Rigging a Fly Rod

There are lots of ways to rig a fly rod. Fly reels with small arbors should be first loaded with backing. Backing is usually a 20 pound test, braided line. Make an overhand knot on the end of the backing and then attach the backing to the reel with an arbor or slip knot. This ensures that it you drop the rod and reel in deep water that you might be able to recover it if you can get a hold of the line. Backing usually comes in 200 yard spools. The backing is connected to the fly line using an Albright knot . If using a new fly line, one end will be marked "this end to reel". Fly lines are usually tapered and are not symmetrical from end to end.

Fly lines need to be heavy because the line is cast rather than the lure or fly. A leader is used to connect the fly line to the fly. There are many ideas about the perfect leader. Some are made by tying short sections of finer and finer monofilament line together. A tapered leader is one that is made of one piece of monofilament line that progressively gets smaller and smaller. A typical tapered leader is 9 feet long with a tippet end of 3x. The size of the tippet is usually matched with the size of the fly to be used.

There are many ways to connect a leader to a fly line. Some people create a small loop in the fly line and a small loop in the butt end of the leader. The two are connected by interconnecting the two loops. This is handy if changing leaders often. A more permanent way to connect a leader to the fly line is to use a needle knot.

One of the problems with the needle knot is that every time that a fly is tied on the leader, some material is lost. So the 9 foot leader that is started out with gets shorter and shorter. Eventually it has to be replaced. To get around this problem a short section of tippet material can be tied onto the end of the leader. When the tippet get too short, it is replaced. Again a problem occurs when the tippet is replaced many times because some leader material is lost when ever a tipped is replaced. The way to get around this problem is to tie a loop in the end of the leader with the Eugene Sling . The tippet has one end tied in a loop using the Eugene Sling. The two are then connected using a square hitch. The advantage of rigging the fly line this way is that the leader never gets any shorter. The same leader can be used for the entire season.

Before going fishing tie a loop in the end of each spool of tippet in your vest. That way when you need to replace the tippet all you have to do is to cut off the tippet and loop on another.

The fly is attached with the Eugene Bend . The Eugene Bend and the Eugene Sling are easily made with the use of a pair of forcepts. Both knots are rated at 100% of the strength of the monofiliment. Almost all other knots will fail before the monofilament line.