Rod, Reel, Line & Fly Information

RODS

*8 1/2 - 9 ft.

*Medium, Medium/Fast or Fast action is preferable although some of the shorter rods that are out there now such as the Sage Bass rods or the short Temple Fork TiCRX 8wt. are pretty functional for close range casting, which is mostly what we do.

*6-10wt.
There are situations and times of year where anything from a 6wt. thru a 10wt. can be a good choice. During the summer months when we're fishing to resident fish, which rarely exceed 10lbs, and many days offer "slick" calm conditions, a good stout saltwater 6wt. with a fighting butt can be a great tool for chasing Redfish. The 6wt. line offers an advantage in these conditions as it hits that water a little softer than the heavier weight lines, offering a particular advantage when fish are spooky.
However, it is very important that you know how to effectively (quickly) fight and land a fish with a fly rod if you're going to use a 6wt. The fish in the summertime are a little more physically stressed out from the increased water temperatures and a prolonged fight can be just enough to do them in. Don't assume that because the fish swam away that he's going to survive. Fight him quick and hard (which you can do because we're usually using a 16-20 lb leader), handle him briefly and with care and revive him well before releasing, or take him home and enjoy your harvest with some butter and blackening season over charcoal. In my opinion, it's more sportsmanlike to harvest a fish than to let a fish go that doesn't have much chance for survival. *FIGHTING A FISH EFFECTIVELY requires using the butt of the rod to fight him vs. the tip. To do this, keep the rod pointed at the fish, bury the butt of the rod into your belly and turn your whole body pulling the rod down and away from the direction the fish is moving, keeping a minimal bend in the rod. A minimal bend all the way through the rod, engaging the butt, applies much more pressure than a large bend through the tip and mid section. Also, if you fight a fish with the rod tip up, you're not only applying minimal pressure, but also running a great risk of snapping the rod tip. An 8wt. is probably the most versatile weight and could truly be used year-round in the right hands. 7's and 9's are also pretty versatile and a 10wt. is a great rod for Bull Reds, big Black Drum and Jack Crevalle which occasionally visit the flats. For Fall and Winter, leave the 6wt's and 7wt's at home. In terms of action, use what you like. A medium action rod is fine if you know how to use it. A medium-fast or fast action will typically be better in the wind but make sure you're comfortable casting very short distances ACCURATELY with it. All in all, just find a rod that you're comfortable and versatile with as you will be required to make accurate casts anywhere from 5ft. - 60ft. (most will be in the 20ft.-40ft. range) and then, assuming that the fish eats, will have to effectively fight a sometimes large and always hard-pulling fish to the boat Some favorites include:

- Sage TCR or TCX 6wt.
-Sage Z-Axis 7wt.
-Temple Fork TiCR 8wt.
-Temple Fork Proffessional Series 8wt.
-Scott X2S 8wt.
-Sage Z-Axis 9wt.
-Sage Xi2 10wt.
-Temple Fork TiCR 10wt.

REELS

*Bar-stock aluminum, to resist corrosion in a saltwater environment

*Strong/smooth drag system is highly desirable (smooth being most important)

*Large arbor design certainly helps, allowing for quick retrieve and a reduction in line memory without having to fill a spool with an unnecessary amount of backing

*A good "free spool" helps to take in excess line when a fish is on and you need to get him on the reel quickly, which is recommended that you do. By free spool, I'm referring to the reel's ability to spin freely on the retrieve. A good technique to practice to take in excess line is to position the reel handle so that you can "whack" it with your pointer finger, allowing it to spin and take in excess line. If it has a decent free spool, this will take in line much faster than you could by manually cranking it. This technique will not work to take in line that is beyond the stripping guide. But for line that is on the deck between the reel and the stripping guide, this works great to get it on the reel quickly so that you can use the reel's hopefully smooth and strong drag to apply a smoother pressure than you could apply by holding the line with your finger or line hand. The quicker you can do this will cut down on the number of red, painful burn lines across the inside bend of your finger. It will also cut down on the number of "What happened?" comments from you or your guide when that fish snaps your leader with a sudden burst of speed that you nor anyone else can predict. "Palming" the spool can be a very effective technique to apply greater pressure on a fish WHEN DONE CORRECTLY but that is because it works with your drag system vs. working as opposed to your drag. Native Smoky Mtn. Brook Trout can be stripped in. 20lb Louisiana Bull Redfish can not, or at least should not!

*As long as your reel has 100 yard backing capacity or better with your chosen line, you'll be in great shape. It's not that often that a Redfish will get into your backing nor is it often that you'll find Jack Crevalle on the flats, which will show you alot of your backing very quickly, but it does happen.

Favorites:

Hatch 7 Plus
Hatch 9 Plus

*There are plenty of reels out there that will get the job done on any given day. However, I spend alot of time on the water and I don't need a reel to be dependable on any given day. I need a reel to be dependable on every given day. The Hatch reels have as strong and smooth a drag system as I have ever used and are absolutely maintenance free with a completely sealed drag system. You can't beat'em!

FLY LINES

*Weight-forward

*Floating

*6-10wt.

*Tropical core for warmer months (mid March through early/mid October)

*Softer core for cooler months (late October through early March)

*Some fly lines are have a versatile enough core to fish year round. The really stiff tropical lines can cause you headaches in the cooler months as they will be harder to straighten out. This increased memory can make it harder to shoot line through the guides or worse, get tangled at your feet, sometimes resulting in missed or lost fish. The softer lines are horrible in the warmer months as they will "go limp", making it more difficult to turn over larger flies and will be very hard to shoot. They often even begin to feel almost sticky and will drive you nuts as you go to shoot line and it more-or-less sticks to your line hand. In Louisiana's July and August, it's like trying to throw chewing gum.

*Favorite stiff core lines:
-Scientific Angler Mastery Series Bonefish
-Royal Wulff Bermuda Triangle Taper
-Teeny Flip Pallot

*Favorite softer core lines:
-Royal Wulff Bass Triangle Taper
-most premium Bass taper lines work well

*Favorite versatile (year-round) lines:
-Scientific Angler Mastery Series Redfish
-Rio Redfish

Leader

*6ft. - 9ft.

*Fluorocarbon or stiff mono

*16-20lb tippet strength

*I prefer to fish a shorter leader (6-71/2ft) most of the time. The fish generally are not extremely spooky, we get lots of short range targets and we commonly use larger flies than most Redfish destinations. Size 1 - 1/O hooks are not uncommon and many of the best patterns are larger profile flies such as a variety of crabs, spoons and poppers. The use of wind resistant material like spun deer hair is also fairly common and a shorter leader allows for an easier turn-over, especially on windy days. Leaders can be kept very simple here. In fact, my general purpose Redfish leader consists of an approx. 4-5ft. butt made from 40-50lb hard mono with a 2-21/2 foot 20lb mono or fluorocarbon tippett.

Here are a few of our favorite flies! (click images to enlarge)