Fly fishing setup thread?

Any way someone that is experience maybe put something together the admins can sticky?

 Im wanting to get into bass/striper fly fishing. Used to do a lot of high mountain stram/creek flyfishing but fishing with flyaker  in the past is now wanting me to get into some big linesides on the flies

I just dont know where to start! 8wt/9wt? which reels? what streamers? Im lost!

Im sure it would help others out as well wanting to get into the flyfishing on the kayak. Im sure casting big streamers would be hard being that close to the water.

For example:

What I usually catch while flyfishing high mountain streams. Beautiful wild Brookies which rarely go over a pound







What size stripers I normally try to catch in my kayak. A 37" I caught fishing a hardbait on the delta

How about this in an 8wt?

http://www.cabelas.com/product/fishing/rod-reel-combos/fly-fishing-rod-reel-combos|/pc/104793480/c/104762880/sc/105571980/cabela-s-rls-fly-combo/1555116.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Ffly-fishing-rod-reel-combos%2F_%2FN-1104843%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_105571980

A 8wt will be fine, weight floating line.  Try to get a large arbor reel.  Keeps the line more manageable.  12 pound tapered leader and 2 feet Tippet.  10 pound test leader material, no need to go flouro.  Unless very clear water, weighted streamers.  Clouser minnows or a giant wooly bigger are a good start. 

I want to try for perch or striper with my 6 wt. Never casted from the yak. But up for the challenge.

I use a 9 wt, mostly. I have Airflow Ridge running line in the 0.30 diameter, looped to a 28' shooting head of T14 line (T stands for tungsten core), then 6-8' leader, then the clouser minnow or other minnow pattern.

As noted by others, 8 wts work fine, and a large arbor reel. Fortunately this stuff is much cheaper than it used to be! (Although high quality reels & rods still carry a premium, well deserved in my view.)

One important element to striper success is casting distance. The longer the cast, the more water your fly moves thru - it's math! So finding the right balance of line for your specific rod can sometimes take some trial & error. Managing the running line so it flows smoothly following the shooting head is another challenge.

Sinking lines are generally the ticket. Sometimes an intermediate, like Type 3, can work well, esp. in shallower water.

Here's a website with a ton of info on flyfishing for stripers:
www.danblanton.com

Good luck out there!
Bill

Check the clearance at Sierra trading post.

If we're talking delta stripers I'd probably start with a 9wt. with a full sinking line. Like Bill says it's the line/rod match that is important. I like Echo and TFO for value rods. TFO Pro is a popular entry level rod and warranty is good.

Easiest thing to do for a 9wt. is get 30ft of T14 (14gr/foot) and cut it back until you find the right length to load the rod. I like 28ft. (392gr) also on my 9wt. Loop that to a running line, I fish with Flyaker a lot and he uses slickshooter or amnesia which are mono. I prefer flyline like running lines like the ridge line Bill mentioned but now I'm pretty much using all integrated lines so there is a seamless transition. I can cast with some of the head pulled in, I like that to be able to do that on the kayak when I put some giant lead eyed mess on.

On the sinking line I just run 4-5ft 20lb. fluoro to the fly with a loop knot.

For a cheap reel, don't think you can beat an echo ion for 100 bucks and spools for 45. I have the giant 10/12 on my 10wt for the ocean and have had no issues as long as I rinse it. My guide buddy has them on boat rods, I fished with him a couple days ago on the Rogue and landed some nice steelies on the 6/7. Drag is really smooth and they are tough, plus a whole reel is about 1/3 of a cost of my nautilus NV spool.

I tie up all kinds of rabbit strip/bucktail/synthetic concoctions mostly on 2/0 or 3/0 jig hooks for the delta but a chart clouser will do as well as any most days. Clouser is a simple tie if you are so inclined. Everything from big ass lead eyes to bead chain eyes.

I've caught almost everything with a 6wt rod; salmon, bass, trout, rockfish, steelies.
It's all on how ya play 'em.
The only time I was ever under weighted was a Sage 389LL I built paired with an Orvis CFO III. I hooked a LMB in the weeds and put way too much pressure trying to haul him out of the weeds; snapped the tip.
The 6wt would have been fine, but no so with the 3wt.

If we're talking delta stripers I'd probably start with a 9wt. with a full sinking line. Like Bill says it's the line/rod match that is important. I like Echo and TFO for value rods. TFO Pro is a popular entry level rod and warranty is good.

Easiest thing to do for a 9wt. is get 30ft of T14 (14gr/foot) and cut it back until you find the right length to load the rod. I like 28ft. (392gr) also on my 9wt. Loop that to a running line, I fish with Flyaker a lot and he uses slickshooter or amnesia which are mono. I prefer flyline like running lines like the ridge line Bill mentioned but now I'm pretty much using all integrated lines so there is a seamless transition. I can cast with some of the head pulled in, I like that to be able to do that on the kayak when I put some giant lead eyed mess on.

On the sinking line I just run 4-5ft 20lb. fluoro to the fly with a loop knot.

