A fly rod for Christmas
For the past few weeks I’ve been suggesting Christmas gifts for outdoorsy folks on your holiday shopping list. I’ve focused on winter stuff, like snowshoes and warm layers of clothing, because the festive season is at the beginning of what could be a long, snowy winter. And I think we livyers of the north should go outdoors and embrace the frosty air. It’s our culture and heritage, after all. Our ancestors didn’t make this land home and livable by sitting around the house all winter. And they had to fashion snowshoes of local birch and leather, not to mentioning sheering sheep by hand for warm wool sweaters. We got it easy. We have mail order and power tools.
Anyway, I’m switching gears. Forget winter for a bit and let’s think about sunshine and fly fishing. Because there are folks out there with notions of finding a fly rod under their tree and a reel poked out in the toe of their sticking. I’m certain of it because several readers have e-mailed, asking for advice on starting out in fly fishing next summer. I guess they figure that Christmas is a good time to get geared up, despite not much opportunity for open-water casting, not for a while anyway.
Some of this stuff I’ve written before, but I think it has been a while. I’m going to start right at the beginning. A reader living in Alberta explained to me
The sad truth is that the really cheap stuff is absolutely junk. It’s no fun to use and you will never improve your game.
his sense of total overwhelming confusion when he tried to shop for a Christmas fly rod. He had fly fished for trout growing up in Newfoundland, but through the hectic bustle of life he lost touch with the long rod. Now in retirement he wishes to become re-acquainted. Heavens how the game has changed in the decades from youth to pension, now there’s so much technical stuff to sort through.
So if you are buying yourself a rod, or gifting one, the first decision is weight. Fly rods range in weight rating from one to 16 or so. This got all to do with how big the fish are, the
ones you intend to catch. I just bought a 16-wt, intended for sailfish or marlin off the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Yes, I’m planning a trip, my first blue water offshore fly experience. Stay tuned for that. I’m learning a few new knots. I also have a 2-wt, my go-to rod for trouting on New Harbour Barrens. The mud trout I catch for my frying pan are a tad smaller than Pacific sailfish. These two rods are very different, totally opposite ends of the spectrum.
In a nutshell, don’t go too small or super heavy if you are a beginner. You probably aren’t considering a marlin to start
I’m sure. And very light rods can be just as tricky. For regular-sized pan trout I’d go with a 4-wt, or a five if you mess with plump sea trout. They are great all around rod sizes for trout up to four or five pounds. Even for really big trout I wouldn’t go any bigger than a six. You don’t want to spoil the lively fighting fun. I caught my biggest brook trout ever on a Sage 6-wt at Jim Burton’s Igloo lake camp in Labrador, whopping eight lbs. And a 6-wt is plenty of power for smaller salmon as well. It is a perfect multi-species rod for Newfoundland, Labrador maybe not.
The Big Land has bigger trout and very large salmon. And some Newfoundland rivers are home to big salmon as well. If I had a hankering for salmon in Labrador, I’d go with an eight or nine weight. The water is colder and nearly always bigger and faster. For reasons I don’t fully understand, Labrador salmon are the hardest fighting freshwater game fish on planet Earth. I’ve been around a bit, and that’s what I think. Also. I’m not the only one holding this opinion. You better be well armed when the big silver bites.
The saltwater game is altogether another quintal of fish, pun fully intended. Just about every saltwater game fish in Florida kicks up a stink beyond Labradors’ mighty salmon. Snook, redfish, bones, or jack, no matter, they fight with unrelenting ferocity. Nothing under a 9-wt will do. And if you think on tangling with tarpon, buy a number 12. This is for you folks who might escape winter and fly south. No matter how much I praise snowshoes, the south still beckons.
So there you have it, choose a rod best for the size and strength of fish you intend to engage. And nine-foot long rods tend to cast best for most people’s physical makeup. For your first rod, or second, probably it’s best to stick with that. If you are unsure, and your Newfoundland fishing spouse or loved one might like a fly rod for Christmas, get him or her a 9-ft 6-wt. That’s a dandy all around rod for “The Rock”
What about price? Fly rods range from $100 to a whopping full grand of cash. You certainly don’t need a Porsche 911 Turbo to learn to drive. Nor would such a high performance auto be easy to learn on. The same is true for fly rods. Those very high-priced performance fast-action fly rods are not for novices. The skill and timing required to reap the benefits of super responsive graphite comes with years of practice. And even then these rods aren’t the best choice for all fishing circumstances. For starting out chose a more forgiving slower action rod. And these thank the gods, are lower priced.
The gentleman from Alberta wondered might he be just as well off buying a cheap no-name of consequence rod from a well-known department store. No, better to stick with a entry level model from a company that knows the game, like Loop, Sage, Orvis, Guideline, and so on. You can get yourself or loved one a dandy entry-level fly rod for around $200 or so. The sad truth is that the really cheap stuff is absolutely junk. It’s no fun to use and you will never improve your game.
Then of course you need a reel and a line to go with that rod. I’ll have to tell you about that after Christmas. But if you need some advice now, feel free to e-mail me. I’m always happy to help folks who are keen on learning the fly fishing sport.