fisherman some of his tackle. His close relatives got the expansive stuff first, so what I have is a mishmash of odds and ends.  I will,though,take up fly fishing since it has long appealed to me.    The rod is a four piece nine foot Fladen Vantage Fly AFTMA 7.
The reel is a D.A.M.  QUICK Flyfish 6 carbon light weight.    There was also a reel of five different coloured 30 metre Hardy copolymer tippets in  4x 4.6 lb. strengths.    Are these compatible ?   
Also, what are tippets  ?

Thank you.

Terryll Monroe

Re: A fly fishing newbie.
« Reply #1 on: 12/08/2018 at 01:39 »
Hello Rosanne,   The rod you have is a 7 weight rod,  which means to load it with the proper weight line,  you need to use a 7 weight fly line.  As for your reel,  I am not familiar with that reel,  so I'm  taking a guess that it's for a 6 weight line being a 6.  If I'm correct,  a 7 weight line will not fit unless you cut about 30 feet off the back end,  not the front.   I believe the rod is made of IM6 which  is a softer rod,  like a Winston Fly Rod when they made IM6 carbon rods.  So it's not a stiff rod, but has a nice bending action.  Ask Mike if he has a line that will fit a 6wt reel, but will work for a 7wt rod.

As for tippet,  it's what you tie to the end of your leader,  and then you tie the fly to the other end of the tippet.   I use a triple surgeons knot to tie my tippet to my leader.
https://youtu.be/VKfb0_KxPFk

The tippet comes in handy to save the length of the leader, so when you continue to change flies and clip off a little tippet each time,  the tippet becomes shorter,  not the leader.  You can also use a tippet ring, which is a small metal ring that you can tie to the end of the leader, and then tie the tippet to the ring, so you have leader-ring-tippet-fly.

Bob Mitchell

Re: A fly fishing newbie.
« Reply #2 on: 12/08/2018 at 17:46 »
I would ask what area you are living in first and if near me [Renfrewshire] would offer a days fishing to help you get set up.
Bob

Rosanne Lyden-Brown

Re: A fly fishing newbie.
« Reply #3 on: 18/08/2018 at 16:28 »
Thanks, Terryl, for your most helpful reply. I would have responded earlier, but being a farmer' s wife at harvest time, I have been run off my feet lately.

Your help has given me huge confidence to now start some serious fly fishing !

Cheers,
Rosanne.

Rosanne Lyden-Brown

Re: A fly fishing newbie.
« Reply #4 on: 18/08/2018 at 16:37 »
Thanks a lot, Bob, for your kind offer, but I'm afraid that Herefordshire is a tad too far for me to take it up.      Not only that, but being a blue eyed, blonde who has a penchant for Aston Martins ( I drive a
DB9 ),  I have had quite a few equally kind offers.     Interestingly, my husband,  who shoots and has always sneered at any other field sport, let alone fishing, is now also expressing a pronounced desire to give it a go.  I have told him to bugger off !

Terryll Monroe

Re: A fly fishing newbie.
« Reply #5 on: 18/08/2018 at 17:19 »
Thanks a lot, Bob, for your kind offer, but I'm afraid that Herefordshire is a tad too far for me to take it up.      Not only that, but being a blue eyed, blonde who has a penchant for Aston Martins ( I drive a
DB9 ),  I have had quite a few equally kind offers.     Interestingly, my husband,  who shoots and has always sneered at any other field sport, let alone fishing, is now also expressing a pronounced desire to give it a go.  I have told him to bugger off !


You are very welcome Rosanne, and I know about farm life as well.  Living on the Front Range of Colorado farming is a large thing here.  And good for you,  keep your husband away from your gear till you have enough money to upgrade, if you want to,  then give your older gear to him. 

To be honest with you, fly fishing does take a lot of work.  Practice casting and I can send you some help on that.  The most important thing is your presentation of the fly.  It cannot have drag, and that's when the fly creates a small wake on the surface like it's water skiing.  Fish are not stupid, they know that bugs don't look like they are skiing, except for the caddis,  they will skitter across the surface.

And by the way,  nice car!

Derek Roxborough

Re: A fly fishing newbie.
« Reply #6 on: 18/08/2018 at 21:19 »
See if you can get Lefty Krehs book on fly casting , if you cant get local instruction, it's a well thought out book with clear pics , good luck ( although with a DB9 you already have it) Derek Roxborough

Hamish Young

Re: A fly fishing newbie.
« Reply #7 on: 20/08/2018 at 19:27 »
Interesting thread which I have chosen to avoid posting in until now.
@ Roseanne - my advice is to go see an instructor near you. about sorting casting, a balanced outfit and generally getting to grips with the sport.
To be fair, if you can afford to run a DB9, then the best thing you could do would be to put the gear you've been given into a charity shop and visit your nearest Orvis store and get properly kitted out  :z16
H

 




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