Being a slow-witted meat chucker making futile attempts to increase my knowledge of the fly fishing world, I asked myself what I thought was a simple question, and couldn't answer myself. How does one choose a fly rod?

For a spin or cast setup, usually the first questions asked are what you'll be fishing for and how you'll be using it and things take off from there. For a fly rod, it seems as the fish itself has less to say than the environment and skill level. It seems like there is much more of a one size fits all thing going on, though I know there's more to it. You wouldn't normally use a 1# to chase musky, or would you? Is there a better rule of thumb than what my own logic tells me, which is 1-3# for little fish, 4-6# for bigger fish, 7-9# for big fish, and 10 and up for really big fish?

If I want a spinning rig for say, smallmouth, I have a multitude of options for rod blanks as far as length, power, action, etc. If I want a fly rod for them, it seems (to an outsider) that it's a matter of picking a brand that I want, and limited length options for the line weight I'll be using, which itself is determined by other factors including weather, what type of water and my skill level.

Seems like this can have either a very simple answer, or a very complicated one. Or possibly both, in that for me to choose a spin blank is not rocket science, simply because that's what I know and do. Is it just a matter of experience in what you are used to being around and working almost on autopilot?

It's not really different at all. You consider the size of the fish you figure you'll be going after (the average size you normally catch - not the monsters you hope you'll catch) and the size fly you'll most likely be throwing and select that way.

I do a lot of smallmouth bass fishing in rivers. While I've caught smallmouths in the 7 to 8 lb range, they have been very, very few and far between. The vast majority of what I catch are in the 12 to 16 inch range (3/4 to 3lb range). I want to have fun with them all, so I don't gear up for the really big ones which are far more rare. So I don't want an extremely stiff or powerful rod. Likewise, I throw flies that while not small, are not terribly large. #2 and #4 streamers mostly. A 5-weight line does that for me with no problem. So I ended up with a rod with an ERN of around 5.7 to 5.9 or so. I can cast the 5-weight line at distances I normally fish and get a good fight out of a 1lb fish and have one heck of a lot of fun out of the really big ones. (I have yet to lose a fish because I didn't have enough rod.)

I think you can come at it from the same standpoint that you do your spinning rod selection. The larger the expected quarry the more powerful the rod you want. And the larger the size flies you intend to throw, the higher the line number.

And you can always fall back on advice from this board. What do you plan to do with this rod?

............

Mick - my train of thought is: The species I'm targeting and where I will be most often fishing for them in order to determine the food source(s) I will most likely have to imitate and the techniques that best put the fly where the fish will be - the types and sizes of flies and where in the water column I'll be fishing them most often is the first criteria. This allows me to narrow down the line weights. I'll further narrow it down on most likely environmental conditions ( wind, fast or still water), typical casting distances and the potential size of the average fish. I'm usually looking for the lightest line weight and minumum power rod to cast it the distances I need to get the job done (one of the reasons I like the CC system). This final decision is based on experience and personal preference. Then I consider other environmental conditions like how tight the cover is and/or how big the water is to determine the length of rod - typically shorter for tighter cover or longer for more open spaces and/or need for more line control. As with everything else in angling, I'm likely to make some compromises in order to get some versatility. For example, I may be chunking size 8 Wooly Buggers on a trout tailwater when a size 16 Caddis hatch starts coming off. Or throwing size 8 poppers to Smallies when I see them busting baitfish and need to switch to a Clouser. So more often than not, I'll pull out a 9' 4wt for most tailwater fishing, unless I know it's trophy Trout water and then I'll pull out the 6wt that I normally use for Smallies. What has happened over the years is I've formed preferences for basic rod categories for species and types of habitat. Which is one of the things that drew me to building my own arsenal so that I could "save" money while having a rod for all occasions :).

Tom,
I don't have a rod in mind (going to do some spin rods on multipiece fly blanks for portability, but that's a different story). It was an just an errant thought I had while playing with my 5 wt and looking through all my flies, at the itty bitty mosquito looking ones (you can tell I really know my stuff here) to the really big wooly buggers, and wondered out loud if a 1# might be better for small bass and bluegill, or an 8wt. for pike, and where the brackets, if any, fall.

Choosing a "normal" blank for whatever application doesn't require much thought for me, but in this world, doing "dry runs" to myself and looking at fly blanks in a catalog turned into a lot of grey area. As in, in my head, I tried to build the optimal fly rod for the 8" smallmouth at my usual catfish hole or pike on my dad's lake.... and I hit a brick wall immediately. A lot of "well, that'll probably work okay, but will it be the best rod for the job"?

