Fly Fishing Tips: Rods, Reels and Lines
Whether you use traditional spey rods and lines or the underhand system is up to you but for general guidance we recommend the following:
Early Season: Fifteen foot rods with 10/11 lines, the emphasis on intermediate through to fast sink.
Mid Season: fourteen to fifteen feet in 9/10 or 10/11 with a full range of sink rates from floating through to fast-sink
Late Season: as mid-season but with the possibility of single handed rod fishing (nine or ten weight) and light ‘double handers’ in the 7/8 and 8/9 categories. In low water, floating, sink-tip and intermediate are most often used but an August flood can make a change back to sinking lines essential.
Reels
Reels play a big part in Gaula salmon fishing. Gaula fish are awesome fighters backed by a powerful flow. Reels should be wide-arbor with, first and foremost, a good adjustable brake, able to give line smoothly without snatching. They should also be filled with at least one hundred and fifty metres of fifty pounds backing.