Ash Posted January 17, 2022 Report Share Posted January 17, 2022 About fly fishing. I am soon to be the recipient of a 10' 7wt rod/reel that was purchased for me as a gift. The kit comes with weight-forward floating line, intermediate line, and sinking line along with backing. What else do I need? Can I use regular mono as a leader? How about a tippet? Is that necessary? Also, what flies should I be looking at to start out with? Hoping to use this combo in the summer for fluke and schoolies. Thanks so much! just because you can doesn't mean you should Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt.Castafly Posted January 17, 2022 Report Share Posted January 17, 2022 10' 7wt rod/reel that was purchased for me as a gift. The kit comes with weight-forward floating line, intermediate line, and sinking line along with backing. That's a good fly rod to fish for fresh water bass with the floating line. Throw a nice deer hair bug across a nice quiet pond and watch the silence break into a boil. The same outfit with the intermediate line could be use in the salt for stripers, bluefish, and hardtails in the fall. Good steelhead rod too. Nothing flies by me without a hook! If my fly is down, That's a good thing. Public Access.....It's a shore thing. My daily requirement of "Vitamin Sea". Capt. Ray Stachelek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poopdeck Posted January 17, 2022 Report Share Posted January 17, 2022 A 7 weight is a nice SMB rod. It can handle the fish but you will soon discover wind is your enemy when it comes to fly fishing and a 7 wt ain’t going to handle the breezes typically found near saltwater very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakman Posted January 17, 2022 Report Share Posted January 17, 2022 oy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianBM Posted January 18, 2022 Report Share Posted January 18, 2022 If he's just getting started with a fly rod, he can find inshore locations in the lee of the wind. The ocean's breezes will want a heavier line, but don't spend money until you know you like fly angling in general. Gilbey 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken r Posted January 18, 2022 Report Share Posted January 18, 2022 Exactly. Nail yourself a few times before jumping in. RULE ONE: Crimp your barbs. theshadow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
East Coaster Posted January 18, 2022 Report Share Posted January 18, 2022 @Ash, you'll be fine using that to fish for fluke and schoolies in the summer in the surf and in back bays, estuaries, etc. If you already fish the salt, you know that there are plenty of fish in the trough, so you can usually position yourself so that the wind isn't a big problem (e.g., if it's a southerly wind, face north and cast more or less parallel to the beach). You don't need a tapered leader or tippet - straight 20 lb mono should work fine (if there are bigger blues around, you might want a bite tippet). Use a loop to attach the fly to the leader/tippet for best action (I use a Lefty's loop). As far as flies, I like Clouser minnows (pink/white and chartreuse/white are my go-to's). Take a casting lesson if you can, or at least find someone to show you the basics. It's really not that hard to get good enough to catch fish and have fun (especially if you already have an understanding of where/how to find fish). And there is more than a lifetime of things to learn, if you choose to. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
East Coaster Posted January 18, 2022 Report Share Posted January 18, 2022 A couple more things - buy a stripping basket to help manage the line (especially if you're fishing the surf), and make sure you wear eye protection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suave Posted January 18, 2022 Report Share Posted January 18, 2022 11 hours ago, Oakman said: oy Or should we say "here we go again!", probably the tenth time in the last twenty-four months... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Oliver Posted January 18, 2022 Report Share Posted January 18, 2022 10’ 7 wt is an ideal lake rod. Should make a good Steelhead rod and big river rod for all kinds of fish. Salt water Sheltered salt ponds and inlets. On an open beach even with a gentle wind stand by for oudles of frustration. 7 wt line won’t cast even moderate salt water flies well. Clousers unless Fresh water Bass size forget about them. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poopdeck Posted January 18, 2022 Report Share Posted January 18, 2022 Ive never see anyone on this site recommend a 7wt for any type of salt water fishing. Recommending one go find a not so windy spot is a simple solution if the goal is to cast but not necessarily catch fish. There is no difference in casting with the wind to your back or in your face since your casting line in both directions but only laying the fly out in one. trust me, you will frustrate yourself trying to learn fly fishing in the salt with a 7 weight. You really should bump that up to a 9. In the meantime that rod is perfect for lake and river fishing which would be a perfect place to learn fly fishing as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puppet Posted January 18, 2022 Report Share Posted January 18, 2022 The search function in this forum and youtube helped me a lot when I started. Most people will be more receptive if you have done more legwork on your own. Suave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchellNJ Posted January 18, 2022 Report Share Posted January 18, 2022 If nothing else, you'll become a better surfcaster if you learn to fly fish theshadow and snapper1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeachBum818 Posted January 18, 2022 Report Share Posted January 18, 2022 Go out with a guide. I learned more in 1 day with a guide out on the river than I did a full year of youtube and trial and error. It really cuts the learning curve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
East Coaster Posted January 18, 2022 Report Share Posted January 18, 2022 3 hours ago, poopdeck said: Ive never see anyone on this site recommend a 7wt for any type of salt water fishing. Recommending one go find a not so windy spot is a simple solution if the goal is to cast but not necessarily catch fish. There is no difference in casting with the wind to your back or in your face since your casting line in both directions but only laying the fly out in one. trust me, you will frustrate yourself trying to learn fly fishing in the salt with a 7 weight. You really should bump that up to a 9. In the meantime that rod is perfect for lake and river fishing which would be a perfect place to learn fly fishing as well. I bought a 6 wt to fish Puget Sound for searun cutthroats (and potentially coho) on vacation trips there as that is the standard (@Stonefish can confirm). At that point, I wasn't fishing the salt at home in NJ (but have been flyfishing for over 20 years, so it's not all new to me). Started fishing the surf (not back bays) with the 6 wt and have had no real issues. Would a 9 wt be better? Of course, but the OP has a 7 wt and asked if that would work, and the answer is yes - it's not that hard to catch fish with that size rod. And I can easily boom out casts with the wind, even though my backcast is into the wind - I'm not experiencing any issues having done it the last couple of years. YMMV, but I'm speaking from experience, not hypotheticals.... Stonefish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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