That time of year again, and the wife is bugging me for ideas, so Ive decided on a flyrod setup for limited (maybe more) Steelie/Salmon action. I dont fly fish religously, but own a nice 5wt lami (1298-5) which I believe is the 1000 series blank. I love using it for small stream trout in June/July, but dosnt see much action the rest of the year, so why not get beefier rod for the big boys, after all its not my money. So heres were I need help.
1. What size, I was thinking 9wt
2. What brand (rod), I like my 5wt lami, but are there better rods for the money (around $100). Remember, this is a part time passion. When I really want to catch fish, Ill still use the drift gear and hardware.
3. How about the reel, I know this plays a more important role with the big boys, and I really dont have a clue in this dept. My 5wt setup has an Okuma on it, and I have been somewhat satisfied, but rarely does the drag get tested.

Thanks for any and all help
Tight Lines
Rock

I would go with a 8WT.
It is beefy enough for Salmon/Steelhead.
If Money was not an issue, I go with the Sage XP (fast action,I don't have one but it feels nicer then my rod).
For the Budget Gloomis GL3 or Scott voyger.
Reels, well if on a budget, the Ross Cimarron or for a little more the Ross Gunnison or the Canyon is an excellent reel. Again if $ is not an issue
a sage 3400 or a Islander.
I think all of the above mentioned manufactures; have excellent customer service.

I'd say that I'd agree with the 8wt scenerio. It's about the best all around rod. It's a bit light for big kings, but you can get by with it.

Hmmmmm, rods in the $100 range. I'd definitely say you're gonna have to look at either Lami's or St Croix's. But, if you shelled out about $100 more you can get a DS Sage. They run about $210 and are excellent rods. You can't go wrong. I'll say that the Lami's at the 8/9wt range are a bit stiff, if you like a heavy action when you're throwing flies. When it comes to low cost reels you can't go wrong with scientific anglers. You can pu a system 2L 7/8 for about $120. But hey, you know I've used the bigger pfluegers for years and haven't had a problem with them. They aren't the nicest reels, but you can't go wrong at $30. But step up to the SA if you can. If you look long enough, you can pick them up for about $80 if you look hard enough. They're great reels.

Good luck, if you look hard enough you can even find sages and others fairly cheap if you don't mind used.

St. Croix, Cabela's Fish Eagle, or LL Bean are your best choices for an economical rod. I'd get an 8 wgt for best all around use. But then, I'm one of those guys that has them from 3 through 10 wgt, so I may not be the best guy to talk. :-)

I don't care much for the Lamiglas's, but I haven't used their more recent models, so my opinion may not be valid.

I agree with the other guy, Scientific Angler or Ross is a great value for a reel.

If you think you are only going to be going for summer fish with a floating line, you might consider going lighter, and getting a 7 wgt. If you think that winter fish are part of the program, with the attendent sinking lines, stay with the 8 wgt. Also, if chummies are part of the mission stay at least with the 8 wgt, and consider a 9.

Careful there--it's an addiction...

Y'know, I almost bought a boat once, but it needed a motor, and a steering systen, and a trailer, and a paint job...a $1500 boat can cost $5,000 to put in the water.

Likewise, a $100 fly rod can take $1,000 to put on the water. Besides the cost of a reel (and extra spool?) is the cost of a line (or lines?) and the cost of several sink tips and the cost of flies and boxes to put the flies in and books about the flies and fly fishing and an extra vest with pockets for the fly boxes and a tying vice because buying flies in the store isn't cost efective and then there's all the materials, of course, and then not enough boxes for all the patterns you've tied or caught fish on or want to try to catch fish on.

But then, I don't mean to disuade you--fighting a steelie 1:1 with a fly reel does things to a guy.

Still, a word of warning: read up a bit. Look at http://www.flyfishsteelhead.com/. The articles there are "fantabulistic" for starter-fly-guys.

Course, what do I know? I fish 5, 8, and spey--and cast the 8wt further than I do the spey rod.
Oh well. I use and would recommend a Tioga reel. Like Dennis say, fly lines hook fish; fly reels land them.

Can't say I'm a purist, though. Today I caught my first winter-run of the season. On eggs.

sharp hooks--

Locally for chums I use my 9 wt and it works great. If you are bank fishing and don't want to exhaust the fish to death, you need to bring it in quickly and release it. 8wt might be good choice also but I don't own one. My 9wt was a bit light for some AK kings/river combination and I bought an 11wt. Heavy current and a good size fish can spool you quickly, so you need some back bone for bank fishing.

I have a 3,4,5,6,7,9,11 wt rods (G-Loomis, winston, sage, orvis and another old brand name that I can' remember). My 6 weight Orvis broke couple years ago when I accidentally hooked into a big king and tried to horse it in for a quick release. Went to orvis and they gave me a brand new higher model and more expensive rod. No questions asked. My other rods are good also I but have not had to deal with the customer service yet. Orvis's customer service is great. They have a nice store in downtown Bellevue near the mall and very good selections. I like the pflueger reels for their price but spend the money and get a good rod.

