River Fly fishing Kit?

Alistair

Well-Known Member
Evening all, just a quick question. Can anyone recommend some good quality, relatively cheap fly tackle for fishing the river Dee for grayling and smaller trout? I have been invited by a friend to tag along for a few days towards the end of June and, as always, cash is tight. I have been informed that I should be looking for a #4 weight of around 7'6" and a reel big enough for a double taper line of the same and some backing. I currently fish with a #7 weight Hardy Zenith, but as I am unlikely to find another one going for a steal, I need something a little more reasonably priced but that still performs. I have little to no experience of river fishing, but consider myself to be proficient at casting even with a double taper. I don't mind if it is new or second hand kit, as long as it has been looked after, but i am a touch wary of some of the stuff on fleabay etc. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Alistair
 
Hi alistair, try John Norris of Penrith they do complete kits exactly what your looking for and will post it, I am on there mailing list and every flier they send out has these complete fishing outfits in it , and they look good value for money,
good luck jab.
 
Whereabouts on the Dee? A 7'6" 4wt trout rod is very light and more akin to using on slow moving small streams. Remember if playing a fish in fast moving water the rod has to cope with the weight of the fish plus the drag of the current, it's not just about the casting.

Unless its a tiny stream I would personally go for a 8'6" or 9' 5wt as a general river rod, and even up to a 6wt depending on size of water....
 
Thanks for all your advice, I will take a look at the Greys Kits and on John Norris. It is near Llangollen (is that how you spell it!?) and I was told that the #4wt would be sufficient. However, I bow to your greater experience. On a side note, has anyone else visited Sportfish near Hereford, i went last weekend and it seems like a nice set up.
 
I must apologise, when you said the river Dee I assumed you meant the river Dee in Scotland!

However, some of the images that pop up when I googled it still seem to show a fairly substantial piece of water.
 
Yeah, sorry for any confusion, should have clarified that! As I understand it, it is much more substantial throughout the autumn and winter and rather less so once the amount of rain starts to tail off over the summer (obviously, being Wales, this is just from 7 days a week of torrential downpour, to 5 days, but a reduction none the less!)
Alistair
 
Yeah, sorry for any confusion, should have clarified that! As I understand it, it is much more substantial throughout the autumn and winter and rather less so once the amount of rain starts to tail off over the summer (obviously, being Wales, this is just from 7 days a week of torrential downpour, to 5 days, but a reduction none the less!)
Alistair

Hi, try foxtons on 01745583583. They are in wales and have a very good selection of secondhand kit. I bought my chalk stream kit from there and it was super good value. I got a greys streamflex and a lovely hardy reel for under £200.

Kind regards, olaf
 
If it is only for a day I'd use my resy kit sod the expense just for a day good old bob churh 11 foot with 9 wt forward with a big orange lure should do the trick :D
tight lines
norma
 
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If it is only for a day I'd use my resy kit sod the expense just for a day good old bob churh 11 foot with 9 wt forward with a big orange lure should do the trick :D
tight lines
norma
Doug you should write a book on river fishing
 
I'm tight and I've only got a lure box I can't see to thread dry flies and nymphs .think BIG catch BIG
norma
 
to be honest you can do as much with a #7 9ft rod that you know by tweaking your end gear than you can dropping cash on something you don't have any feel for
get some new line (some of the new technology lines are amazing compared to the stuff I learnt to fish with!)
A set of decent tapered leaders and keep it simple, pre tied with flies and loop to loop for quick changing
local flies can help (if only in your own confidence!)

I have a #4 4 piece 9ft ish Greys rod which is nice but unless fishing super flat water full of very flighty fish I prefer a #7 especially if you are battling windy conditions
 
The Welsh Dee isn't a particularly big river,having said that it does get some water from the reservoirs every now and again,and I have fished it many times for grayling,trout,salmon and sea trout.
I think a 4# could be a bit lite,especially if your chezch nymphing,and too be honest i wouldn't bother with a dt line or a tapered leader.
I can tie you some grayling flies that work foc;)
 
+1 above.
If you're going to Czech nymph you'd be better off with a 5 or 6wt set up.
Tie your own leaders using a water knot going 3ft 8lb, 3ft 6lb, 3ft 4lb. Leave a tag on the 6lb or if it's a deeper section tie on another 3ft of 4lb and use the tag from the 4lb section for your heaviest fly.
If dry fly I'd go with a 5wt dt setup although I've used wf7 many a time and found it perfectly adequate.
Dry flies you can't go far wrong with cdc patterns down to 18, although in high summer I've used tiny midges down to 26 and even caenis patterns.
If you're wading there is a section just above the town where a power line crosses the river were you can wade, being careful at the bank as it's almost wet nipples time, to the middle were there's a 70yd or so gravel bank that's brilliant to fish down either side of the run.
If your further up at Llandderfel bridge there are some cracking grayling around there but it does suffer that section if Bala is ditching water.
 
Hi again guys, some useful advice here. Judging by some of the above comments I might just use my 9'6" #7 and make do this time, as I've got no idea if this is going to be a regular thing and £200 ono is a lot for a setup thats only going to be used infrequently. Gelert, thanks very much for your kind offer, pm sent.
 
As a few of the guys have already said, you'll not go wrong for a one off trip with your current set up. Just remember that in river fishing you're not trying to get loads of line out as you would on a still water or reservoir so as long as you can present 10 yards of fly line with a 9ft leader without too much of a splash, you'll be in with a good chance.

Tight lines
 
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