BY WAY YIN I was recently had the pleasure of participating in a series of seminars with Scott MacKenzie, who most experts would consider the greatest spey caster – ever. Scott and I were telling our audiences that we felt this was the best time in history for people to get into Spey casting, as the quality of equipment (especially spey lines) has improved so dramatically over the past five years. Like the “trickle down…
Continue readingBY MICHAEL HATFIELD Streamers are patterns tied to imitate a larger food source such as a leech or baitfish rather than a small aquatic insect. Depending on the fish species you are targeting a streamer can be as small as, say a #8 micro bugger or something as large as a ten inch shad pattern. For trout, streamers normally don’t go much bigger than a few inches in length. Because of what these patterns are…
Continue readingHow To Choose the Right Fly Line Weight BY LEFTY KREH Let me begin by saying that rod manufacturers design rods for the average person to use under average conditions. So unfortunately, most fly fishermen use only one weight of line on their favorite rod. Written on the rod blank or handle is a code number which indicates the line that the rod manufacturer suggests is best for most customers; i.e., 6 line. To most…
Continue readingBalancing fly line, rod, and reel. Assembling a balanced fly fishing rig is as easy as matching the numbers on the fly line to the numbers on the fly reel and fly rod. For instance, you would match an Ultra 4 5-weight fly line with a 5-weight fly rod, and you’d spool it on a 4/5/6 fly reel. Lower numbers – weights 2-6 – denote smaller gear best suited to trout and panfish. As the…
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