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    • June 4, 2025 at 9:48 am #31664
      williamn
      Participant

      Good morning …

       

       

       

      I fly fished with my Father my whole life until he passed away … I have not been fishing for a long time after his passing …

       

      My Dad did everything for me when we were fishing … it was awesome … but the problem is that I want to get back to fishing and I do not know or understand some things that he did for me …

       

       

       

      I am only interested in fly fishing for trout in smaller streams that are similar to those found in Pennsylvania …

       

       

       

      I have a large and very nice collection of rods, flies, etc … A large amount of these items are from Orvis/Cortland/Olympic/etc …

       

      I have (2) spools for each reel (one wet/sinking and one dry/floating) …. I remember my favorite was the 4WT rod … The reel/spools for this rod are Orvis Presentation EXR II …

       

      Currently, the dry/floating line has a (loop to loop) leader attached … the leader is 9 ft … I have many 4X, 5X, and 6X leaders … How do you know which to use ?? …

       

       

       

      The wet/sinking line is what I have the most questions about …

       

      Where the  (colored) line ends … there is a leader that has a loop on it – it is about 12 inches long … attached to this loop is the leader – about 9 ft long …

       

      What I have read is that the wet/sinking leader should be about (3-5) feet long … Which is correct ?? … having the 9 ft leader or the (3-5) ft leader ?? …

       

      If a (3-5) foot leader is needed … What needs to be purchased ?? … Individual (3-5) foot leaders or a bulk spool of leader line to cut myself ?? …

       

      I did enjoy fishing wooly buggers as my wet/sinking setup …

       

       

       

       

      Thank you soooooo much !! …

       

      Bill Benoit

    • June 4, 2025 at 12:20 pm #31667
      Kenny Klimes
      Keymaster

      Bill,

      You asked a lot of great questions but tough to answer here without writing a long book. First, if you live in the St Louis, Missouri region joining our fellowship and taking our fly fishing class would answer many of your questions. We have a very comprehensive class on fly fishing. But if you do not live in our area I would advise joining a fly fishing organization in your area. This would give you the opportunity to discuss techniques with other fly fishers as yourself and possibly take one of their classes.

      If unable, then some books may help you with your answers. I think my favorite book for beginners is the Orvis Fly-Fishing Guide by Tom Rosenbauer. I find that is a very complete book to get any new fly fisher started. Orvis also has a great podcast to listen to that will answer many questions that you do have or didn’t know you had!

      Please feel free to use our website for your fly fishing needs. Again, if you live in our area we would love to have you as a member. But, just because you are not in our area you can easily join and reap the many benefits that we provide our members. Our organization is now expanding to many other states beside just Missouri and Illinois.

      Another other questions please hit us up in our forum.

      Kenny

      FATC, Chairman

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