Hey,

I'm an experienced fresh water angler but haven't done much of saltwater fly fishing. Right now I have a pretty nice 6 wt 9 foot rod. My birthday is coming up next month and I'm wondering what the most versatile weight of saltwater rod is. Also, what brand I should go with. I imagine it depends on who's having a sale. I probably have in between 350-400 dollars to spend on rod, reel, and line. Suggestions?

I'd call up the guys at Temple Fork Outfitters.
Temple Fork Outfitters
8105 Sovereign Row
Dallas, Texas 75247

Toll Free: (800) 638-9052
Office: (214) 638-9052
Fax: (214) 638-8143

Rick Pope
info@templeforkflyrods.com

+1 for TFO. I would say go with an 8wt for sure, check out the Jim Teeny rods ($199). As far as reels go, you can get a Lamson Konic 3.5 ($139), some 30lb backing (you can get away with 20lb in most cases though, and some Saltwater weight forward floating fly line. Add in another $20 for a rod tube, $15 for leader, and flies. Just add water! That should leave some gas and beer money too...

Me, personally, I enjoy the TiCrX for down here, helps power through the winds you'll almost always find. So far the two TFFers that have visited down here have come down on amazingly flat, calm days where they didn't need a rocket launcher rod to cast more than 10 feet, which was pretty darn lucky. I have a 10wt TiCrX specifically for off the jetties and when the big jacks come up close in the surf, and I have been nothing but pleased with its performance (except that the cork wears down very fast... seems to be a problem on all TFO's that I have, and has been the source of complaints I have heard previously).

As far as weight of rod down here, the venerable 8wt gets my vote. There are a lot of days when you can get away with a 6 or even a 5wt, but there are more days when an 8wt is the only 'light', all-day-castable rod that will still give you enough oomph to cast upwind to that tailing red. Because of course, they are Always upwind. In the surf you always fight a headwind as well, coming off the ocean. I have cast my 10wt all day, and I'll admit, it's just not very fun after a while.

Anyway, as for reels you'll get a bunch of different responses, there is a thread here that outlines all that good stuff. You can get away with using a freshwater line, if you just Have to, but it won't perform as well as a purpose built Tropical line, as I'm sure you've heard. General purpose saltwater lines are easy to find and price checking will help find the best bang for the buck. ebay, craigslist, etc. This time of year there are going to be liquidation sales from flyshops getting rid of the old stuff and making room for the new, keep an eye out.

Hey thanks a lot guys. Really appreciate the solid advice. Now I just have to wait until mid October!

After further research. Think I'm gonna go with the 8 weight TiCrX and the Lamson Konic. Seems like people or saying that the drag on the konic is unbeatable for the money.

I LOVE my konics, they are completely great. I have 2 and when I get a heavier rod (9wt for texoma stripers) I'll get another.

Last year I got a Ross Cimarron 5 and had some problems with it (the drag locked up when I was fighting a large skipjack) I sent it off to Ross and after a couple weeks they sent it back to me repaired and good as new free of charge. It has an adjustable drag, which is strong stock, and holds enough backing to throw to Jacks but is light and small enough to cast all day. So Ross get's my vote as far as a reel goes, I've seen to many Konics with white and green corrosion after only a few trips with it.

I would suggest that you spend an hour or so at either Backwoods or Tailwaters casting several of the Temple Fork Rods with both 8 weight and 9 weight lines before deciding which to buy. You may find that you prefer the way the Jim Teeny rod casts for you rather than the TICRX rods, or you may prefer the TICR, or you may prefer the new Bob Clouser rod. The TFO rods cost the same everywhere, so this is the perfect time to make full use these great fly shops. You might as well check out the Bob Clouser line as well since you are there, I know I like mine and think they still keep one on a reel at the Tailwaters shop.

