Salmon/steelhead line rec?

[ninja2010]

i'm dusting off my saltwater fly rig to try my hand at salmon/steelhead on the fly. but i'm not sure what kinda line i should get... i've heard and read so many different views.

been reading up on the different reviews and right now i've narrowed the selection to either the teeny lines or the wulff triangle taper. any suggestions would be much appreciated. thanks.

oh, i have a 9wt 9' fast rod and a 8-10wt reel. both colton.

 

[Anyfishisfine]

Got the skunk off and now you are upping the ante. I like that a lot.

 

[osmosis]

I use cheap scientific anglers line since I replace it every year. No problems with it whatsoever, but then again I mostly drift fish with a fly rod. The main time I traditionally fly fish is in lakes.

I don't get it though... I thought you wanted to start catching fish - not make it harder on/for yourself to catch them

 

[ninja2010]

yeah... i like the challenge :lol:

not really. i know zip about fly fishing. even in the salt we used to just chuck honking streamers that imitate baitfish, usually after failing miserably on hardware. i think a fly rig would be more versatile and could be an option suited for drift fishing. i figured it would help to chuck really small and light stuff...

so in terms of line choice, i was confused whether i should pick up a sinking tip that'll get the gear down faster and use a short leader, or a floating line with strike indicator and have weighted leader and flies (nymph style) etc. plus, i know jack about roll casting/spey/skagit so i don't know what kind of line is best suited for that. i just know i need to learn to cast that way.

but, yeah, osmo, i have some kinda scn angler line on the reel, but i don't know if it's okay for the rivers. hence this thread - not so much the brand of line, but the type of line.

 

[halibuthitman]

I use the triangle and have for about ten years now, but the teeny is great and cabellas sells their own line that actually is Rio, just repackaged and much cheaper, I would have a spool of double taper and a spool with medium sink tip... and I catch at least double the fish now that I flyfish... especially steelhead... good luck

 

[ninja2010]

how do you get the fly down using the triangle? do you have sink tips?

and when you say the teeny is great... can you please expound? i read that they shoot great and of course sink fast, and they roll cast easily too. anything to add to that?

halibutman... i am encouraged by these words of yours, "and I catch at least double the fish now that I flyfish... especially steelhead".

so do you use steelhead flies, egg patterns and such?

 

[halibuthitman]

the teeny is durable and doesn't seem to hold dirt as much as other lines, I fish glacial water in southcentral alaska 3 months a year and have found triangle and teeny both clean up much better than cheaper lines. if I am fishing within ten miles of salt I fish black wooley buggers or leech patterns, getting smaller the further from the salt I get.... I tie my own flies and weight them accordingly and sort them in my fly box by weight. in water over 5 ft deep I switch my line to a sink tip and cast further up stream and mend line at the first half of the run before the swing begins... I never use shot or weight infront of the fly. salmon fishing is all about tide and color so your fly selection is pretty easy, each river and run tunes to a certain color in certain years, figure this out and you will catch fish. and if the fishing just isn't working out and you are becoming frustrated just put on you sinktip and a corkie ( I looooooove yarn ) and fish your rod like drifting eggs. the black leech pattern is imatating small eels that spawn in coastal water, salmon and steelheads primary feed.... until eggs start getting dropped later in the runs.

 

[OnTheFly]

I use cheap scientific anglers line since I replace it every year. No problems with it whatsoever, but then again I mostly drift fish with a fly rod. The main time I traditionally fly fish is in lakes.

I don't get it though... I thought you wanted to start catching fish - not make it harder on/for yourself to catch them

I wouldn't under estimate him.:naughty:

 

[ninja2010]

well, i just got meself some o them sinktips - 5' and 10' 9ips. hope that'll be fine for now to use with my sa line.

now i gotta go practice some roll casts...

and jim, i wouldn't overestimate me either... :lol::lol::lol:

 

[GDBrown]

Getting Easier!

Getting Easier!

I don't get it though... I thought you wanted to start catching fish - not make it harder on/for yourself to catch them

I do better with a Fly rod than without!

GD

 

[osmosis]

I do better with bait, than praying to win the lottery getting one on the swing!

I use a WF floating line to drift fish with, and when I'm "cheating" as some say, or as others say bastardized fly fishing I do just fine.

I didn't mean to come off as under estimating Ninja, He's a Ninja after all! I just want to see him with full freezers!

 

[OnTheFly]

I do better with bait, than praying to win the lottery getting one on the swing!

I use a WF floating line to drift fish with, and when I'm "cheating" as some say, or as others say bastardized fly fishing I do just fine.

I didn't mean to come off as under estimating Ninja, He's a Ninja after all! I just want to see him with full freezers!

In regards to fishing knowledge and skills...he is a lion about to wake up:shock:

 

[ninja2010]

i am soooo ready and awake... rain is here, fish are in the rivers, my old salt gear is all spooled up and i can't wait to get a salmon on the fly rod. yoohoo!