Fly fishing survey-need your input, please..

[ohiotuber]

@JohnScott

Warren -

Nothing like making an old dog ( that would be me ) learn new tricks, i.e. figure out how to work with your survey. Good for keeping the brain working smoothly.

1. Which species would you prefer to fish for:

A. Rainbow ____ why?________________________

B. Browns____ why?__________________________

C. No preference of one over the other__XX__ why?they are both trout_____

2. What weight rod and what length would you use?
   (please do not state rod brand or action, just weight and length)

Rod Weight 3__ Rod Length 7’6"___

3. What would your leader length be?

Leader length___approx 5’ thread furled leader____

4. What would your tippet length be?

Tippet length 3-4’ of 4X_

This assumes that I will be fishing a small to medium size stream / river under calm conditions with smaller flies, most likely a dry fly with a dropper until one of them takes a notable majority of the fish, then I would go that fly only.

For bigger water, bigger wind, and bigger flies, especially larger nymphs which I often fish tandem, I would up the ante to a 9’ for 5 or 7, regardless of the size of the fish in the system.

John

OMG!!!..The ONLY change I make in John’s choice is to an 8’ 3wt, because that’s what my 3wt is! I can’t believe we agreed right down to furled leader length.
Mikey

[Lotech]

1. Rainbow/Will more readily take a dry fly.
2. 5 weight/8 1/2 foot
3. 5 foot furled leader
4. 2 foot 5x tippet

[Kytroutbum]

1. Which species would you prefer to fish for:

A. Rainbow X__ why? Fighting ability_________

B. Browns____ why?__________________________

C. No preference of one over the other____ why?_____________

2. What weight rod and what length would you use?
   (please do not state rod brand or action, just weight and length)

Rod Weight _3wt Rod Length _9

3. What would your leader length be?

Leader length___9ft____

4. What would your tippet length be?

Tippet length 3ft___

[Marco]

I can’t imagine what conclusions can be drawn from this survey BUT, I’ll play.

Brown trout
Because they’re found in MY favorite waters
9ft 4 wt would be /is my preferred weapon
Leader- usually 9+ ft tapered ( mostly my own manuf.)
Tippet is usually flouro 3± ft.

Mark

[CaseyP]

You are going to fly fish a body of water that contains equal numbers of rainbow and browns. All fish are 14" long. Your questions are:

1. Which species would you prefer to fish for:

   A. Rainbow ____ why?________________________

   B. Browns__x__ why?they’re prettier and they fight better_____

   C. No preference of one over the other____ why?_____________

2. What weight rod and what length would you use?
   (please do not state rod brand or action, just weight and length)

   Rod Weight 5__ Rod Length 9’___

3. What would your leader length be?

   Leader length___9’____

4. What would your tippet length be?

   Tippet length __only to make up leader as i chew it off changing flies

[DG1 (DG)]

Browns, basically because rainbows are everywhere around here and I get tired of the state pushing them as the fish the “public” wants to catch.

I would use an 8’6" 3wt unless I was feeling frisky. 9’ leader including tippet (say 24").

I would also like to add that surveys such as this hardly reflect the actual DESIRES of the respondents and really impose limits on the response. For instance, I would MUCH rather fish for cutthroats than either browns or bows. I might use a different rod if it was a lake, a large river, or a small stream. I might use a different rod if it was windy or calm, or if my arm was sore from fighting big fish, or…

[branhap]

For me it’s a bit of a question of the body of water.

1. Which species would you prefer to fish for:

A. Rainbow ____ why?________________________

B. Browns____ why?__________________________

C. No preference of one over the other_X___ why?I’ve only caught 1 brown so far. Would like to get more. Rainbows are fun though with their jumping ability.___________

2. What weight rod and what length would you use?
   (please do not state rod brand or action, just weight and length)

Rod Weight 5 (3 on a small stream)__ Rod Length 8’6"_

3. What would your leader length be?

Leader length____7’___

4. What would your tippet length be?

Tippet length ___18"

[jw_healy]

1. Which species would you prefer to fish for:

A. Rainbow ____ why?________________________

B. Browns____ why?__________________________

C. No preference of one over the other__x__ why?___ they’re not carp

What weight rod and what length would you use?
(please do not state rod brand or action, just weight and length)

Rod Weight 5____ Rod Length 9___

3. What would your leader length be?

Leader length___7 1/2 ft furled thread

4. What would your tippet length be?

Tippet length ___18" - 24"

[Gigmaster]

1. c-I like them both.
2. 5 wt 8’6".
3. 9’ knotless
4. 2’

[Donat]

You are going to fly fish a body of water that contains equal numbers of rainbow and browns. All fish are 14" long. Your questions are:

1. Which species would you prefer to fish for:

A. Rainbow X why?They have more fight in them especially when hitting dries______________________

B. Browns____ why?__________________________

C. No preference of one over the other____ why?_____________

2. What weight rod and what length would you use?
   (please do not state rod brand or action, just weight and length)

Rod Weight 5 Rod Length 8’_____

3. What would your leader length be?

Leader length__9’_____

4. What would your tippet length be?

Tippet length 4’_____

Thanks to all that respond to this.

---

Warren

LARGEMOUTH BASS - The most popular game fish in North America. Drop the “B”, and it also becomes an accurate description of most fishermen.

