Hey guys (& gals),

I just got a 6 weight fly outfit put together, and I'd like to try and land a fish with it this fall.

Any tips would be appreaciated, especially tips on what flys to use in which situations. I'm also curious as to how most salmon fly guys rig their terminal tackle, like what type of tapered leaders, tippets, etc.

I'll be fishing mostly the Dungeness and Elwha, and the Sol Duc, Bogey, etc. out west.

I think I might try for sea-run cuts tomorrow on Sequim Bay, since it's in my front yard.

Any help at all is appreciated.

-N.

[ 09-22-2001: Message edited by: StorminN ]

Do you plan on using that 6wt for salmon? A 6 wt is a standard all around trout rod, or a good lightweight summerrun rod (I usually use a 7 wt for summerruns) but that's it. I've snapped a 7 wt on chums. I'd highly suggest if you plan on hitting silvers/chums, and especially kings to step up to an 8 or 9 wt. You can get by with that 6 wt, but since you're new to the game it's much better to have a little more leverage of a rod to play with. Plus the flies you'll be throwing will be a bear with a 6 wt. A size 1/0 or 2/0 on an 8 wt is hard enough, let alone a 6 wt. That's a good cuttie rod though.

You know, you don't have to go super technical like alot of these trout guys do. I'd suggest either one of two things. Either have a WF floating line on one spool and a spool with a sink tip, or if you only have one spool have a WF floating and buy a sinktip you can add buy just slipping onto the main flyline. I usually use a piece of 3-4 foot 12-15# maxima UG leader on my sinktip and a 6-9 foot leader of 8-15# test on my floating setups (depending on water clarity I'll even load lower on test if I'm hitting summerruns). Sometimes I'll even go up to #20 when I'm hitting kings.

There's a ton of options you can go. There's a ton of lines too. A good line is the Rio Versitip. Will help you on the learning curve if you can afford it. You can also go with the Cabela's multitip. That way you can have one flyreel instead of multi spools.

Any more questions email me.

Stormin'
Your best bet would be to join our Greywolf Fly Fishing club. We meet third Weds at the Gardiner Community Center. Nice bunch of "regular guys" who help eachother with fly fishing, fly tying and all.
I've been getting coho on a 5 wt, though that is a challenge. There is decent cutt fishing north of Port Williams, as you probably know.
Email me for details on the club or other local fly fishing. I live in Gardiner so we could hook up sometime.
Dave

Very good advice above. I'm 99% a spey rod user but I do carry a single hander for close in water work. With a 6wt you will be fine for summer runs up to 5-6 # assuming you're not fishing heavy/fast water. In those two situations your just as likely to get spooled as have the fish break off.

The other top end point above was fly size. Rod weights are built to handle a small range of line sizes and the appropriate hook/fly weights. Exampe: with a six wt rod lightly wted # 4's and smaller (wlyworms, etc) will work fine but with over a size 6 hook your probably going to need a 7wt forward because the # 6 just doesn't have enough grains (1st 30 feet of line) to move the wt/bulk of the fly. You will spend your day ducking and hoping like heck you don't nail yourself due to lack of control. (As a side bar: a 600 grain head on a 9wt rod if mis-cast will take you right off your feet if it hits you on the back of the head ... trust me on that one!).

Back to fly size for a moment. A six wt rod is set up for fly size (light) 4's, most 6's and wted/beadhead's smaller. Will work well. If you're using a heavily wted fly (barbell head, etc.) you will need at least an 8wt rod preferably at least 10 feet long (leverage lives!) With the heavier rod the Rio versitips are very good lines, cast well, etc., in any of their configurations. Just read the directions!!!! from Rio when you rig up as a floating to the heavy VI sink tip. Very popular line (as well as the windcutter which will cover 3 line wts) with the Spey Rod Crowd.

You can buy a reasonable 8wt (remember the fish doesn't know it isn't a Sage Rod) 10'footer for at/around $100. Phlug. Medalists run 30 to 50 bucks and are bullit proof. (If you want to spend more the new Plug "Supreme" is an OUTSTANDING bargin at about $10 more). Again, the fish doesn't know it's not a $300 reel; and couldn't care less. Choice between money into the rod or reel? Choose the rod; the reel is basicly a small winch to hold line. period.
fe

Hey guys,

Thanks for the info!! Looks like I might want to get a heavier rod; that's O.K., I'm borrowing the 6wt rod, and I bought an 8/9 reel to use on it with the thought that I might have to go up in size.

Have any of you built a rod up from a blank? The Pacific Bay ones are supposedly somewhere above a GL3 in sensitivity... ever tried one of those?

I'm super interested in the Greywolf club, I'll email you about it. I go to the PSA meetings there on the third Thursday of each month, I live on the east side of Sequim Bay, so I'm only about 5 minutes away anyhow.

Thanks guys, and I'll email you soon.

-N.

I've liked th ST. Croix ultra series of rods for the last few years. I've gone almost exclusively to 4 piece fly rods also without sacrificing any performance (as far as I can tell). Big consideration when traveling. The ultras are about half price of the big boy names. Also, check the classifieds on flyfish.com, the virtual flyshop, and flyfishreview.com for rods. Some great deals can be had for all kinds of toys. I've saved lots o bucks by keeping an eye out on those sites for stuff I need (excuse me...stuff I really don't need but want. My wife says its a sickness I have). Fred has some great advise above. Also, Preston Singletary has great and sensible advise about fly gear...you might ask him too.

[ 09-24-2001: Message edited by: Chuckn'Duck ]

Yes, we have an account with Pac Bay (and one of their rod building machines). Most of us have built at least one rod with their components. Good stuff.

Stormin' I'm not sure if you have before, but stop by Quality Fly Fishing in Port Angeles. Ben the owner is a really good guy. He'll answer all your questions.

If you want a pretty good rod that will handle all salmon and is cheap, I would say get a 9' 9wt St. Croix Imperial. I think it's about $130, but I'm not sure. If you build a Pac-Bay rod, you will have a better rod in the end and will probably save a little money. I built a 9' 8wt Rainshadow (basically the same as Pac-Bay) rod and I love it. I've got a rod dryer and a rod wrapper that you could borrow if you wanted to. I think you would be better off to have Ben show you how to build a rod though. That's what I did at least.

Most people on this board will disagree with me probably, but I think a 6wt will be fine for silvers. You probably shouldn't take on anything bigger than a silver with a 6wt. Once you get good at casting you shouldn't have any troubles casting the heavier flies. On the Dungeness you don't have to cast much more than 20 feet; if that.

For rigging on a river like the Dungeness I use about 6' of 20-25lb test line off the end of my fly line. Then I tie on a swivel (just a swivel, not the snap kind). Then I tie on about 18-24" of 10lb line. The fly goes on the end of the small chunk. You can put lead on the heavy chunk of line and the swivel will stop it from sliding all the way down. Ben can show you all this stuff.

If you fish for sea-run cutts use a 9' tapered leader of 6lb test. A #8 Knudson's Spider works good on the cutts.

E-mail me if you need any information.

~ Dr Pepper