In article , Smudge
wrote:

Thanks for your help Derek, although I have fly fished on and off over the
years, I never paid much attention to detail, so I am fairly new to the
technical side and find this information very useful, I got a few fly reels
with lines off of ebay, 5s 6s 7s and one 8 or 9 line, so I am ready to go.

OK, just do the slowly lengthening line thing with a couple of these and
then cut them at the rod tip. Attach floating backing and you have instant,
tailored shooting heads.

Going by my past experiences, using any old rod and line, and half killing
myself trying to cast, I have come round to thinking that the key to fly
fishing must be to use the right gear, properly matched lines and rods are
critical, then again, I could just be useless at casting a fly, time will
tell.

Critical, no. A terrific help, yes.

The cheapest next step might be a casting lesson. Ask the instructor to
bring along a couple of properly balanced outfits so you can learn the feel.

On my last trout fishing fiasco, some old boy, about 80 yrs old, was casting
further than I was, so it must be down to the gear to some extent, some
joker told me he could cast further with a broom handle. LOL.

Maybe. Distance is only part of it. Accuracy and delicacy are often much
more important.

Cheerio,

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