zak lehmann
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Maybe one of the pros can confirm this.
I heard that the barbs on hooks are a throw back to when people only fished with bait. The barbs are really only there to help hold bait on the hook, it doesn’t actually do anything to help keep the fish on right?
You can never have enough fly rods you know… 😉
You say things like this just to get me in trouble…
No, I am limited to 1 freshwater (10′ 4wt – love it to death), and this new salt rod. I’m a young (poor) professional stuck in NYC apartments. I can barely fit my fishing gear as it is, but am moving to saltwater regardless lol.
The ramblings of the locals at my shop indicated a 9wt was ideal for striper fishing around me. That is what I’ve done saltwater with in the past. The 8 seems fine, but I think I want to throw some heavier sinking lines and might want the extra power. I guess what I’m thinking is I would rather err on the side of too much stick rather than not enough.
I also just saw a quick google search that had Orvis Mirage fluoro spools going for $9.99.
Another trick is asking shops if they have stuff that’s expired. Most of the time their material has been out of the sun in the storage in back and should still be good. They’ll usually give you a good deal on the expired stuff.
Ok I can take a shot at this…
Fluoro has a few benefits over mono. It refracts light better than mono, which means that when it is IN the water, it is harder to see. It also has a higher specific gravity, which means it gets into the water easier than mono. Lastly it has high abrasion resistance and knot strength. It’s important to get the tippet into the water (reason for the downward bend of the eye of most dry fly hooks?). Line on the water creates huge distracting dimples in the surface which splashes light everywhere spooking fish. The fluoro gets into the water quickly and is practically invisible once it’s there.
Is it worth 3x the price for mono?..that’s the real question. I can tell you this though, when I worked at my local shop and got a 50% discount I only used fluoro. Now that I’m back in the real world I only buy mono.
I used to work for one of the large fly shop/rod makers (sorry can’t say which one). I know from the inside that the new mid-price rods completely out-competed their 2-year old top of the line models. The middies cast further easier, were lighter in most cases even. It was impossible to sell the top of the line models to anyone on a budget. I personally even bought the mid range before I left because it was just as good as the top of the line rods and cost $300 less.
