Recent comments

Pit,

I really wonder what you mean by "not worth to be placed here"?

I totally disagree. Sure I wrote the article and may be a bit biased, but I find it more than worthy You have managed to judge our single most popular article ever unworthy. And it's the most commented and has the most positive comments. It's been read almost 60,000 times the last year and has over 80 comments of which yours is the first negative.

You complain that I can't tell you what exact amount of backing is needed for a reel and line, and ask me to offer a better way. Sure it's pretty silly to wind on too much and then unwind some and cut it off, but honestly... if it's such a big deal to cut and toss a bit of bacling, then tie it on to the remains you have on your bulk spool, and nothing is wasted. A knot on the backing is hardly going to be a big problem.

Your own suggestion with spooling on the fly line first and then measuring the backing is really fine, and can do the trick. Neat idea!
Whether it really saves a lot of frustration and a lot of time is another matter... I have spooled backing on dozens and dozens of reels and probably spooled some off again a few times, but never felt frustration or felt that I wasted my time. Your mileage may vary.

In the positive spirit of sharing things for free on the web I hereby pass your idea on to the couple of hundred or so people that read this article every day.

Martin

well, I am sorry to say that I consider this article not worth to be placed here. Its silly not to find a way to know how much backing is needed, before cutting meter for meter the backing and the knot to find the needed length of backing. What to do if I have cut the backing too short? Cut the lines again and add 10 meters of backing? Then discovering after completing that the additional part of the backing was too long?
Please offer a better way. As a beginner I had this problem also. I fixed the flyline with tape to the axle of the reel and wound it on to the reel. Then I attached the backing to the fly line and add as much backing as needed on the reel. Then cut the rest of the backing , take off all line and start with the backing as mentioned in this description. This way is more easy and saves a lot of frustration and a lot of time and saves the rest of the backing for the next reel.
thight lines
pit

Submitted by Colin Mombourquette on

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Jim, a bit later in life than I had planned, I'm finally getting back into flyfishing, just in time for my retirement from the Canadian Army. I have also taken up fly tying and have been searching the internet for how-to videos for a while; however, I just came across your videos today and must say, they are some of the best that I have seen. Great explanations with nice clear shots of every step. While my Egg Sucking Leech may not be quite as refined as your's, I'm hoping that the Ontario Ganaraska River Steelhead will find it annoying enough to take a snap at it this April. Super site and excellent videos. Thank you very much for the instruction and the inspiration. Cheers, Colin.

Submitted by Sven Johann Jonsson on

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FishIceland is a great place to find salmon and trout angling in Iceland

Submitted by Al Pitt on

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Fly photos are GREAT. Lots of good ideas for new patterns and some great oldies that most fishermen have forgotten. Note---they haven't lasted 150 years by being dogs!

Submitted by Rod on

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I am one of the people who fished these areas including Kariba in the sixties, seventies and up to eighty nine, before during and after the Independance Fiasco, you can keep modern Zimbabwe. Our wives also fished during the time we were out there, we had the use of a fishing camp which belonged to good friends, we also had home made coolers and generators. Crocs Hippos and Elephants all good fun and part of the attraction. Boats we had also and the best airline in the world who brought them in free of charge. All our friends moved down to South Africa in the nineties. My family and I came back to the UK, and settled here after thirty years of traveling in foreign parts. NB: We swapped Zimbabwe for Canada and the US spending six weeks a year in one or the other fishing the fly with good buddies who moved there some years ago. We got more memories than you can shake a stick at.

Colin,

It sounds as if you and your sons are about to have a great time together!

Regarding rods my personal preference is a fairly sturdy style when it comes to spin fishing. I have never really been an ultra-light type when it comes to spinning. Light means the fly rod for me, so when I dig out a spinning rod it's to get distance and being able to cast some weight in rough winds and to cover a lot of water - both on distance and in depth.

I favor 9 or 10 foot rods that can cast about 20 grams. I like the rods to be light, but fairly stiff, and also prefer those that break down to three or four pieces. A long rod is nice for the bubble because the length of the rod decides how close you can get a fish on a certain length of leader.

I use the spinning rod for the bubble as described above, but also like solid, cast metal lures of the type where the line runs through and attaches to a loose hook. I always fish single hooks on my spinning gear. It makes it so much easier to avoid (and get out of) snags and in my experience they hook just as well and come out a lot easier if you want to release a fish.

When it comes to line I have long ago switched to the braided or fused lines, which in my opinion is one of the best things you can do for your spin fishing. They cast very well, are much stronger than mono and first and foremost have very little stretch, which means that you have much better contact with the fly or lure at the terminal end - even with a lot of line out. Contrary to what you might hear they work fine with stiffer rods.
I use a 0.12 millimeters Berkley Fireline with an impressing breaking strength of about 7 kilos. A monfilament line would have to be twice as thick or more to have the same strength and feels quite thick and clumsy once you have tried the braided or fused lines.

Hope this helps and good luck with the fishing!

Martin

Submitted by Colin Matheson on

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Hi Martin
this is another very interesting article and a method I and my sons will be trying this year as we embark on our first attempts at saltwater fly fishing. We will be targeting sea trout and bass so I wonder if you can recommend a length/casting weight of spinning rod to use as well breaking strain of mono for the reel.
thanks and congratulations on a fantastic site

Jeff,

You can use silicone spray, Amorall or plastic conditioners of all sorts as long as you are careful that they don't harm the line. Some of the solvents in these conditioners may have unwanted effects on the coating of your fly line like softening or simply dissolving the surface.
Try it out on a small piece of line before you embark on a full treatment. Most fly line manufacturers warn against using any odd treatment and of course endorse their own brand name solution.

If in doubt use soap, water and a cloth and nothing else. You'd be surpirsed how big a difference it makes.

Martin

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