Greetings from Richmond, Virginia!

[ButchA]

Good afternoon,

I found this forum and decided to create an account, get myself all logged in, etc... and see what it's all about! Very nice place!

As seen in my profile, I am originally from upstate NY and pretty much "grew up with a fishing pole in my hand" as the saying goes. I have so many fond memories of fishing with my dad back in the 60's and 70's when I was a kid.

After I served a career in the Coast Guard and retired, I settled in Richmond, VA with my wife and 2 daughters (both now grown, married, I'm a Grandpa, etc...)

I hope to learn a lot more about fly fishing from people on here, as I have all my dad's old fishing rods, tackle boxes, and his classic 1972 Heddon 116F fly rod and Heddon 554 reel.

 

[ButchA]

I just took this photo... Hopefully I can upload the link:

 

[jayr]

Several on here fish with vintage gear, including myself.

One thing to pay special attention to is the line. Depending on the age and storage conditions of it, it may need replacing. With age they crack, split, develop a memory and fail to float (if it is a floating line of course). Otherwise it could make it very frustrating if it is in poor condition and you do use it.

 

[jpbfly]

:welcome: to the forum,tons of infos and lots of great people here.

 

[ButchA]

Thank you for the great replies!

If you look closely at my dad's old '72 Heddon, it now sports brand new Bass Pro Shop WF-5 fly line, made by White River. Underneath is about 70 yards of 20# orange backing line. I wasn't sure about stringing all 100 yards on the arbor, as it was the first time I restrung a fly reel by myself (thank you, You Tube!). And lastly, a very nice 9' tapered leader by Cabela's/Bass Pro.

Confession: I took some cut up strands of 12# bass fishing line and some 8# line, and sat down at my laptop with You Tube on, and watched and watched, and then practiced various blood knots, surgeon's knots, and more especially, making a very strong Perfection knot. I can do it!

 

[spm]

Welcome to the forum, Butch. Lots of knowledgeable people on here willing to help, so don't be afraid to ask questions. I too fish with vintage gear (mostly). It didn't start out that way. They started out new and slowly became vintage, along with me.

Looking forward to reading about your fishing adventures.

steve

 

[mcnerney]

Butch

Welcome to the forum! You will find a ton of great fly fishing information here and a lot of great folks that are more then willing to share their knowledge with you, all you have to do is ask.

 

[jspfishing]

Welcome! I am in RVA. Although I haven't fished much local. I usually fish in the mountains or the Shenandoah. I actually don't fish much in general right now due to business school at VCU. Anyways, theres a bunch of guys that fly tie the first Tuesday of every month at Legends Brewery. Great place to connect with local anglers.

See you around,

Joe

 

[tennessee dave]

Welcome from Eastern Tennessee

 

[kevind62]

Welcome to the forum! Don't worry so much about the poor quality of the rod photo. The guys who post Bigfoot pics on here have the same problem.