[googoo]

New to fly fishing and seeking advice on what I need to rig my rod for fishing. Soup to nuts. Leader, line, backing, etc. as well as something i may have missed. I have a 8 wt. rod and although it isn't an expensive rod, I'd like to learn on this one ....All help appreciated. Thank You, New York State

[Joni]

Originally Posted by googoo

New to fly fishing and seeking advice on what I need to rig my rod for fishing. Soup to nuts. Leader, line, backing, etc. as well as something i may have missed. I have a 8 wt. rod and although it isn't an expensive rod, I'd like to learn on this one ....All help appreciated. Thank You, New York State

Being new I am sure you don't know if it is a fast or med. action. Best bet would be to go to a fly fishing store and test some reels with different weight line. If it is a fast rod you might want to go 8wt or even a 9wt line. Have to see what works for you.
Don't skimp on the line, but you could get by with an inexpensive reel. BUT, that also depends on what you are fishing for. If you want to go STEELHEAD then you will want a better reel with a good drag.
I need to know what you are targeting to give you more info.
You do have some killer BROWNS up there in NY.

[Doc]

Originally Posted by googoo

New to fly fishing and seeking advice on what I need to rig my rod for fishing. Soup to nuts. Leader, line, backing, etc. as well as something i may have missed. I have a 8 wt. rod and although it isn't an expensive rod, I'd like to learn on this one ....All help appreciated. Thank You, New York State

Congrats on your choice to start fly fishing. Crack may have been a less addicting choice but at least with fly fishing, your teeth won't rot. JK.

Anyway, you say you have an eight weight rod. So you'll need to purchase an eight weight reel (something cheap will do to start as the reel really just holds the line) and an eight weight floating fly line. The line you don't want to cheap out on, buy the most expensive you can afford and ask at the fly shop what line they recommend for the style of fly fishing you're planning on doing (for an example: small streams, medium size streams, big rivers, lakes, or saltwater). Scientific Angler, Rio and Cortland all make some great lines. Some will tell you start with a weight forward line (WF) but in all honesty the taper on a WF line is 35 - 40ft so with a nine foot leader a WF line will not shoot better until you are casting 50ft or more and most new casters only cast 30ft. So the WF line will not be much different than casting a double tapered line (DT). The bonus about a DT line is that when your line starts to crack and/or become worn out, you can turn the line around and use the other end of the line (so it's like two lines in one).
Here's an article on lines Double Taper Versus Weight Forward: Which is Really Better? Fly Fishing Info Center

You're also going to need some leaders. Common lengths are seven and a half foot, nine foot, and 12 foot leaders. These leaders are tapered down to a few thousandths of an inch. A general guideline is to select a leader at least the length of the rod. If the water is clear and the fish spooky add length. If it is windy or you are having casting problems, shorten it.
And of course you'll need some tippet material to tie onto the leaders. Tippet sizes are referred to by "X" designations ranging from 0X (largest) to 8X (smallest) and are expressed in units of .001 inches.
As far as flies, you'll want to ask at your local fly shop what's been working at the water you wish to fish. You can also look for a local hatch chart for the local streams and see what bugs are hatching and when they hatch throughout the year.

Some little things you may want to get are:
Nail clippers (for changing flies)
Hemostats (for removing flies from the trout)
Cotton net (for safely handling and releasing fish)
Fly Floatent (to keep you dry flies floating longer)

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Doc

[googoo]

Thanks for the advice...Im actually going for Steelhead/Salmon..In rivers, upstate New York.

[wfosborn]

On the reel -

I'd go with a larger reel than one made for #8 line myself. On my #8 I use a reel made to take #10 line, and I still can barely fit the line & backing on it. But then again I'm not familiar with the salmon in NY, you might not need as heavy or as much backing as I use. I like to put as much 30# backing on as I can as the Coho's and Chinooks run fast and hard and there are lots of sharp things for them to wrap the line around here . . .

--W