First saltwater fly trip

[jumboshrimp]

a rather embarrassing group of fish. But this is my first ever attempt at saltwater fly fishing, last time I threw a fly rod was over the summer on some mountain streams - ironically enough most of those rainbow trout were noticeably larger than todays crop. I hadn't planned on fishing today but my last class was canceled and I thought I could take a few hours to practice casting and warm up for the mosquito lagoon this weekend. I live in an apartment so my only casting practice will be done on the water. It was a fun warm up day, 12 ladyfish, 2 trout, and a bluefish. and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the heavier fly rod was not terribly difficult to cast and I could do so while sitting in my kayak which will come in handy this weekend on the deeper grass flats. So now I think its safe to say my spinning gear will get a nice vacation, and I am reasonably happy with my fly setup as it is - the reel is an Orvis Battenkill LA and the rod is el cheapo bass pro - the rod will be the first thing to upgrade for sure.

I do have one question though regarding drag, obviously with todays fish I never even used the reel but when setting it up for redfish do I set the drag at the same level I have my spinning gear set? - Thanks for any tips on that.

[Ol'DirtyCaster]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with any of those fish. You did better than I did today, I stayed home playing with epoxy, finishing up a rod for this really old guy that's been nagging the hell out of me for weeks. : )

[ultraman]

Awesome group of fish.

[California Redneck]

That's a good first day...my first salt fish was a trout about as big as the fly.

[acesover]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with any of those fish. You did better than I did today, I stayed home playing with epoxy, finishing up a rod for this really old guy that's been nagging the hell out of me for weeks. : )

Is it done? The Old Guy

[lemaymiami]

Looks like a great start.... As far as drag goes - set it a bit lighter than you would with a spinning reel to compensate for the additional friction the long rod (and all those additional guides) will add. Here's a good exercise to learn what your rod is capable of..... Pull 20 feet or so of line off of your rod then tie it to a fixed object (I like fences...). Back away until your line is tight and pull while pointing the rod directly (no bend in the rod at all) at the fixed point and note the amount of pressure before the spool slips. Then do the same thing with a full bend in the rod - you'll notice it takes a bit more "pull" before the line slips off the spool. That's just the first lesson (you can lighten the drag just by lowering the rod when a fish is running -increase it by holding the rod higher...).

[Ol'DirtyCaster]

Is it done? The Old Guy

Maybe.

[Shadowcast]

That is a good start to saltwater fly fishing.

[eeekbackupinthere]

Good advice!

[easydays]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with any of those fish. You did better than I did today, I stayed home playing with epoxy, finishing up a rod for this really old guy that's been nagging the hell out of me for weeks. : )

I'm next- the other old guy.