Going to the Flats!

[densa44]

O.K. my wife and I went to the Keys last year for a few days without any of our own equipment. The stuff that the hotels and the boat rental company could have handled Jaws! We are going back, the place is unbelievable as far as fish are concerned, but we want to take our own Rods and reels.

The reels are no problem, I have some good ones and the advice here has been good for spinning reels.

I would like to buy a fly rod and a spinning rod that will go in our luggage.

It could be a 4 piece, I'd like the fly rod to be as long as possible. The spinning rod, I'll take suggestions. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

[Black Stim]

I'd say your choice of fly rod will depend largely on what you plan to fish for. If you are only able to take 1 rod and plan to cast at Tarpon, Permit and Bonefish, I'd definitely go with a 10 weight- not too overgunned for bonefish (they can get pretty large down there), and will be OK for Tarpon up to about 100 pounds. 10 weight is the perfect rod for Permit. If you are only going for Permit and Bonefish, you can use a #9, but I still prefer a #10 to land fish quickly.

As for length, a standard 9' rod is perfect, no longer. Longer rods will give you the distinct disadvantage of having less power, especially when bringing big fish close to the boat- that's when most rods break. A rod longer than 9 feet makes this even more troublesome, and you'll actually be applying less leverage to the fish in close quarters.

I won't recommend any particular brands of rod, as everyone has their own opinion. I will say that you can do quite well looking for a last year's model. They are often cleared out for around 40% off. Regardless of what you get, I'd strongly consider a fast action rod and learn to double haul (plenty of videos on You Tube if you don't know how). Fast action rods are much less troublesome delivering large flies in stiff winds, which you are GUARANTEED to encounter on the flats.

Also, make sure to get saltwater lines- the freshwater ones are useless in those temperatures.

Hope this helps and have fun! Good luck not getting addicted to Permit fishing. Very expensive!

[densa44]

As it turns out I can double haul, with enough experience, I've even hit myself in the back of the head. I guess with not having any alders to catch the backcast there has to be something else to make it harder. We tie our own flys too, not as good as some of the people here but O.K. for the fish.

I don't want to fish in "deep" water from a boat, just the flats. I've seen a rod break on T.V. just as you described so I'll take your advice. What I'd really like to know if there are #10 rods that will break down enough to get them into a large suitcase. With rental cars and the like I just don't want to try and handle rod cases.

What about a versatile spin out fit? They sell them there for pretty cheap but what do you think?

[Black Stim]

No problem getting travel fly rods. All of my rods are 4 piece, and they can be carried on the plane, with reels.

[densa44]

Any advice on a spin outfit for my better half? She has never used a fly rod although she ties better looking flys than I do. A double haul would be a bit hard to teach a newbie.

Oh I'm assuming a wtf line is that right? I like a bright colour, is that O.K. for salt water?

Last but not least, are my Hardy reels O.K. for this kind of work? I usually palm my reel and fight the fish on the reel where possible?

Thanks for your help.

[Black Stim]

Yes, many excellent saltwater lines are WTF in configuration, though manufacturers are starting to branch out into many configurations meant for specific applications and species. You'll find that most tropical lines are subdued in color and tend to match some aspect of the tropical surroundings- light blue, tan, clear. If you're picking one line, you'll be just fine with a "saltwater" taper from any of the major manufacturers. Some brands do hold up better than others in certain temperatures. I've started using the Airflo lines, which seem to hold up well when the temperatures get really hot.

As for reels, I'm sure you can get by with your Hardy, but certainly hope you're not taking down your grandfather's antique Perfect! Anything fished in the salt should be diligently rinsed at the end of each fishing day, as corrosion is very quick to set in down there. Many of the saltwater pioneers fished with click and pawl reels because that's all that was available at the time. A good disc drag reel is a worthwhile investment, especially if you see yourself fishing saltwater more than once. Even for the powerful runs of some of our Pacific salmon, a disc drag reel will serve you extremely well. If you end up hooking a 12 pound bonefish on a 9 weight, you'll really wish you had the control a disc drag reel offers, and your knuckles will thank you.

If there's one piece of saltwater equipment I wouldn't spare expense on, it's the reel. You can get by and cast to the fish easily enough with a moderately priced rod, but these fish have a way of burning up low and moderately priced reels in a hurry.