[Colston_Newton]

1. Which species would you prefer to fish for:

A. Rainbow ____ why?________________________

B. Browns__X__ why?Harder to fool____________

C. No preference of one over the other____ why?_____________

2. What weight rod and what length would you use?
   (please do not state rod brand or action, just weight and length)

Rod Weight 5 Rod Length _8’

3. What would your leader length be?

Leader length__9_____

4. What would your tippet length be?

Tippet length 20"___

[hungNtree]

rainbow, cause that is what I seem to catch the most of.
5wt 8ft rod cause that is the only one I have.
5ft leader
2ft tippet

hNt

Now for my really important survey question, when do you want to go fishing again Warren?

[WarrenP]

“Now for my really important survey question, when do you want to go fishing again Warren?”

Soon…Right now they are lowering the lakes for winter pool which means that the river is not wadable most of the time due to the water release. It won’t be long. Jack went today and found the river fishable even though they put out on the word that they would be releasing close to 4,000cfs all weekend! Next weekend may be good or just let me know what day is best and I will check the schedule on the release.

[Silverexpress]

1. Which species would you prefer to fish for:

A. Rainbow __ why?

B. Browns____ why?__________________________

C. No preference of one over the other__X_ why? I consider both very handsome fish. Each require different methodology in hunting. One likes fast water, the other likes the slower water. One can be caught from sun up till sun down, and the other from sun down to sun up…etc…

2. What weight rod and what length would you use? Varies.
   a. 7’6" 2 wt and 4 wt full flex for midges
   b. 7’ 4 wt with ring seat for tight brush small streams.
   c. 7’ 4 wt with screw lock for close in action on big rivers. I fish it with SA XPS so it
   loads with very little line out. I use this rod primarily when there is a hatch going on
   and I really don’t need the extra distance with a longer rod. I also use it on drift
   boats. This is a very stealthy rod when it comes to staying below the trouts cone of
   viewing. I once caught a 15 in brown on this rod that I saw cruising downstream along the bank.
   I casted my BWO in front of it once it was about 10 ft downstream from me. I was kneeling still on the bank and up
   against a tree trunk. The fish never saw me even though it swam pass me at a closing distance of less than 4 ft, and
   about a foot below the surface. After I released it, it SWAM BACK AROUND and stared at me for about 5 minutes.
   Who says these things are dum! It was really creepy.
   d. 8’6" 4 wt I tend to use this later in the year when that extra distance is needed (prospecting likely holding water for
   lack of major hatches, or when I’m exploring water via a hike up river along the bank. The extra length and
   power helps me reach midstream or at times across the entire width of a river with a
   dry.
   e. 9’ 6 wt mid flex - Nymphing or big dry flies on very windy days.
   f. 9’ 6 wt fast tip - stillwater fishing
   g. 9’ 8 wt fast - Steelhead, and weighted streamers for just about anything else

   So, most of the time I have 2 to 3 rods on me. One, if I only got 3 hrs or less of sleep the night before.
   

(please do not state rod brand or action, just weight and length)

Rod Weight ________ Rod Length _________

3. What would your leader length be?

   a. Leader lengths errr…designs that I use vary. But the primary determining factor is
   water clarity - drys. For gin clear water, I’ll go 12’-15’ and tippets of 4x down to 8x
   with dries - George Harvey’s leader designs being my favorite. For nymphs I’ll go a bit
   heavier and tend to fish Humphrey’s or Borgers Dead Drift formulas. Length dependent
   on depth and size dependent on the weight of the rigs (split shots, tungsten,
   lead…etc).

4. What would your tippet length be? For me, the longer the better. I like S-bends in my tippet. So I tend to go long at first
   and then trim back based on experience if it piles up under the fly. I use tippet rings which makes changing tippets a
   breeze.

Tippet length “Varies” - but primarily determined by the generation of S-bends.

[crcaddis]

1. Which species would you prefer to fish for:

A. Rainbow ____ why?________________________

B. Browns X why? they are harder to catch, usually.

C. No preference of one over the other____ why?_____________

2. What weight rod and what length would you use?
   (please do not state rod brand or action, just weight and length)

Rod Weight 3-7wt Rod Length 6’-10’

3. What would your leader length be?

Leader length? As long as it needs to be…usually 9-18’

4. What would your tippet length be?

Tippet length…usually from my nose to my hand, but as long as it needs to be.

Thanks to all that respond to this.

[Wind_Knot]

1. A. Never caught a rainbow on a fly rod. Most streams around here have browns and brookies.
2. 4wt. 8’6".
3. 7’.
4. 2’.

[Vinny]

You are going to fly fish a body of water that contains equal numbers of rainbow and browns. All fish are 14" long. Your questions are:

1. Which species would you prefer to fish for:

A. Rainbow ____ why?________________________

B. Browns____ why?__________________________

C. No preference of one over the other__X_ why?Browns are considered to be smarter (they are really more shy and are wild fish where I’m from) and it makes me feel like I really accomplished something. However, Rainbows can be finicky also and are fun to catch. I consider it a very good day if I take both species and both species will test your skills as an angler._

2. What weight rod and what length would you use?
   (please do not state rod brand or action, just weight and length)

Rod Weight 3 wt Rod Length 9 ft_

3. What would your leader length be?

Leader length___9 ft____

4. What would your tippet length be?

Tippet length 4X_

Thanks

Vinny