Need tons of help.

[Lammont Ervin]

I've only recently started taking fly fishing seriously. I've used a fly rod for maybe a year but I've practically halted all of my bass fishing because fly fishing has taken my interest way more. I have a 5wt and I'm picking up an 8wt in the next couple days. (5wt is a Yellowstone 2 from Jackson Cardinal with a redington surge) (8 wt is a G loomis pescado with a tfo 425) my biggest issues is knowing what flies to use for each rod there's so many flies in the world but I'm used to to a weight system to judge what lure to use, is there any way to know which fly to use on a specific wt rod thanks for the help. - Eric Ervin

[TurbineBlade]

Fly fishing is unlike spin/cast fishing in that you can always cast smaller flies with heavier fly tackle (e.g., 8-weight) whereas spinning gear sucks at casting lures below a certain weight. What you are capable of casting will largely depend upon your casting ability, type of fly line (lines with shorter front tapers make it easier to cast heavier stuff), wind, wind resistance of the fly itself, leader, etc.  That said, it is certainly easier to cast flies with lead eyes (and larger flies) with heavier fly lines.  An 8-weight will comfortably cast flies that are larger than what I generally prefer to cast, period.  Fortunately, it's also a great line for handling wind and getting good distance though -- so it's absolutely a good choice no matter what you do around here.  We've caught snakehead, carp, catfish, and some fairly nice bass (probably up to 4 pounds) on flies tied to a size #10 hook.  

Fly rods are good at presenting and manipulating small to medium-sized lures in shallow to moderately deep water.  That's where you get a real advantage to using fly tackle in my opinion, and it's the most fun kind of fishing there is!  ;) 

I don't have any interest in trying to force a fly rod to be something else.   

With any 8-weight you should be able to cast size #6 up to #2 (or possibly 1/0, I don't know exact hook sizes at the big end...I have some even bigger stuff tied on some old eagle claws that I will never use) lead clousers and #4 blue poppers which are probably the most common flies people fish on here.  

Gene 

[TurbineBlade]

Oh, and don't be told that "an 8-weight is too much" for smaller fish.  To translate, that really means that "I have a barbaric desire to feel each fish struggling for its life at the end of my line, and I really, really hate myself".  Ironically, those same barbarians will run you out of town if you post a picture of yourself holding a rainbow trout with dry hands.  

Gene

[Lane Thurgood]

I think you have a great start to your arsenal with those two rods.  If I could only have two rods around here, they would be a 4- and 8-weights, so you are right there in the mix.  

I went to the International Fly-Tying Symposium last month and listened to Bob Clouser.  He said, "People always ask me how big a clouser I can get away with on a 5-weight."  In a nutshell, he said you could get away with the smallest clousers with extra small eyes, but the 7-weight handled that size just as well plus more.  Obviously, even more so an 8-weight, which is exactly Gene's point.  And Bob made the same point Gene did about courtesy to the fish.  I do almost all of my Potomac fishing with an 8-weight, from sinking lines with weighted shad flies to floating lines with big wind-resistant poppers and half-and-halfs.  When I chase bass (either smallmouth or largemouth), I am not throwing size 10s, I am generally throwing size 2s and up on an 8-weight.  

Although I have 9- and 10-weights for the saltwater, I still do a fair amount of that with an 8-weight in the Chesapeake with 1/0 and 2/0 gurglers on a floating line and half-and-halfs on a sinking line. The 8-weight is a very very versatile rod.

Basically, I agree with Gene.

On Friday, December 18, 2015 at 8:24:07 AM UTC-5, Lammont Ervin wrote:

[peter odell]

"I've practically halted all of my bass fishing because fly fishing has taken my interest way more"

I hope you are not thinking that bass fishing and fly fishing are mutually exclusive - from a 8" smallie to a 19 pound peacock in the amazon, I've landed a lot of bass of many different types on my fly rods.  Its funny how many people have viewed the "River Runs Through It" and deemed it the only situation where you would fly fish.  Dry flies in Montana are a great experience, but if I had to limit my scope that that, I'd go crazy. 

The 5wt and 8wt are perfect to start with, you'll want to get a sinking line and get out at Fletcher's for shad when they show up this spring (another great use of a fly rod, and a world class experience).

The bass are one of the least picky on type of fly!  (and try 2 flies - a big one and a small trailer)

[namfos]

TRUTH!

[Lammont Ervin]

I feel like I could have worded that a lot better. When I say I've halted my bass fishing to go fly fish, I mean that in the sense of me only doing bass fishing with a bait caster and spinning rod but now I'm focusing on multi species all around fly fishing.

[Lammont Ervin]

Thank yo gene hope to see you out there in the spring.