Brother-in-law Joe, taught me how to fly fish and gave me a few pointers when I was purchasing my first fly rod, reel and fly line. I think the most important thing he told me at that time was to match my rod and fly line weight.

I didn’t really understand why he wanted me to match the weights, I just did what he told me and soon understood why.

The fly rod I purchased was a 7 1/2 foot – 8 weight rod, which was 30 years ago and I am still using that same fly rod. As a matter of fact I was still using the same fly reel that I purchased at that time, even though I just bought a brand new fly reel.

Investing in a good, well matched fly fishing rod, reel and fly line will make for more enjoyable fly fishing.

I have always been able to out cast my fly fishing buddies and always thought it was because I was better at casting a fly when in reality it was due to matching my fly rod and fly line.

It wasn’t until I switched fly rods with one of my fishing buddies. Both of us noticed right away that my buddy made the best casts of his life using my old and worn fly rod and I was having trouble matching my normal cast.

That was when I started asking him about the fly line he used and what weight it was.

The next time we went fly fishing for Atlantic salmon I had already forgotten about switching rod, but he didn’t and had gone out to buy new fly line that matched the weight of his fly rod and my days of out casting him were pretty much over.

I am sure he went for at least 10 years without ever matching his fly line to his rod and I never thought about it either, I just did it because Joe told I needed to. I’ll guarantee that he will never made that mistake again.

Balance is where it’s at when it comes to fly fishing. I even have my fly reel matched to my fly rod so that when I hold it in my hand to cast and open my fingers that rod stays there, balanced perfectly on my fingers.

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Filed under: Fishing on the fly • fly fishing rods

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