Big Dale

I agree that TFO makes some very good saltwater rods. I sell more of these rods than any other. I assume you are looking at inshore fishing for Reds, Specks and other fish of the same size? I use the TFO TICR 7wt. Most of my customers prefer to be in an 8wt. The TICRX is also very popular. Both of these rods are very fast rods with the TICRX being the fastest. Some do find these rods a bit hard to cast as the can't feel the load well but, if you are an experienced caster and take the time to practice you should have no problem. Due to the wind and heavy flies double hauling is your most effective casting tool. I highly recommend that you find a shop with a variety of different rods and go cast a few to figure out your preference as most of your salt water class rods do feel and cast different than most fresh water weight rods. You should invest in a good tropical salt water line that will stand up well in the heat of our waters as well as the salt water chemical makeup. I recommend the RIO Tropical Clouser line. For inshore fishing you only need 20 lb braided dacron backing. Most 7/8 wt reels will take 250yds of backing. Your reel should be your last consideration as 95% of the time you will never fight the fish on the reel so it is basicaly a storage device. The most important thing to remember is that EVERY TIME you come of the salt water you should rinse your reel in warm fresh water to disolve and remove the salt and other compounds from the salt water (no soap or scrubbing just rinse it)do this even if it is a "salt water" reel. I also grease my reel every third time or so. I use a $39.00 large arbor reel with an extra spool for my sinking line. If you do go to a higher dollar reel I suggest getting one with a sealed drag so you don't have to worry about sand or salt getting into the drag discs. The Sage 1680 or 1880 and the TFO Prism have sealed drags. If you want to look at a Cadillac of a reel check out the TFO 340, this one is a real WOW. I also have several different lenghts of sink tips I made out of an old sinking line, I connect these to my floating line when I want to get a little deeper but don't want to use a full sink line. Even though I mostly use my 7wt I also have 10 and 12 wts for offshore but still use my 7wt offshore for my favorite fish the Spanish Mackeral. Thats my $.02 hope you find it usefull!

hey thanks for everyone's input! i only live a few minutes from backwoods so i'm planning on going in and casting a few this weekend. it's a little pricey there, so i'd be surprised if i'd get the best deal buying from them. i'll also check out some of the reels they have and talk to my two favorite salesmen. definitely have a lot to chew on. i think i might be making a trip down to laguna madre soon (next two weeks) with some friends who are going shark fishing on the other side of the island. i reckon i'll spend most of my time there breakin my gear in. thanks again.

Are you thinking Upper or Lower Laguna? If you want to come to the Upper Laguna maybe we can get together and do some fishing.

x2

And even if you're thinking Lower Laguna, well, I could be persuaded to come down and chase me some 40" snook...

no idea. never really been down there. i'll check with my buddies and see where we're headin. love to get together with some people who've done this before so i'll keep yall posted.

Don't let scout fool you. He has definitely never done this before.

Just let us know

Madison River has Sage's on clearance.
You can get an FLi or Launch for less than $200.
http://www.mrfc.com/MadisonRiverShopping/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=4

Both the FLi and Launch are fine American made fly rods.
When I bought my saltwater rod I cast the FLi and the TICRx and chose the Sage hands down. It was just more forgiving (for my casting style), but still had the power I wanted. It also came with a rod case...

As for a reel, you can get a clearanced Lamson Velocity on ebay around $150 and Lamson Radius for around $100.
These are both machined instead of cast.
Orvis also runs their "$25 off" sales all the time so you could pick up a Battenkill Mid Arbor (machined) for around $100.

Thanks. I'll check out that sale. I have a pretty fast rod myself and rather like it. I have fished with a 5wt launch and wasn't particularly impressed. But I'll cast it again when I get out to backwoods to be sure. Thanks for the info!

I love the TFO's I have like 17 of them the cork dose suck but the good news is they will switch it out for you for $25 when it gets to the point it can no longer be used. I have 3 I need to take in right now.

you will not be disappointed with any of TFO products.

on reels I am a big fan of the okuma integrity reel its a tank.

The problem with the Intergrity is that if you put 100' of 8wt fly line you can only get about 80 yds of backing, on the 7/8 at least.

Have the 8/9 size and it holds quite a bit of backing not sure how much though

So I went to backwoods this afternoon and cast a few rods: the TiCr X, a sage launch (on sale), and after I went to a buddy's house and casted his Sage Fli. I was expecting to like the TiCr X the best but I actually like both the sage launch and Fli better. The TFO just didn't seem fast enough for me. I've been fishing with a pretty fast reddington that I love and the Sage just seemed to complement my casting style a little more. I could easily cast out all the line on the Sages and had to fight the TiCr X a little more than I wanted. So, I think I'm either gonna spring for the Launch on sale or pay a little more for the FLi. As usual this board has been awesome for advice so thanks to everyone for their 2 cents. Jury is still out on the reel though!

Both are good rods, but the Fli is a worth the extra money and probably more suited for what you want. Fli should be on sale too--Sage closed them out recently.

That's what I'm going to go with. They still have em on sale on that website but only the 9'6" version. Think I should still go for it given the longer rod?

There is a comment you don't see very often about the TiCr X. Many casters upline the TiCr X's to slow them down a little.

Rex

Sage just has a smooth casting rod.
I'd stick to 9'.
Any longer might get tiring to cast.
If you look around, you can still find 9' FLi's.