"roger" wrote in message
oups.com...

I just bought a fly kit (9ft / 6wt rod) and several small poppers.

1. I've read that the length of the leader should be as long as the
rod. Does this apply when using poppers (my leader is around 5 ft now
since I've been practicing knots and lost a bit of length)?

Leader dimensions matter less for bass than for trout,
but you do not want to let them get any shorter than the
rod. Cure = Buy leaders tapered one size thicker than
you will use for the tippet, and add 2 to 3 feet of tippet-diam.
nylon from the tippet spool you carry.

E.g. for most bass fishing 1X or 0.010 thousandths of an inch
makes an OK tippet. So buy a 9-ft. salmon leader tapered to, say,
0.012 thou, then add a couple of feet of 10 thou tippet. As you get
experienced, you will use up less nylon in each knot.

2. Since the poppers I'm using are much heavier than typical flies
(http://www.lurenet.com/catalog.aspx?...ckhopperPopper), I've
been able to false cast with a huge amount of line and go around 30 ft
behind me. Is this considered bad fly fishing etiquette? I fish off the
lake shore and keep telling people behind me to watch out.

Buy (or make) poppers that do not weigh so much. Materials
include cork or quill (rather than wood or plastic. Alll-deer-hair
poppers get soggy fast but are nice to use and dry fast on your hat.

Best (smallmouth) bass fishing is in rivers rather than lakes,
especially when you can stand in water knee deep and cast to
water waist deep, where the fish are resting near the bottom and
watching what the current brings along overhead. (At sundown
they will come into your shallow water too.) You will catch more
fish and spear fewer spectators if you can wade a few yards
into the lake.

3. What is a good video or web site that shows proper casting form? I
fished twice so far and came pretty close to catching my ear. I feel
stupid for asking, but do any fly fisherman wear some sort of ear muffs
or special hats that offer extra protection?

Every bass angler needs a hat with a big brim: nuff said except:
1. Fish lightweight flies e.g. Muddler Minnows that do well on
or near the surface, and can be cast in standard ways. (Plastic
or wood poppers are too heavy for standard casting methods.
It can be done but you may learn bad habits in the first month.)
2. Have a look at Lee Wulff's teaching method, whirling the fly
around in a narrow oval. The point is that you do not flick a
fly like a weighted spinner. The action is more aerodynamic,
like launching a paper dart (but with maximum rod power.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)