Category: Education

Every angler wants a well built and balanced outfit. Reds posted a recent video on YouTube that will help make putting together your next “multi-purpose” outfit easy. It walks you through several steps on how to effectively use our Outfit Builder tool.

We’ll be doing more of these videos and walking you through how to put together outfits for Euro Nymphing, Creek Fishing, Trout Spey, Saltwater, Streamer/Bass, Indicator Nymphing, and dedicated dry fly rigs. This week, we’re talking Multi-Purpose outfits for trout sized species.

Basic Steps For Multi-Purpose Outfit Building:

Step 1:  – Determine the “Rod Weight” that best suits your fishery:

Here is a very basic outline:

• 0-2 weight – used for the smallest streams and trout.  Featherweight.
• 3 weight – in shorter lengths, these make excellent small stream rods. At 8’6″ – 9′ these rods play well on large rivers with small dry flies.
• 4 weight – a very useful rod weight.  In shorter lengths and medium actions, these are excellent small stream rods and make great Panfish rods as well.  As you get to 8′ and longer, a 4 weight can cast well for distance and is capable of handling large dry flies, small nymphs, and trout up to 18″ would be a reasonable target range.
• 5 weight – the most versatile rod weight.  Shorter rods are better for dry flies and small water.  9′ is the most popular for Multi-purpose applications. Trout to 24″ can be handled, but the 5 weight won’t steal enjoyment from catching Bluegills or Brookies.
• 6 weight – excellent for fisheries requiring weighted flies, longer casts, or yielding larger hard fighting fish. The #6 is a great overlap between a bass rod and trout rod.
• 7 weight – this is on the heavy end of multi-purpose, but if an angler was looking for rod dedicated to bass/carp fishing with a chance of trout overlap… this would be a good choice. We’ll talk about 7+ weight rods in one of our future installments.

Step 2:  – Choose Your Rod Length:

Two rods of the same weight, but in different lengths will vary tremendously.  Longer rods lack finesse and fine control, but shorter rods lack reach, distance potential, and typically power at least in the “trout” sizes.

• 6-7′ – small ball. These short rods are for creek fishing and maybe an evening session on the local Bluegill pond.
• 7′ – 8′ – these rods are still on the “short” side and provide the angler with fine control from 10′ – 30′ or so.  They are very accurate with dry flies, but lack the length and reach to be considered suitable for nymph fishing.
• 8’6″ – 9′ – standard.  These lengths are the most common, versatile, and provide the angler enough reach to mend, roll cast, and control drifts at distance.  Nymphs, dry flies, streamers, no problem.
• 9’6″ – 10′ long.  Assuming we are not discussing “euro nymphing” these rods are long and typically used by lake fisherman, especially those in kayaks or float tubes. They make casting from a seated position easy. Longer rods will feel stiffer than a 9′ or shorter rod in the same weight.  Nymph fisherman on rivers using strike indicators love these rods, but we’ll discuss building a dedicated nymph rod later.

Step 3: – Choose Your Favorite Brand(s):

If you have a brand you’ve cast, or heard good things about start there. Nothing is better than hands on experience, and we appreciate both brand loyalty.  If you hit a dead end, add another brand to your research.

Step 4: – Budget:

Yes, budgets are real.  This is the next step!  We always encourage you… buy the best you’ll never regret it.  Fine rods are fine rods and as your skill grows you’ll know the difference.

Sort or Filter the remaining options and get a feel for what these rods cost.  At that point, highlight a few in your price range and move onto Step 5.

Step 5: – Action, Feel, and Look:

It’s best to watch the video linked above to learn a bit more about “rod action” or “speed” to understand what might work best for you.  Medium Fast is the most versatile and common. Casters that like a shorter faster cadence may prefer a true Fast action. More in the video.

If you have the opportunity to test cast a rod that is ALWAYS  the best way to go, but hopefully this exercise using our outfit builder helps you create a short list.

Choose a Reel

Reds Outfit Builder tool will show you In-Stock reels appropriately sized to the rod of your choosing.  You should check and support your local fly shop, and clubs.

Step 1: – Choose Your Favorite Brand (if you have one):

Like rods, we appreciate any knowledge or experience you may have had with certain reel makers. Start there! If you don’t, move onto Step 2.

Step 2: – Select a Price Range up to 50% the Cost of the Rod

This is a rough guideline, but its a good start.  You don’t need to put a $500 reel on a $500 rod.  It would be more wise to get an $800 rod with a $200 reel if that was your budget.

Reels are MUCH easier to select than a rod, as many of the variables regarding action and length are removed. Choose a reel that looks good appropriately size for your rod.

Step 3: – Retrieve and Backing

You will need to choose your retrieve. 90% of right handed anglers retrieve using their left hand.  The other weirdos reel with their right.

Choose a Line

The Outfit Builder will show you compatible In-Stock lines matched for your rod, but there are a lot of choices.

Step 1: – Start by choosing “Floating (F)” as your LINE TYPE Since we are talking “Multi-Purpose” setups here.

