Fly Fishing

Before you start putting together your rod take some paraffin wax and rub in on the male parts of the rod where it goes together.  Don’t be afraid of using too much.  You can always rub it off later.  This will keep the sections from coming loose and it will also keep it from sticking together.

Next, put the reel on.  The reel fits into the reel-seat, one 'foot' of the reel slides into a slot in the reel seat. The reel is secured to the rod with the sliding or screw rings. There are both 'up-locking' and 'down-locking' reel seats.

Which way to use the reel? Most prefer for a right hander to have the handles on the left side. If you will cast with your right hand, keep the rod in that hand and reel with your left. At least start out that way. You can always change later if you want to.

Check to make sure your reel is set-up for left hand retrieve by pulling out some line and noticing if the drag engages going out or coming in. It should be ‘on’ when the line is going out. Most reels are convertible to right or left hand retrieve. There should be instructions for changing it with the reel.

Now as you put the rod together, start with the eyes misaligned and ‘twist’ the sections together. Don’t make it a straight pull; twist them about ninety degrees or so. When you are done make sure they are all nicely in line. This will seat them properly. Check the sections often to make sure they still have some paraffin; it can wear off over a season.

Presuming you already have the line on the reel, put the butt of the rod on the ground and after folding a small loop in the fly line, start poking it up through the guides. Don't put the line through the tiny little loop right by the cork, that's a hook keeper.

As the rod is a few feet taller than you are you could have a problem here. You can try jumping at the top guides but this has always proven a poor method. Try this. With the butt section on the ground, and the reel on YOUR side, angle the rod to your left and easily walk to your left as you continue stringing it. This will also make others think you just may know something about how to string a fly rod.

With your right hand, hold onto the tip of the rod. With your left hand carefully pull out the fly line, pull out about ten feet of fly line and the leader too. Be careful. This is a critical time. Many rods are broken by not doing it this way. Now your rig is together.

Pick up the rod and pull line straight off of the reel. That means ‘straight’ off, pulling toward the stripping guide, not down and against the edge of the reel. That will damage the fly line. You are now ready to cast.

If your reel was not filled when you got it, here are a few pointers. Backing (a bit like kite string) is used to help fill the reel so the fly line is near the top of the reel. This makes for larger coils of line which are better than little kinky ones. Fasten the backing to the reel with the ‘Arbor knot.’

You can use a 'Nail Knot' to tie the fat end of the leader to the end of the fly line, for small rods and small fish. A better method is to put a 'Perfection Loop' in the fat end of the leader and use another knot of your choice to connect them. A ‘blood knot’ is often used to tie on a section of ‘tippet material’ to the leader if desired. Last, with a clinch knot, is the fly.

This seems like a great time to go ahead and address the different types of knots that are helpful to know.