flyfisher

If you are looking for a good all around boat that is usable in rivers and lakes i would stick in the 12' range. Ther a rea ton of good boats out there and the sky's the limit as far as price goes. I am partial to the native redfish as i think it is the most bang for the buck out there from a price and features perspective. It was my first boat and is plenty stable and with some practice, you should be able to stand in it to at least stretch your legs over the course of a day. The things to consider when gettign a boat though are: Price range Transporting the boat, rack, trailer, truck bed Weight of boat length Sit inside or sit on top-i prefer sit on top as they self bail and is something that is nice on rivers Budget for paddle and PFD Seat comfort-probably the biggest consideration if at all possible go and paddle some at a demo days and go from there.

I love bowfin and wish i could catch them more...they are a blast and i am surprised he didn't fight. the few i have landed put up crazy fights. I am going to see if I can get one on the fly rod this year...

I am not sure but this thread should be removed unless of course you are now a sponsor of the board...

Dang....that is a nice present for sure. That rod will be great for a multitude of presentations as has already been stated. Being a newbie, as you stated, you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two except in what is printed on the blank

Are they lures or flies? there is a difference. I haven't seen to many flies worth anything unless they were made by a famous fly tier. Also it is very difficult to tell who actually tied a fly as materials and the skill to tie them are not that rare either. As far as lures go, they can be worth some money but i am not knowledgable at all in that realm.

I hear ya. Depending on the type of company that is seen as an asset. Where I work not so much until you get a little higher up the totem pole.

Having worked in both the white and blue collar worlds i can tell you, they aren't as far apart as you think or would like to believe Same **** happens just the language isn't quite as colorful at first....

At least you had a real science in there too....

All's philosophers are good for is sting around and pondering why they don't have a job....or at least that is what i told my brother when he said he was majoring in philosophy in college. No original thoughts just regurgitating other's thoughts who were probably regurgitating someone else's.....derail over lol

you do realize that by complaining about people saying winter holiday or happy holidays and you getting ticked you are being offended by someone who doesn't believe the same you do, right? pot calling the kettle black if you ask me

I actually prefer camping out of my kayak more than when i had a canoe. Yeah it is easier to load up a canoe with gear but then you have to tie everything down. In my kayak, I can open the hatches, put everything in there i need and not have to worry about losing any camping gear should i capsize. Canoes will have a higher load capacity for the most part though.

If you want to have a lot of fun get a 3wt straight line i.e. no taper In the three weight range i really like SA GPX lines. they are a little on the heavy side but it seems to work for my St. croix avid pretty nicely and that is a moderate action rod.

The weight of a fly rod has nothing to do with the speed of the rod. They make slow to XF actions in all weights. A lot of people prefer a slower action rod in the lighter weights because they protect lighter line tippets more and are the conventional equivalent of ultralight in my mind. I am not a fan of DT lines except in small streams as they tend to roll cast better in my opinion. I have a DT on my mountain stream 3 wt. My guess would be that learning to cast on that 8wt and then trying to transition to a lighter weight and a slow rod you weren't allowing the rod to load properly. Slower rods need you to slow down your casting stroke and allow the rod to do the work. Also a homebuilt rod could have other issues too lol. I used to always tell the people i was teaching to cast that if they were sore at the end of the day they were either way out of shape or they are not letting the rod do the work. I have a serious tendency myself to want to muscle the heavier flies out there but it doesn't really help anything. The one nice thing is you can practice fly casting pretty much anywhere because you don't really need a fly on the end to get your casting down. And yeah, i meant to say learn but obviously my Mac decide my typo was closer to leave than learn

I am assuming you mean current and not previous....mistakes My current fiancee i met at work and we were both call center reps and now we still work in the same department.

I want double digit for largemouth and at least a 6 for a smallie before i would consider having a replica made. Of course i don't carry a scale and i think i had one that met the criteria in the green variety since she measured a shade under 26" and was full of eggs but she flopped off my hawg trough before i could get a picture...oh well. Guess i have to catch her again

Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah or happy kwanza, i don't care either way. If someone says happy holidays i say Merry Christmas and move on and not worry about anyone else or their beliefs. I haven't seen those books but i guess i will have to take a look now, thanks lol

The weight of a fly rod is more about handling the flies than the fish in a freshwater application. I have landed 20lb carp on a 4wt before it just takes some time. For largemouth it is going to be more about the cover you fish and flies you chuck rather than handling the fish itself. There is a lot of shock built into a fly rod set up so as long as you can get the hook home there is a good chance you will land the fish. especially in lighter cover. I like to chuck big flies for largemouth so i use a Sage Bass II Largemouth rod which roughly is the equivalent of almost a 9-10 wt rod. I have pulled some big fish out of heavy cover with it and can throw a wet sock if i want to Also for bass i wouldn't even bother with a tapered leader, i go straight flouro in 8-12lb weights depending on the situation. For brookies that is about the only time i use a tapered leader these days, even when chasing browns i use a straight leader as I treat them more like a smallmouth as they are big time meat eaters.

Personally I say no. I have caught plenty of 20"+ browns on my 4wt. 5 or a 6wt is overkill for brookies in my opinion. Lighter weight rods are easier to learn to cast on too

Hope she gets better soon. I thought this was going to be a funny post where you said your daily nap ran too late or something

Well you will need flies for your area, tippet for when you break off flies, a pair of nippers to cut the leader material and probably some fly floatant if you are fishing dries. Polarized sunglasses are one of the most important items too but i figure you already have those. Depending on how much stuff you get you will need a way to carry it all too. I prefer the chest packs myself, others prefer vests and some prefer fanny packs. You won't have that much stuff initially so you can probably get away with just using the pocket on your waders but make sure your keys are fastened to something and not just loose because otherwise you may end up dropping them when you are getting out other stuff. I would also still go to cables because the local info will be much better than buying online. They should know what flies to get, what weight leaders etc...

I also fish out of a kayak and never thought of getting a canoe. I fished out of them as a kid and there were fun but with the recent advent of more stable kayaks designed for more recreational activities i just don't see the need for a canoe anymore. There will always be people who love their canoes but they just aren't for me. I am hoping to get another one to have for friends and family but i will get something that i would fish out of because i don't want to put them in something that wouldn't be good to fish out of and potentially sour their experience. There always seem to be used tarpons out there for the price of a cheap new kayak that wouldn't do the job as well in my opinion.

I think one of the mods on here JFrancho fished out of OKs so he will probably chime in at some point. I have never heard a bad thing about them and given your use i think you are on the right track. I personally don't like anything shorter than 12' for lake fishing as they seem to waggle a little to much when covering some water. I prefer the shorter boats on moving water though where maneuverability is at more of a premium

Do you have a local fly shop around you? if so I would go in there as they would probably have a beginner combo for you to purchase. My first combo was a cortland combo that did well for a while until i upgraded. I am pretty sure reddington makes a decent beginner combo as well. TFO makes some well reviewed combos too but i haven't cast them so can't speak from experience. I think this year the bass pro reel and rod trade in works for fly rods too so might be worth checking out if you have one close by.

I use the PQ in the ratio you mentioned and realy like it. It isn't the lightest reel as you mentioned but for a value proposition i think it is top notch.

Your life jacket color isn't going ot be noticed that much but there have been a few studies that indicate a brightly colored paddle blade draws more attention as it is generally moving and seen easier. I have a green PFD and to me color is not important. I get the one that i will wear and is comfortable. If you are concerned abotu teh safety aspect get yourself one of the lights that yopu can mount on the back of your kayak like yak attack sells and if that doesn't get you noticed, there is nothing else you can do really.