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I have a fly rod an old bamboo one and am in the process of making my first fly rod...

I have no experience fly fishing nor tying flies but I very much want to learn and I need some advice from the members of this board...

Any suggestions or recommendations on rods reels and fly tying vises, the one that hold the hook not the other vises, would be greatly appreciated

I posted an earlier thread here to let you guys know I fix and make rods...

Thanks for your help.... and if I can be of help to anyone please let me know...

Hey Mike,
two websites that I like and have a lot of info are hipwader.com and flytyingforum.com. Lots of patterns, tips etc.
You might think of joining the Ottawa Fly Fishing Society. They have fly tying nights, good meetings and lots of expertise.
But no vices, none at all.

Mike,

For fly tying vices I would recommend reading the following following article.
http://flyfisherman.com/ftb/hwvise/

As for rods and reels, unless you're more specific as to what you're looking for (i.e. price point, style, performance, etc.) Asking around you are sure to receive a very diverse set of opinions for any particular rod/reel, as everyone has his/her preferences. The best suggestion is to try them out. A good retailer will let you, especially for mid to high priced equipment.

Cheers,
Todd

Hey Mike,

In general, when buying rods and reels the first question you need to ask yourself is what species am I targeting (trout, bass, pike, musky, steelhead, salmon, etc). This will narrow your search for which weight rod you'll want. From there you'll have have to consider price point, performance, and warranty.

As for reels, again it depends on species. For smaller fish (trout, bass, small pike) a good drag system isn't as important. For steelhead and salmon a good drag system is critical.

As for line, buy the best line you can afford. No matter how good a rod is, a cheap line will not cast well on it.

For vices, I've gone through buying several vises over the past 5 years. My adivce is to buy a good true-rotary vise (Renzetti, Dyna-King, Peak). It's worth spending the extra money on a good vice. Spend your money once, rather than being disappointed with a cheap vise.

Cheers,

Salar

Mike,

Joining the Ottawa Flyfishers Society will definitely help. There are casting clinics on Sunday afternoons and fly tying classes once a month. It's a pretty good clearing house for info on techniques, equipment, and fishing destinations locally. Some of the F-H members are OFS members and we fish together quite often. Todd B. organizes Tuesday evening fishing in the city during the summer, too.

There's a good meeting tomorrow night - the guest speaker is renowned casting instructor and the New Flyfisher TV program host, Bill Spicer.

I'm a moderator on www.hipwader.com and I recommend the site (obviously!). On one the administrators, Rob O'Reilly, posts tying recipes and techniques. Several members have published in Canadian Flyfisher magazine. It's a great source of info and discussion on all things flyfishing.