Hi Everyone,
I am new to fly fishing, and I am looking at building my own outfit as opposed to a premade outfit. I was looking at the Clearwater outfit, but it is about $600 in Canada, and building my own, I think there will be fewer compromises, and hopefully less of a desire to upgrade later. These are the items I have picked out for a general trout fishing rod for Alberta. Please let me know if I overdid it, or if the reel/rod/line doesn't make sense together.
Posted by Fine-Feature8216
5 Comments
Typically you don’t want to add heavier tippet (your 4x) onto a lighter leader (5x). You will also end up needing more than one size tippet.
30# backing is overkill for a 5 wt and braided Dacron is much cheaper than GSP. Go 20#. Odds are you will never need it on a fish, and only use it for increasing your reel arbor.
1. Too much backing – 100yds of 20lb backing is plenty for a 5wt. You’ll likely never use it when fishing for trout – it’s mostly there to let you wind your fly line faster and keep the rod balanced.
2. Your tippet must be the same or thinner than your leader. If you run a 5x leader, you’ll need 5x or 6x tippet.
3. If you’re a beginner I’d recommend getting a 3 pack of leaders just in case.
4. If you want to save some money you can get a cheaper reel. Something like a Landon liquid will only run you a hundred bucks and will perform fine on trout. For trout, reels are mostly glorified line holders until you get to 22”+ range. I would only spend more if you’re targeting a larger species or going saltwater.
– 20# Dacron instead of gel spun backing
– Click Battenkill instead of disc drag
– Smaller tippet than your leader
– 3 pack of leaders
Spend the savings on some flies, a box to hold them, some nippers, some forceps, some floatant, and something to carry it all in.
I love my battenkill disc reels. Good call there. Get a few more size of tippet, especially smaller sizes like 5x. The 4x will still be extremely useful if you break off or when you start to trim down your leader over time. Clearwater won’t last forever, but I think it’s covered by their rod warranty if you buy it individually.
Others have made great points already, especially about the backing.
This is also dictated by what and where you intend to fish. Large streams? Lakes? Small mountain creeks? They all factor into what is the ideal setup. But there is a reason the 9ft 5wt reigns supreme in trout fishing: it’s very versatile!
I’d get the click and pawl version of the battenkill reel to save some cash. You don’t need that drag for trout fishing.
Get a 3 pack of 3x or 4x leaders. Get tippet spools from 4x-6x. Being able to adapt tippet size is key, and you’ll go through it quickly enough if you fish somewhat often. If you do large river fishing you may want 3x.
That’s a stellar line, but you might want a half size heavy version for that rod. Something like the Amplitude Infinity. Youll be able to cast better at normal fusing distances than with the true to weight trout lines.
All in all you’ve got a great outfit going though! Don’t forget the other things you’ll need (nippers,floatant, bag or vest, etc). You shouldn’t able to do a lot of good fishing with that setup.