It’s not always easy to get out fly fishing so when I do I like to have every thing matched so I have the best possible time on the water.

It can be really tough to fish when your fly fishing gear isn’t matched. I’ve have used other people’s gear that wasn’t matched and they seem to have to work a lot harder than I do with my gear.

Note: Fly fishing without matching gear isn’t going to stop you from catching fish most of the time it just makes it tougher and for me it can even wear me out too fast and cut my days short.

So this post is more about making the experience better as well.

What Fly Fishing Gear is Important To Me

  • Fly Fishing Rods
  • Fly Fishing Reels
  • Fly Fishing Line

My Fly Fishing Rods

Over the past 45 years of fishing I have used what I could afford. Heck my first fishing rod was a metal rod used to hold up an electric fence and it worked to catch me a lot of catfish. My foster brother set it up for me to fish catfish in the river at the back of our farm. I caught many great meals with that metal rod. Never tried to use it as a fly rod though.

I only started using a fly rod once I moved to New Brunswick and for most of the years since I have used the same ole 8 weight fly rod. Again I was using what I could afford and an 8 weight was going to work for both large and small fish.

I have never broken my fly rod in the 20 or so years I have had it and I have fought some big fish and tough conditions. That’s not to say I haven’t lost a lot of fish but my fly rod, as cheap as it was those many years ago always met the challenge.

So you can see that it’s not vital to have the best of the best fly fishing equipment to have years of fun. I am living proof of that.

I took a new friend fly fishing for Atlantic salmon about a month ago and he was telling me that he has fly rods for different conditions. I believe he has a 4, 5 and 8 weight fly rod so the next time we go out fly fishing  I want to try his 4 weight rod to see if that’s the one I will be buying for myself by next year’s fishing season.

I must say that my more than 20 year old 8 weight is still awesome and the only thing that is wrong with it is the cork handle has seen better days.

My Fly Fishing Reels

Back when I bought that fly rod I also matched it with a fly reel that came with two spools so I could put on two different fly line setups. Matching the fly rod and fly reel makes for easier use of the rod while using less energy to cast and fight your fish.

I remember my first day on the water fishing brook trout with my new setup. I caught and landed my first brookie with it. I set the rod down to take a picture of the rod and trout but the front of the spool hit a little stone and broke it. Thankfully I had the second spool setup similar to what I was already using.

The second reel was ready to go in about 3 minutes flat and I am happy to say that the second spool was only just replaced this year (2009) but not because I broke it, it was just because I wanted to treat myself to a new fly reel after not being able to go fishing for 5 years after a servere heart attack.

I guess my point is that even an inexpensive fly reel can do the job for many years so the price isn’t always important but in my opinion matching the fly reel to your fly rod is important.

Fly Fishing Line

Having two spools was going to allow me to have two different fly lines. I t would only take me a couple of minutes to change them and I was back fishing. Well that was the plan until I broke the first spool and had to start using the second spool on day one with my new fly rod.

I don’t replace my fly line very often, but I do try to keep it clean so that they do last longer and I make them last a few years at least.

I prefer to use floating line as I am a real lover of top water fly fishing. It just tends to keep my heart beat up.

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