Entry level 6/7 weight

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Re: Entry level 6/7 weight

Post by Wolly Bugger » Mon Jun 29, 2015 9:18 pm

ducky wrote:$160 was the reason I decided to sleep on it basti. Haha.

The rod was $99.95 at the sale. Hence I bit the bullet. But the line was another $90 and the reel was $160 so I thought I might be better off doing a bit of research first.
I think scientific angler makes a reel that has two spools. I have one spooled with floating and the other with an intermediate.

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Re: Entry level 6/7 weight

Post by ducky » Tue Jun 30, 2015 4:40 am

ecoronad wrote:
The rod was $99.95 at the sale. Hence I bit the bullet. But the line was another $90 and the reel was $160 so I thought I might be better off doing a bit of research first.
Ducky, the lines i mentioned usually sell for around $110-$130 retail. If you are going to scrimp on something, make it the reel. spools usually retail around %50 for the price of the reel. so a $160 reel will cost an extra $80 for a spare spool. $99.95 for the rod is a good buy. you will find the 9ft 6/7 wt rod good for the lakes or the tail race rivers like the goulburn or the Mitta Mitta, but a pain in the butt around the smaller streams like the rubicon. Just doing a quick look on google, there's a few options around the $100 mark for a reasonable fly reel such as the Gillies guide series. Remember you need to have backing as well (retail around $20 for dacron). If you were thinking primarily salmon, then go for the intermediate line. You can use the same line on estuary perch at anderson's inlet over the weedbeds or the Hopkins River. Once you get your casting in order, then you can start thinking trout.....
I picked up a 5/6wt rod from the closing down sale in coburg for $20, ebayed a reel for $15 ish. Plan is to put a dent in the local carp population
Basti, you can use any cheap fly reels for carp as more than likely, you will be fishing areas where if they run for more than 20 metres, it'll be good night and time to re tie a new bread fly.
Thanks again mate. Cracking first couple of posts. Very helpful.

Ep's on fly would be shite loads of fun I think.

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Re: Entry level 6/7 weight

Post by Basti » Sat Jul 04, 2015 5:27 pm

sticking with my theme of cheap, im gonna purchase some line from fleabay. 6wt WF floating should do me for a 5/6wt rod right? and can i back it with normal braid or is the dacron different? I have a spool of 30lb braid lying around i'll use if thats the case

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Re: Entry level 6/7 weight

Post by ecoronad » Sun Jul 05, 2015 11:16 pm

6wt should be fine Basti, as i imagine you would only be casting short distances and hence the 6 wt will load up the rod easily to allow you to make a nice cast with only a small amount of fly line out. As for the backing, you can use the 30 lb braid if you want, but you will probably under fill the reel, even after you've put the fly line on. If it's underfilled, the flyline will be in tight coils and may take a while to straighten out on the day that you use it (the warmer the air temperature, the quicker the fly line loses it's "coiled memory" - similar to a garden hose). Dacron is much much thicker than the braid we normally use, hence they're very very cheap. If i were you, i would save the 30lb braid for a 6000 size reel for gummys in WPB. Connecting dacron to the fly line is relatively straight forward using a nail knot. Flyline to leader can be done the same - or use a braided (loop) sleeve if you want to change leaders regularly. I find the braided sleeve much easier to use as i usually like to change leaders regularly depending on the situation.

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Re: Entry level 6/7 weight

Post by ecoronad » Sun Jul 05, 2015 11:48 pm

Learning to fly cast is one of the fundamentals required in fly fishing. Lucky for me, my girlfriend at the time (who became my wife) bought me a one day fly casting clinic at millbrook lakes with Phillip Weigall. That was over 20 years ago. If you can't afford one or don't want to spend on one, then the next best thing is to get a hold of some old fly casting videos. These videos are boring to watch but each one has something in them that will help you a better fly fisherman/caster. As a general rule, if you want to only focus on the saltwater (or lake fishing) side of things, then distance is what you want to achieve. If you want to stalk your quarry or fish a nice little mountain stream, then you will need to learn a lot more different casting techniques. You can also fine tune your casting at your local lakes with a bit of fluoro orange fur on the end of your leader. I live near the Southern Fly Fishers clubrooms in Highett. They have a fantastic casting pool that i used to frequently use to refine my casting. Lastly, if you keep trying and perservering and you still can't cast, then you will not get too much fun out of flyfishing. Fly fishing is not for everybody.

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Re: Entry level 6/7 weight

Post by Basti » Mon Jul 06, 2015 12:36 am

great post once again. Exactly what i was looking for. i'll invest in some dacron. Already started on watching youtube vids on casting

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Re: Entry level 6/7 weight

Post by ducky » Mon Jul 06, 2015 4:46 am

I'm only 25 mins from highett. Do they run learn to cast sessions there?

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Re: Entry level 6/7 weight

Post by ecoronad » Mon Jul 06, 2015 9:38 pm

Ducky, Southern Fly Fishers have a web site and meet on a regular basis. I'm pretty sure you'd be able to get more information from their website and newsletters with regards to casting sessions. When casting at the pool, i usually In the past, i used the casting pool to touch on my fly casting if i haven't beed doing it for a while before heading off for a fish. Once you're done with the casting pool and you feel super confident, you can drive five minutes down the road to Karkarook to tempt some of the school holiday rainbows - you just have to watch for the joggers, cyclists and dog walkers on your back cast!

Basti, are you planning on sight fishing for the carp or just going to berley them up and cast blind? If you're planning on sight fishing, then learn to roll cast and bow and arrow cast really well.

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Re: Entry level 6/7 weight

Post by Sarg-79- » Mon Jul 06, 2015 11:27 pm

That club is in the same building as the archery club yeah? Getting into fly fishing myself. My son was always asking if there were fish in Karkarook now i can tell him there are trout!

Apparently this is one of the best casting dvd's, not that I've watched it yet... but i will be soon!
http://www.untamedfliesandtackle.com.au ... _Fish.html

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Re: Entry level 6/7 weight

Post by Basti » Tue Jul 07, 2015 12:08 am

ecoronad wrote: Basti, are you planning on sight fishing for the carp or just going to berley them up and cast blind? If you're planning on sight fishing, then learn to roll cast and bow and arrow cast really well.
i was planning on sightfishing at sugarloaf. There's some decent sized fish that mooch the shoreline in there and the water's pretty clear most of the time. I've hooked a couple on spin gear with weighted flies and extra splitshot added, but the cast distance just isnt there

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