Steve, As I'm starting to realize the more I think about it that it sounds a lot like experience and more basic fly knowledge than I currently have will eventually make it easier (like what fly to use for what, difference in fly sizes.... and what the mosquito looking flies are actually called, for that matter). I know I'm usually a bit dim, but I can't be the only live bait guy who scratches his head when thinking flyfishing:)

Just curious to see how you fly fishermen chose blanks and/or if you are as particular as you would be with choosing a casting setup and/or if you have a full arsenal of fly rods, like I do in spin/cast setups.

Mick - I'm in the full arsenal camp. Even when fishing N GA trout streams I'm likely to have 3 or 4 rods in the Jeep. In fact, it's a ritural for my fishing buddies and me to stand around at the trail head like a golfing group trying to decide what to "pull out of the bag" - is the water low and clear or high and stained - do we need big bushy dry attractors or big bottom bouncing nymphs? Is it overcast and will the tiny Blue Winged Olive hatch or a midge (the little mosquito looking) hatch come off. Is today the day that they will kill big terristerials ...... We might go though a couple of cups of coffee (or something else after lunch) debating all of this. Is this necessary? Is it making fly fishing something too complicated (at least we don't use the latin name for everything)? Maybe. But, it's one of the things that makes it fun for us. The other thing is winning the trail head bets because you chose right fly and fished it on the "perfect" rod that you built just for the occasion :)

It is not too different from spin casting, really. Just remember that you are casting the fly line, not the lure or bait like spin or baitcast fishing. You need to think in terms of what size fly your line can handle & how heavy a line you want to use to accomidate those flys. You CAN cast a size #18 dry fly with a 7 weight rod, but the rod would be so "strong" that the average size fish you would catch would be horsed in with no challenge at all, like targeting small bluegills with a pitchin' rod & 17 lb test line... the fish doesn't stand a chance. It is the same sort of balancing act, line size, lure size, fish size all taken into consideration. You need to learn what size fly works with what size line. What size fish are you likely to encounter will help you decide on the appropriate fly and hense the appropriate rod.

Geeze! This fishin' stuff sher gits down right com-plee-cated,

Tim

I have an arsenal and almost always reach for my favorite, a St. Croix 4F864. It's an 8.5' rod that I usually fish with a 5wt. or 6wt. line so I can throw pretty much any fly I have in my box if I think a fish will eat it. If I know I'll be using just dries, I fish it with a 4wt. line. As much as I like having lots of toys leaning in the corner, too many choices stresses me out. Sort of like having a fast food cashier ask you 50 questions about your hamburger when all you want to do is eat lunch. Once you use 1 rod enough, you can pretty much do anything you want with it, whereas if you are constantly switching rods, it takes longer to really "become one" with the rod.

But, yes, I agree with Tom that it's pretty much just like spin fishing. Lure size and fish size and technique are the key factors.

So no cool chart or magic formula. Just experience with and knowledge of the components at hand and how to use them as a system. Who woulda thunk? Looks like I need to get some reading material, learn myself a few things and get out in the yard and start playing! Thanks guys. Someday I might actually have a handle on this stuff. Now I know what my son feels like when he looks at all the rods and plays in the tackle box. lol. First thing I gotta do is get a good book on flies. Hard to earn respect on the water when you are fishing with pink rifle chamber brushes, hourglass headed tinsel tails, sword handles and big ugly bug things.

Mick,

Fly fishing can be as simple or as complicated as you want it......I have never met anyone who has understood all of it yet....so don't be intimidated by it.
My suggestion is to keep it simple to start with if you enjoy it and pursue it you will naturally find yourself learning more and more...seems to be a life long journey to me. Which I find appealing.

Remember.....the rod must cast the line....the weight in the line has to have enough energy to cast the fly. The first part is easy....every fly rod has a wt from 00 to 12. You can normally go up or down one line wt if you need to. If you were going to have just one fly rod for all I would recommend a 5 or 6 weight (heavier if you fish saltwater).

Flies....never met a fish you couldn't catch on some sort of woolly booger variation.....the rest is easy. Look at what the fish are eating and find something that looks the same (well it sounds easy).
You don't have to know the scientific name for each insect or invertibrate in the river.

Make friends with you local fly shop.....buy your odds & ends there at least. They want you to catch fish cause you will buy more stuff from them...they will tell you what fly's are popular in your area.

A great place to start is at a small pond full of panfish.....you can clean up with a flyrod and they fight really hard. they don't normally care if your cast is perfect or if you have exactly the right fly. If you can find one without much foliage behind you it will make for a great plcae to learn how to cast. Nothing more frustrating for a beginning caster than to be hung in the trees all day long.

Spend a bit of time casting in your yard or and open field. Most flyshops will give you some pointers.....for free. It is common for flyshops to do this so don't be afraid to ask. I know if you walked into a tackle shop and ask someone to teach you how to cast a spinning rod they would look strange at you.

Have fun