Hey Liz'!

I was in the same delima last spring. After lots of research I bought a top of the line St. Croix Legend Ultra 9'6" 8 wt. The price was comperable to many of the GL3's I looked at. Life time warranty too.
After another 2 months of research I decided on a #7 Teton reel. The Tioga mentioned by fishkisser is a bit less ($135 vs $205) and would do a fine job. The Teton is a little more refined & holds a s#*t load of line.(265 yds.) The disk drag is sweet! Also, it has life time warranty.
For line I went with Rio's Versi-tip. It has preformed very well under most any condition I have encountered while fishing. At $115 it's a great alternative to multiple spools & lines.
Extra spools for the Teton are $90 + line & backing.

Jeff

I use a 9'6" 8wgt, and find that to work great for me. One place you might want to look for deals is on the Virtual Flyshops classified section (www.flyshop.com). There are some bargains there sometimes. I have used the GL3 loomis, Sage RPL, and St. Croix LU and like all three. I use the Sage the most though.
Tom

The first graphite fly rod I had was a 7-wt. Lamiglas 1000 series and I've long ago lost count of how many steelhead and salmon I've landed with it. I think you'll find that most steelhead fly fishermen favor a 9 1/2 foot 8-wt. You needn't fork over the big bucks either, the Lamiglas 1000 will do the job just as well as a Sage (and maybe better since it has a relatively soft action that is, in my opinion, more suitable for throwing heavy sinking heads). Besides, we're fortunate that there are lots of inexpensive rods out there that are fine casting tools; it's getting more and more difficult to find a really bad rod. Don't forget that much of what you're paying for in a Sage, etc., is a huge advertising budget and the "you-bust-it-we-replace-it" warranty. If you can go $130 for the rod you've got a huge selection out there. In the reel you'll need room for an 8-wt. line and 150 yards of 20-lb. backing (if a steelhead gets a football-field-and-a-half away from you, you might as well kiss him goodbye). Big surprise! You don't even need a disc drag! I've landed an awful lot of steelhead and salmon on an old Hardy St.Aidan click-and-pawl reel that doesn't even have rim control. If you feel you do need a drag of some sort, take a look at the Okuma or, for $100, the Loomis Adventure 7. Lines, unfortunately are not so easy to come by, unless you can build your own interchangeable head system (a good idea because you can tailor it to your own needs) you're stuck with SA, Cortland, Rio or Airflo's offerings, none of them cheap. I did hear that Cabela's was offering one under their own name at a better price. If you have any questions I'll be glad to go into more detail if you e-mail me.

I'd have to say that if you are going to shell out $100 on anything use it to get a decent reel. The rod for $100, unless you can find one used for that price on the virtual flyshop, flyfish.com, ebay, etc... in my opinion would not be a quality rod. I tried that avenue with a cheap St. Croix 7wt. (not the Ultra) several years ago and decided I wasted my 100 bucks. The Loomis GL3's are a good rod as are the St. Croix Ultras.
I've owned the Ross Cimmaron for years and am very happy with it. I also have Teton Tioga in for my spey rod and it isn't a bad reel for the bucks (about $130-140) but not machined as nicely as the Ross. I've used the SA system 2 (don't have experience with the 2L series) and it performed great on salmon in AK for years. Finally, I bought a Redington 7/8AL large arbor at the Sportsman's Show several years ago and like it also, although it is a bit heavy.

If you shop around on the internet you can pick all this stuff up for way below retail. But, make sure you know what you are shoping for first. Go to a shop and try to find an outfit that balances out nice and you are comfortable with. Most shops will let you demo outfits or at least cast them on the premises.

As far as lines go, to exclude having to buy spare spools which are expensive, get one of the multi-tip lines from RIO, Airflo, Cortland, or Cabela's (substantially cheaper). They'll allow you to cover most all water conditions you'll encounter.

One last note...even though purchasing online is a good deal, the service aspect is a bit sketchy. THere still is no substitute for buying from a good local shop. Besides having a point of purchase spot to take your equiptment to in case of problems, they are a great source of info if you are just getting into the sport. I don't live within an hour and a half drive from any fly shop so I buy most equiptment online. Probablly be different if I lived near one. Go try some rods out or borrow a buddy's...flyrod action is too personal of a preference to only select one from word of mouth.

Try to avoid the cheap route, you will end up paying extra in the long run.
The Sage Discovery(DS2) is an excellent rod for all levels. The DS2 896(8WT 9'6") outfit comes with rod, tube, reel, backing,and line for $ 310.
This same outfit can be found on lot of fly shops on the Internet for $250 to $300.

[ 11-25-2001: Message edited by: Divers ]

Sounds like some good recommendations above, but I'll throw my $.02 in anyway.

My recommendation for a budget/quality outfit that you will be happy with in the long run is the following: 8wt 9'9" Loomis GL3, Ross #5 Cimarron. I would also suggest to consider a large arbor model in a Tioga or Lamson Velocity. I like the Velocity because it includes an open cage design when you disconnect the spool.

