What is different about flyfishing from spinning, or casting?

Let's start with equipment.

With spinning or casting the weight of your lure is what loads (bends) the rod to propel the lure to its destination. With a flyfishing outfit, the weight of the line is what loads the rod and the weight of the line is what carries the fly (lure) to its destination. Flyfishing outfits are considered a system. Your weight of line matches the rod to create a balanced outfit. Lines come in weights from 00 all the way to 14. This size is determined by the weight of the front part of the line. Fly lines are typically tapered and the tapers can vary in a given line, but the weight of all same sized lines is identical.

A 2 WT line for instance, is a very light line. It is designed to very gently cast very small flies. The 14 WT on the other hand, is designed to cast very large flies for large ocean fish. It would be nearly impossible to cast a sailfish streamer with a 2 WT line, and conversely, would be very awkward to cast a size 24 dry fly with a 14 WT line. In simple terms the size of line is designed around the size and type of fly that you want to fish with. For most still water fishing you need a rod and line combo that can cast small panfish poppers or nymphs and have the ability to deliver a larger fly if the need arises. Here in Colorado, there are lakes that hold both trout and very large pike. In these lakes, if you want to fish for both species, you are probably going to carry two different rods, but for most Stillwater conditions, a single rod will suffice. So what is the best weight rod/line combo to have? For most Stillwater conditions, a 5 or 6 wt line will enable you to cast a size 12 panfish popper, or a twist a nymph rig for trout, and still be able to toss a larger fly to a marauding bass. The other factor in flycasting is wind! A heavier weight line will enable you to cast better if the wind is blowing hard. Often you need a heavier rod to buck the wind, even though the flies you are using don't demand the heavier outfit. So match the conditions and type of fly you are using to the size of rod you need. When I head out to the lake, I typically have a 4, 6, and 8 wt rod available to suit the conditions that are encountered here in Colorado. When I lived in Michigan, a trip to the lake usually meant a 5 or 6 WT, unless I was specifically targeting bigger fish, in which case, I might carry an 8 or 9 WT. So what else is different?

In spinning or casting, your reel is used to retrieve line. You cast your lure, retrieve your line, cast, retrieve, and so on. In flyfishing, you control your line while you're fishing, but you don't directly reel your line onto your reel every time you cast. Instead, you strip line in and let it lay on your stripping apron, or the floor of the boat. When you cast out, this line is carried out with the momentum of the cast. The reel is simply used as a carrier of your line. Although most of the time your reel simply stores your line there are times that your reel can also serve the purpose of fighting a bigger fish by reeling line onto the reel until the reel's drag can be put into play. This technique is usually reserved for larger fish that can run and strip out a large amount of line and you want to have better drag control of the fish. You would spend your whole day reeling and unreeling if every time you hooked a bluegill you "put the fish on the reel".

The next thing that is typically different about flyfishing rods is the length. Most fly rods are somewhere in the 8 to 9 ft range. Yes, some rods will stretch into the 10 foot or longer range, but for most fisherman, they'll use 8 to 9 feet rods. This contrasts to a typical 5 to 7 foot range for most spinning and casting outfits. So why the longer rod?

The fly rod is the lever that we propel the line with and a shorter lever means more work to cast the line. I have a 14 foot Spey rod that I utilize for steelhead and salmon, and it doesn't take much effort to cast a line 70 feet or farther with it. If I tried to cast the same line with a 5 foot rod, it would wear me out! The length of the rod also aids in the fighting and landing of the fish. Since you have a monofilament leader attached to the end of your line that is usually 7 to 12 feet long, it is much easier to strip the leader to the end of the rod tip and use the length of the rod to maneuver the fish to hand or net. Longer rods also have the benefit of having a longer spring action and thus will allow you to use the rod to absorb short runs of fish and to protect the tippet section of your leader. I once landed an 8 lb salmon on my 8 ½ ft 2 wt rod. No I wasn't targeting the salmon, but lots of trout hang out on the back end of salmon spawning redds and on this particular day, I was targeting the trout when a salmon in the dark water behind the redd decided that my micro egg pattern looked tasty. The point is, that if it weren't for the springy action of this rod, I probably wouldn't have had a chance of landing this fish before it broke my 5x leader. This same principle applies to Stillwater fishing. Longer rods also aid in keeping your line high off the water when you are casting from a float tube. Consider a longer rod if you are going to be fishing primarily from a float tube or pontoon.