For a cheap reel, don't think you can beat an echo ion for 100 bucks and spools for 45. I have the giant 10/12 on my 10wt for the ocean and have had no issues as long as I rinse it. My guide buddy has them on boat rods, I fished with him a couple days ago on the Rogue and landed some nice steelies on the 6/7. Drag is really smooth and they are tough, plus a whole reel is about 1/3 of a cost of my nautilus NV spool.

I tie up all kinds of rabbit strip/bucktail/synthetic concoctions mostly on 2/0 or 3/0 jig hooks for the delta but a chart clouser will do as well as any most days. Clouser is a simple tie if you are so inclined. Everything from big ass lead eyes to bead chain eyes.

Was wondering why you would consider TFO rods "entry level"? Is it performance or price? Everything I've read about them and in performance tests they've held their own against everything else out there, regardless of price tags.

I too would like to actually catch something on my fly rod.  Got it for trout fishing, a Cabelas combo 4wt.  I've barely been able to cast it from shore, but would really like to try out on the water.  Maybe some stream fishing.  Not really sure what i'm doing though.

If we're talking delta stripers I'd probably start with a 9wt. with a full sinking line. Like Bill says it's the line/rod match that is important. I like Echo and TFO for value rods. TFO Pro is a popular entry level rod and warranty is good.

Easiest thing to do for a 9wt. is get 30ft of T14 (14gr/foot) and cut it back until you find the right length to load the rod. I like 28ft. (392gr) also on my 9wt. Loop that to a running line, I fish with Flyaker a lot and he uses slickshooter or amnesia which are mono. I prefer flyline like running lines like the ridge line Bill mentioned but now I'm pretty much using all integrated lines so there is a seamless transition. I can cast with some of the head pulled in, I like that to be able to do that on the kayak when I put some giant lead eyed mess on.

On the sinking line I just run 4-5ft 20lb. fluoro to the fly with a loop knot.

For a cheap reel, don't think you can beat an echo ion for 100 bucks and spools for 45. I have the giant 10/12 on my 10wt for the ocean and have had no issues as long as I rinse it. My guide buddy has them on boat rods, I fished with him a couple days ago on the Rogue and landed some nice steelies on the 6/7. Drag is really smooth and they are tough, plus a whole reel is about 1/3 of a cost of my nautilus NV spool.

I tie up all kinds of rabbit strip/bucktail/synthetic concoctions mostly on 2/0 or 3/0 jig hooks for the delta but a chart clouser will do as well as any most days. Clouser is a simple tie if you are so inclined. Everything from big ass lead eyes to bead chain eyes.

Was wondering why you would consider TFO rods "entry level"? Is it performance or price? Everything I've read about them and in performance tests they've held their own against everything else out there, regardless of price tags.

Good question, I like TFO for their entry level rods, not that they are all entry level. The TFO Pro is almost 50% cheaper than their BVK, a more entry level price point.  Is someone new going to spend 850 on a sage salt or even 300 on BVK? Probably not. What do you get for stupid high cost? IMO usually, lighter, better components/craftsmanship, a little more performance and in a few cases made in the USA.  I cast a crap load of rods (cast if possible, don't go by reviews), cheap, expensive, old, new for a solid year to find the 9wt I could throw a shooting head the farthest for my new striper rod. For me it came down to the Loomis NRX and Sage Salt,  2 of the most expensive. The NRX had a slight ultimate distance advantage but I was more consistent with the Salt on avg. Spent another 2 months trying to find a good used Salt. Until then I was using an 8wt Beulah I got on CL and my old 9'6" 8 wt. sage xp which is my favotite winter steelhead nymphing stick.

Another thing to consider is usually entry level rods are a little slower in action, this allows you to feel the load rod. Fast action rods are a little harder to get that feeling. It really depends on the caster and what line/flies you are throwing, you can always slow the rod down by overlining it though.

Flyaker let me use his TFO pro and it's a great rod for the fraction of a sage so my recommendation comes from actual casting/fishing the rod. Maybe he will chime in, he got me into chasing stripers and I got him into spey rods...bad combo for the wallet.

Find a company with a good warranty and you really can't go wrong, TFO, Echo and Cabelas are usually great....end rant

Anyone have experience with a spey rod in the surf?

You mean a switch rod? Spey rods need a anchor point for it to cast. 

I threw a 13' 6" 7wt. in the surf for stripers a few times this year, didn't get one. 2 hand overhead with 500gr head and I need to weld more running line because it goes so far. The guy who showed me the setup hooked a bunch in the surf.

I talked to Nick Curcione who designed the TFO Pandion spey rod to cast in the surf. He developed it over in Hawaii and did alot of testing in the surf around SF.

Check out Mark Won's site, he's the guy when it comes to spey/switch rods in the surf.

Awesome info guys thanks! Once I get all my kids (3) their xmas gifts I can splurge on myself and get a set up. I used to tie a lot of small flies. Guess I better learn to tie some bigger stuff and save some $$ and help me get through winter with no fishing