First fly rod - needs TLC

[Texas Basser]

Hi There! With grad school and a 6 month old at home, I've been on hiatus for some time now. I've really been interested in fly fishing and the wife can't say "no" now because a friend of mine recently gave me an older fly rig. It's a Heddon Pal Mark 1 fly rod # 8305 8'. From what I gather, it's good for 6/7 weight fly line. The rod seems to be in nice condition and from what I can see, doesn't need any attention. The real on the other hand...It does not have any manufacturer info that I can see, but seems to be in nice condition aside from being pretty dirty. Any tips on cleaning the reel? I'm in the process of deciding on which backing, fly line, leader, and tippet to use. Any suggestions? I suspect I'll be fishing for smaller bass, trout, panfish.

 

[grampa ron]

Hi,
Welcome to the world of fly fishing. It will add a whole new fun challenge to fishing. Normally rods, reels and line are a matched set. You don't need to spend a lot of cash. Any braided Dacron is good for backing. I use Scientific Angler 6wt floating fly line. On the end of the fly line I use at least 24" of 25 lb. mono and for tippet I use 6 lb. Flourocarbon coated mono (Pline).
You don't need expensive tapered leaders. The best place you can learn to use it is probly Junction City Pond or Alton Baker. Check out this link for Mel Krieger on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW1C5jxL48E for the best instructions on how to cast.

 

[Texas Basser]

Thanks Ron! I think that I'll stop by Cabelas this weekend and pick up a few things. Any recommendations on a type of oil that I can use to lube/greese the reel after the dust is cleaned? Is this even necesarry?

 

[grampa ron]

They will have everything you need. If you have the money, they have a very nice fly fishing package for around a $100. It has all you need.

 

[Tinker]

My manual suggests sewing machine oil for lubing, but I haven't done it yet. I haven't used the reel; it's brand new.

 

[Texas Basser]

Thanks Tinker. I think I'll give the sewing machine oil a shot.

 

[Tinker]

Pleasure's mine. Let us know if it does anything?

 

[Texas Basser]

Cabelas had some nice fly rod and reel combos on sale over the couple days. So I bought one instead... I still plan on fixing up the other rod. For now, I'm just looking to perfect my casting and learn the ropes. If anyone is looking for a fishing partner in the Eugene area, let me know!

 

[lilsalmon]

What kind of rod did you get? I prefer river fishing myself unless on my pontoon. There are a couple of good spots on the Mckenzie and Willamette that would be good for practicing your cast. We fish there quite often. Good luck and welcome to the dark side...hehe

 

[Texas Basser]

I got the Cahill 9ft 5 weight combo. Nothing fancy, but should be a good rod to start with (so the reviews say). Creswell pond is not to far from home so I may head there to practice my casting. Hopefully not to many people are out to see me make a fool of myself! I've been thinking of heading to the Willamette or Mckenzie but don't really know where to start. The Willamette overpass near Springfields city center looks fairly promising. I've seen people fly fishing there as I've driven by... Lake or river, I'm just excitied to get fishing.