Thread: New fly line

@homebrew.357 - Being an ex-trout guide and Auckalnder with bit of time on my hands at the moment I'd be happy to help out and also provide a venue on the small paddock at home for a bit of casting practice to get you underway.

PM me and i'll see what i can do...
My suggestion is time at the park casting is a great investment once you have the basics - I start with usually a 2m piece of wool on the end of a 1-1.5m bamboo stick. This teaches your mind and eyes how to form and watch the loop and it just helps make the connection between the eyes, brain and body.
The rod is not a wand so you don't wave it... think of your fist and wrist as like the stroke of a piston and it needs to be in a plane parralel to the ground. Those two exercises will get you timing, coordination and distance. The three things beginners struggle with..

From there I'd try to understand do you want to dry fly or nymph fish... if the former we'd work on presentation by working with the basics above.
If Nymphing I'd steer you towards perfecting the roll cast (very helpful in tight conditions) and then to Czech of French Nymphing which for NZ rivers is ideal in outcatching your mates and finding heaps of fish you didn't even know were holding there. That then broadens your knowledge about where to fish and from there you have the skillls you need.

I used to spend the fist 1hr to 2 hours with inbound mainly US clients fist looking at what their basic skills were like then either working with them as above or knowing how to best apply them and their skill level to the rivers they wanted to fish. Pretty much am i going to be a Coach or a Spotter was where my head was. at.

As for flylines a bit like rifles theres never just one - but you can get by if you make concessions to what you are asking it to do. The Cortland lines have always provided me with longevity - I have a still perfectly functioning one thats close to 25 years old. Rio great but sometimes colours are more made for US that NZ conditions. Airflow mid range ones always good value and for NZ conditions weight forward covers 90% of our conditions. I use mainly 4 to 6 weight on North Island streams the Tongariro being the only one I'll use a 8 on a windy day.

Finally match your rod to your line... if its a broomstick or a piece of limp spagetti a good line isn't going to solve the underlying issue but theres lots of good starter rods and intermediate rods that sometimes cast better than Sage and Hardy's so follow the result and how it feels to you rather than listen to the pricetag...

my 2c.