New to fly fishing

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Exiled4Life

Senior Member
Hi guys!

So the fly fishing bug bit me and now all I can think about is getting my first pull, I took a drive to one of my favourite tackle shops and bought myself a shimano 9ft 10wt biocraft rod, now im stuck on what reel to buy?

Im on a budget of more or less R2000 for the reel.

Can someone please point me In the right direction.


ps. im looking for someone in Bloem area that can show me the ropes once I get my tackle together.

Regards

Wessel.
 
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EugeneC

Sealiner
Get an Xplorer XPS-S, it won't break the bank (around R2500) and it will do the job until you figure out if this is the game for you.

Or, if you are already sure you're going to love fly fising the salt, rather wait and save a little more to buy a proper reel that will do the job and last a long time.

To be honest though you first need to decide what kind of fish you plan on targeting. If you want to throw feather dusters at monster GT then can the Xplorer idea...
 
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Exiled4Life

Senior Member
Thanx guys ive been to the fly shop they only have Sage and explorer reels same story with kloppers, and thats why I came to ask here most of you have first hand experience with reels.

Im not sure what I want to target in salt water, the 10wt rod was initially bought for catfish locally and the tigerfish trip end of this year, I mostly do rock & surf when im at the coast, never had the chance to see salt water fly fishing.
 
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EugeneC

Sealiner
I suggest starting out in estuaries targeting garrick, kingies and some of the smaller game fish species until you get the basics down. With a 10 weight outfit you can subdue pretty big fish, I'm assuming you have enough conventional fishing experience to know how to fight a fish properly.
 
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Exiled4Life

Senior Member
That was the initial plan just north of salt rock (mazeppa) is where I first had the idea of fly fishing for garrick and grunter and so on.

The xps is that the dorado 10wt? I heard its a bit heavy?
 
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EugeneC

Sealiner
Never fished an XPS myself, so can't tell about the weight. I have heard it's not bad as an entry level reel for the salt though.

10wt is on the heavy side for grunter, but besides that you will get serious grey hair casting at these fish. They are not easy on fly. Garrick, shad, kingfish and most other predators on the other hand are far easier targets. It's important to get a couple of pulls early on to build your confidence and get comfortable with the gear.

Good luck mate. Check out feathers and fluoro for a bit of inspiration...
 
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Spool-Song

Sealiner
For what you are planning, any cheapo real that can hold a 10wt line will probably do the job. In my experience the reel is usually just there to hold the line.

But .... if you are talking big game fish offshore and GT's and tuna and stuff, then you are going to need something that can carry a lot of backing and must have a proper drag, so you don't burn through your palm trying to slow down a fish.... I have yet to get there....

My 10kg carp, 3 kg tiger, 8kg catfish, 5kg yellowfish have all been handled on a 4-5wt rod and cheap reel. But a 10kg salt water game fish will give you a serious rev!:shock:
 
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RobG

Senior Member
totally agree with Spool-Song.

Fly fishing has become an elitist sport. You can spend huge amounts of money on equipment that is just not necessary. I am probably going to get shot for saying this BUT I have never heard of anybody saying that they lost a trophy fish because they bought the R500 reel instead of the R15000 reel. When it comes to tuna, then yes but not for your average Joe fly-fishermen.

The only thing I would spend money on is the line and even that is not going to break the bank.

My philosophy is, 'when I get stripped/reel breaks/rod breaks I will upgrade.' I have been fly fishing with a R2000 for many years and it has NEVER failed me.
 
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Exiled4Life

Senior Member
Im just looking for a reel that can handle salt water/ stop a tiger fish and mostly being used for catfish I have R1700 saved up for the reel so far
 
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RobG

Senior Member
I bought the Okuma with open face and decent drag for R300. Rather spend the rest on your line.
 
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plonk62

New member
Hi
I have two brand new Albright Tempest 2#8/9 w fly reels with one spare spool never used,still in the original boxes with bags ...........make an offer .

::slr::
 
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