Step 2: – Don’t overthink line selection here as we are talking “Multi-Purpose” use for this setup.  Yes, there are a TON of choices but here are our most common lines for this application.

In future installments, we’ll talk about dedicated dry fly lines, nymph, and streamer applications.

• RIO Perception – Great line for Medium Fast and Fast Action Rods. Super all around line.
• RIO Grand – Made for Fast Action Rods
• Scientific Anglers Amplitude Smooth Infinity – Great line for Medium Fast and Fast Action Rods. Super all around line.
• Scientific Anglers MPX – Excellent for Fast Action Rods

This is some info from Reds Fly Shop

As always, support your local fly shop, such as ActionAngler at the third crossing on the Guadalupe River.

Fishing pocket water on a hot summer day is big fun!  Being in the water, wet, cool, and hooked up is about as much fun as an angler can have.  If you are just learning to Euro style nymph, this tip is critical but it can be applied to all nymphing!

Keeping unnecessary leader and line out of the swirls and undertows is critical for control and proper presentation. 

Youtube Euro Nymph Tip

Link to this info from Hatch

Certainly, the basic “tight line” technique has been around for many years. George Harvey and Joe Humphreys pioneered the technique when bamboo and cat gut where the de facto reg. But over the past several years, the proliferation of tight line techniques that are most often referred to as “Euro-style” nymphing has continued to gain steam and we’ve seen tons of leader formulas and styles to go with it. Czech leaders, French, Polish, Spanish, hell I even think there’s a Latvian leader these days.

A lot of these formulas can be complicated and intimidating to the beginner. Here’s a formula for a basic tight lining trout sighter rig that’s simple to put together and is one you can make without all the headache of buying 37 spools of Maxima (although there’s nothing wrong with owning 37 spools of Maxima). I’ve been using this setup for a while now with good success and find it’s the easiest and most reliable setup for beginners and for teaching people the basics of tight lining.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

RIO Suppleflex leader 13.5’ 4X – This is a soft nylon leader that, as its name suggests, is very supple. Originally designed for long delicate casts with dry flies, thanks to its sensitivity, it’s the perfect material for feeling your rig as it moves through the current and bounces along the bottom.

RIO or Umpqua 3X Two-Tone Indicator Tippet – This is the material that will serve as your “indicator”. If you’re unfamiliar with this line, it’s basically nylon in bright green and orange alternating colors. The Umpqua line changes color every 18” as opposed to RIO’s which changes color every 12”. That color change and the more often it happens helps your eyes pick up the line as you make your drift.

Tippet Rings – If you haven’t picked these up yet, you’re missing out on fly fishing’s “best thing since sliced bread”. You should be using them for all your nymphing needs. They save time, money and a lot of frustration. One note about tippet rings if they’re new to you: for the love of Job don’t take it off the swivel until you tie it to the line. It’s like trying to put an oyster in a parking meter; it’s simply not going to happen. If you take it off the swivel then try to tie it on, it’s going to end up on the ground, lost forever and with you having to put a dollar in the swear jar.

4 through 7X tippet – Whichever brand of fluorocarbon you like, it is denser and sinks faster than nylon.

A Couple of your favorite Nymphs and maybe some split shot – I’ll leave the nymph choice up to you or another article, but make sure that your “point” fly has enough weight to carry the rig down deep and fast. Add split shot to get those flies down fast and keep them on the bottom while you bounce along if you’re fishing faster currents and deeper water. I generally like one or two split placed about midway between flies but will add another above the top fly if I need to get down farther and faster.

THE SETUP

Take the RIO Suppleflex leader and cut off about 24” so you get down to around the 3X diameter section of the leader and a length of 11-11.5’. Then, tie in 24 to 30” of your indicator material to the leader with a blood knot. Make that knot strong, don’t half-ass it. Next, tie your tippet ring to the end of the indicator line and tie on your tippet to the tippet ring.

One note: smaller diameter tippet sinks faster and creates less drag. Faster currents will require you to get your flies in the strike zone with a short drift, so go as light as you dare with your tippet — lets say 5x.

Don’t vary the diameter size on you tippet, different size transitions will create drag in your system and the key to successful tight lining is the elimination of drag. Generally speaking, start with around three to four feet of tippet then tie in another section of 18” or so with a surgeon’s knot, leaving the top tag unclipped so you can tie a fly to it. Vary the tippet length depending on the depth and speed of water you’re fishing. Tie on your flies, heaviest on the bottom, lighter up top and add shot if needed.

Your finished rig should end up around eighteen feet or just about two times the total length of your rod (10 foot rods in 3 through 5 weights are ideal for tight lining).

Hopefully, this simple rig will help to demystify some of the challenges of getting started with tight line and Euro-style nymphing rigs. If so, you’ll be eating blintzes and drinking wine instead of staying up all night with the cold sweats wondering if your 32 foot leader will turn over that size 2 Vladi worm.