If you go with a multi tip system for a line, like the Rio versi-tip system, go with the newer models that doesn't include the hard shrink tubing that finishes the loop to loop connection. These finishes have a tendency to hang up on the rod guides has a fish pulls line from your reel. If you go with a multi tip system you will probably want to include a spare spool sooner or later for a heavier tip line (200-350 grain). In my experience I am able to accompish getting my fly in the zone roughly 75% of the time with a multi tip system and the other 25% I usually have to go to a heavier line. Good Luck

Thanks everyone, this board is awesome.
Tight Lines
RL

Rocklizard, For $100 get the 9 wt. st.croix pro graphite. paired with an Ross reel 150-200$ or the well priced orvis large arbor. If you break the rod o-well was only 95$. Get the Orvis wonderline floating salmon/steelhead taper. Adds 20-30 feet to a good caster. I own a 4,5,7,8,wt.rods. the 8 wt. is what I use for salmon chinook/coho get the 9 wt. I can guarantee an 8 wt. cant handle a pissed off 25+ lb chinook without at least a 45 minute fight. Go 9 wt.

Rocklizard,

It's hard to add to the excellent advice offered here. Here are my opinions, based on 30 years of fly fishing for steelhead. In order of importance are: 1)waders, 2)flyline, 3)reel, 4)rod, 5)fly pattern choice. Without decent waders, you may not get in position to properly present your fly. If you're fishing winter runs, the right flyline is the difference between catching fish and not. Much is made of reels. I've caught scads of steelhead on cheap reels, altho I recommend getting a decent one. I've heard good things about the Okuma, but have no personal experience. Anything by Ross is excellent, including the Colorado at a bit over $100. A disc drag is unnecessary. Only one of my reels has a disc drag, but I bought it for its large size for my Spey rods. I mostly fish with Hardys that have only a spring and pawl and no rim control, and these are the reels I've caught tons of steelhead on, along with a few salmon. A Lamiglass rod is an excellent and inexpensive fly rod. I've built several from their blanks. If I could have but one steelhead rod, it would be an 8 weight in either a 9 or 9 1/2 foot length. It's too light for kings, but mine have handled steelhead to 23# with no problem. It's a wee bit heavy for summer run fishing. I prefer a 7 wt. for summer runs, but when you become addicted, you'll add a few more rods to your collection. As for flies, it sure helps if you tie your own, especially as you lose a lot to the river bottom while river fishing.

Good luck, and enjoy!

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Why havent I heard anybody mention Redington reels when you talk about quailty reels at a reasonable price.

RL, I'll hook you up with my buddy. He fishes exclusively with bugs and builds rods for a living. I gave him the moniker "Purist" for good reason. E-mail me if interested.

I also want the added challenge of learning how to FF and with Purists help hopefully cutting out some learning curve.


FJ...out.

I am wondering why so many of you guys think that the 8WT is too light for Kings? My largest on a 8Wt this year was a 30+ and no problem with this 8WT. I use this 8WT for all salmon.

Here's a question to think about:

How often are you going to be fishing for kings LEGALLY here in WA with a flyrod anyway? I personally wouldn't worry about it. A quality 8wt should suit your needs just fine.

Divers,

I've landed kings on a flimsy fiberglass 7 wt. And many a king can be played and landed on the contemporary graphite 8 wts. But it can be a lot like work, and I fish for fun. If I'm targeting kings, and they can run well above 40 pounds in some rivers, I'd choose a heavier rod.

Also, not every 8 wt. is alike. Some have butt sections that are stiff as a fireplace poker, and may be better suited to playing large powerful kings than a more moderate action rod. The poster asked for advice and recommendations; there appears to be a consensus that the 8 wt. is preferred as an all around steelhead rod, but most anglers prefer something heavier for kings. It's no absolute rule, but a matter of individual preference, and the collective preference of a group of responding anglers.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Thanks Salmo.
I like the fight and prefer the 8WT.
You are right it is a lot of work with a 8WT, but fun.

Think Ill try an 8 wt. Most of the work this rod will see will be for winter steel, and maybe a chum or two. Thanks again for all the indepth, detailed replies. It was more than what I could have asked for
Thanks
RL

I'm going to have to retool my thinking on my Dad's old St. Aidain I've got stashed in the flytying cabinet. It doesn't look to pretty but if Dad, Preston, and Salmo G. swear by it I better put my extra 7wt. floater on it and use it for summer runs!
I am wary anymore of the large arbor line capacities. Many are overstated.

OK, Maybe I should fill in the gap and get and an 8wt.

RL ... I hate to give a classified an endorsement, but the rod that Divers has for sale qould be a great choice. I have Fishgal fishing one, and I have two myself (usually throw my 200's and 300's or short sinktips on them) ... they're a super rod for the $$$$

Only instance where I like a little more rod is fishing big water or 400's.

Good luck!