Building my first fly rod

[Owen]

OK, so I've decided to have a crack at this fly fishing stuff.
I've order a 4 piece 9ft 9wt Batson blank which I'll build in due course.

But given I can write everything I know about fly fishing on a postage stamp, I'd like some advice on the rest of the stuff.

i.e.
Reels, line sizes, types etc.

Target fish will be barra and salt water species which is why I went for a 9wt.
If I like it I may do a lighter unit up as well.

Not looking to spend a packet on a reel, but I'm happy to pay a bit more for quality gear if it's better in use rather than just wank factor.

[chris69]

hi there owen first of all line 9wt intermediate clear scientific angler stiper tropic core or a rio clouser in clear intermediate around $130,next reel no diecast they just spread go for something machined like snow bee or redington you will have to spend $250 to $300 to get a reel that will last while, go for large abor 3.75 to 4 inch diamiter spool, someting with bearings in it that you can renew or upgrade and get parts for and a good drag cork teflon is fine,have a look on ebay and now for backing once again i got some powerpro hi vis yellow 65lb braid on the ebay as well,depending on the reel you get you might get 300 to 400 mts on a spool and you need to fill the spool as neat as you can and what i do is wind the flyline on first then the backing and fill the reel then take the backing off and the line and wind the backing back on real tight and even, as you live in a good place you should hook up to some speedsters that will strip lots of backing so a good balanced reel is better at high spool rpms and thats when you find out how good your reel is and how long it will last and when you go to that dam for a barra, well you will find out one day, have fun. cheers chris.

[Owen]

Thanks Chris.
Looking forward to this build.
Looks like it's going to turn out more expensive than I first thought, but what doesn't LOL