fly fishing..just started. I need a bit of help?
Ok, well I just bought a 5/6 weight rod 8' and a 5/6 weight fly reel. I added a 5 lb fly line to the reel.
Ok, what exactly is this set up for? What can I cast? are they meant for something heavy? what size hooks/flies can I use on a 5lb line? size 12? size 20? whats even the difference?
I live in south florida, so I mostly fish blue gill, bass, and some other fish of small breed.
I am just pretty confused on what to use, what they are for.
I bought some minnows out of hair thats about 2in long, since with reg. fishing I catch bass with minnows. Can I use the fly minnow I bought on a 5lb fly line?
what is the differnece between 6 7 8 9 lb fly line? do they cast farther?
you'll find it helpful to add backing to the reel (20lb) before the fly line (50-100yrds, whatever you can fit on the reel with the fly line) you'll find it helpful if you get a lively fish on that likes to run or is larger than you are targeting, it gives you extra length if you run out of fly line, but it's not completely necessary. your using 5 weight fly line not 5 lbs, the rod is designed to cast a 5 weight or 6 weight, the heavier weight lines (6 and up) will cast further yes and will cast better in the wind but will not be as accurate at close range and will not cast smaller lighter flys as well and you do want cast a line much more than what your rod is designed for, one over or one under is ok. you'll want leaders in the 3x to 7x range, smaller numbers are heavier (rated for more weight) 3x will be about 7lbs, for light fish in clear water you'll want 5x to 7x, shorter while you learning to cast and longer as you get better. with leaders it's the same as with the line, the heavier leader will not give a good presentation with the lighter flys and the lighter leader will not have the backbone to roll the heavier flys over causing tangles.
the larger the hook number the smaller the fly, a size 20 is very small a size 8 is pretty large. a 5 weight with 5x leader should cast the size 8 to size 20 flys well enough, below and above that you'll start to have problems. yes you can use the minnows but once again go talk to the fly shop and fisherman, you need to learn what the fish are feeding on and how to present it, you can't just drag it through the water any old way and expect to catch fish. presentation is one of the most important skills to develop if you want to be successful.
I can't really recommend any flys for you as I fish for different kinds of fish but your best bet is to go into a fly shop and ask. you'll want a good collection of different flys, I carry about 200+ flys, 50+ different patterns. your in to a whole new ball game here so you've got a lot to learn, spend some time with a guide and talk to other fly fisherman on the water, you'll learn a lot.
there is a lot more to this but that's the basics. good luck. chad should come along at some point and add some good advice. good luck.
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