Salmon Fly rod

BoarHunter

Hello, I'm thinking about trying to get more out fly fishing for salmon this year. I have a 10ft single hand rod but i was wondering if i needed to get into Spey cast double hand rod. If so, what would you recommend for a beginner ?

thehamo

What w/f is your single hadned rod? You'd be wanting about a 7/8 minimum ida say. That would do just fine starting off. I wouldnt get into spey casting myself until I was very confident on the single hadn rod.

BoarHunter

I handle my 10ft rod rather confitently. i'm just wondering what would i gain on irish rivers. Would that be a big bonus to upgrade to a spey ? fishing on rivers the like of the Suir or the blackwater or the Moy and others ?

coolwings

You can spey cast no problem with a single handed rod. You just wont lift 30 yards of line and lay it back out again across a big river.

I'd say the key to needing a long rod is not river size, though that matters. it;s need to mend line, a long rod is vital. And if your pools have a spinal fast flow, and you can't mend that distance away, you can only effectively fish from the fast water towards you.

If you can mend, you can overcast the "stream", casting into the far slack, strip retrieve out of the slack to the middle, mend the line, and then fish from the fast back with conventional down and across style.

For May on, on a Slaney or upper Blackwater size river I'd be using a 13-15' rod, on a lower Blackwater (Munster) a 15' rod, and on many spate streams a 10.5 to a 12 or 13' rod.
The more gravelly the water the more even the flows, the smaller the rod, the more rocky, the more spinal streams you get, the longer the rod.

All is compromise, there is no best choice.

Hope this helps and doesn't confuse the matter even more!

BoarHunter

Thank you Coolwings. Is that shakespear stuff any good to start with ?

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Shakespeare-Oracle-13ft-Salmon-Fly-Rod-TRION-REEL-NEW-/250549867762?pt=UK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL&hash=item3a55ef94f2

Daroxtar

Slightly off topic but regarding Shakespeare trout rods, I bought one recently and it snapped clean in half after one day of use. I was disgusted with it. It felt nice but its the second shakespeare rod i've had that broke with no abuse.

I bought a Flextec rod for the same money to replace it and it feels a far better rod altogether (and hasn't broke yet ) Maybe you should look at one of these
http://cgi.ebay.ie/Flextec-Double-Handed-Salmon-Fly-Rod-Rrp-349-99-/330539444783?pt=UK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL&var=&hash=item7dbc69d204

If the Salmon rod is anything like the trout rods then you will find it hard to get better for the money IMO

TimMac

I am sure there was a test done of a few different double handers in this months Trout & Salmon magazine ill have a look there when I get home. As far as i can remember they were all recommending the cheapest one :eek:

coolwings

I have a respect for Shakespeare tackle, though I haven't held that rod.
I love the Trion reels.

For fly fishing on the Moy (read on from here in a Mayo accent): would you not use a spinning rod and the fly-bubble?

ironbluedun

BoarHunter wrote: »

Thank you Coolwings. Is that shakespear stuff any good to start with ?

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Shakespeare-Oracle-13ft-Salmon-Fly-Rod-TRION-REEL-NEW-/250549867762?pt=UK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL&hash=item3a55ef94f2

The oracle rods are very good i have used one in the past and found them very good value for money. in that price range you might also consider a greys or something like that.
A longer DH rod 15ft gives you way more control than a single handed rod on a large river.

The trion reel is an excellent reel and super value for money, i have two of them a no 10/11 and a 5/6 and i love them. of course you can buy better ones, thats if you want to part with €600 for a reel.

BoarHunter

thanks guys ! i like the offer Rod + Reel. I might go for that deal. will set it up with a Grxi spey line and, Off to the river ! well ... first i'll give it a few sessions in my back garden I think.

Thanks again lads.

coolwings

If you need spey casting lessons, pm.

BoarHunter

Thanks Coolwing, i'm interested indeed. Will pm you when i have received this rod !

last detail : last but not least : what's better ? 13 or 15 feet. Me think 15 would be better for a beginner. What would you reckon ?

Compton

It totally depends on the river, you'll likely need a few different rods. 15ft is pretty big for ireland 13 should be fine.

TimMac

Airflo delta classic is the rod on trout and salmon
150 pounds

BoarHunter

thanks Tim but i can't resist the rod + reel offer from shakespeare ... will give my feedback after the season.

The river i will probably fish mostly is the Shannon at Castleconnell

TimMac

Please do I started off with a single handed Shakespeare odessey couldn't fault it.

coolwings

BoarHunter wrote: »

..... The river i will probably fish mostly is the Shannon at Castleconnell

So you'll be spey casting 40 metres at the end of 2011 then?

thehamo

TimMac wrote: »

Airflo delta classic is the rod on trout and salmon
150 pounds

My airflow delta snapped in half a couple of months back when I was fishing a stocked lake.

Wasnt a very happy man I have to say

ironbluedun

BoarHunter wrote: »

The river i will probably fish mostly is the Shannon at Castleconnell

then personally i would opt for the longer rod

coolwings

I don't like to recommend rods because everybody has different abilities and preferences.

I use the following and the lines for them are more or less listed in order of amount of usefulness.
15' double handed #9-10, with DT10F,DT10Stip, ST10S1,ST10S2
13' 9" double handed #9, with DT7F, DT8S1
10' 6" single handed #7-8, with DT7F, DT8S1
When using an underlined setup, I just aerialise longer line and move the rod faster to compress it as if the heavier line were being used. The rod can't tell the difference.

BoarHunter

thanks for all these advices ! hopefully will be out soon and having all hopes at the end of the leader !

BoarHunter

i have finally found cheaper by shopping around. I ordered the Oracle XT ( the new one from this year )

http://cgi.ebay.ie/SHAKESPEARE-ORACLE-XT-SALMON-FLY-ROD-12-13-14-15-/390296577794?pt=UK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL&var=&hash=item99ac3afbb6

along with the trion reel in #8-9.

now i will wait a bit before getting the Rio Windcutter II Versitip Spey Line it cost almost the price of the rod and the reel together !!! i will start with a standard line to learn with.