Some Equipment advice needed from the tackle sluts .

[Mr AceCraft]

Need some advice ,

I have been a very on /off flyfisherman the last 20years but have this rebound phase especially with the flats skiff staring me in the eye

looking for good value capable equipment. price is a factor as always but value and capability overriding.

I currently have the following :

1) 2pc 4wt Loomis with 2 reels - 1x WF floating line , 1x fast taper sinking - yellowfish/trout/light bass.
2) 2pc 6wt White river (basspro)- 1x 19foetsek reel with intermediate line - Bass/Yellowfish
3) 2pc 10wt Elbe (1994 model) with stainless guides with a Pfluger medallist with WF line - the tigerfish slayer .
4) 2pc 10wt Elbe ( 2009 model) anodized guides with 2x Ching chong chai reels 1x Sinking line , 1x Floating line - backup tigerfish Setup.
5) 3pc 10wt Shimano Bio Cast - no dedicated reel - used one of ching chong chai reels

2 of these rods/reels will work on the odd buggering around but want something more purposed

Rods

I would like to have a Light(???) / Medium (10wt Shimano) / Heavy(???) setups ( 3x Combo's) for Salt Water 3-4pc rods with potential travel in mind , and equipment being sort of Midrange , because Top end I have seen and get a little stage freight when I see a small reel costing the same as a Tiagra Tuna Reel but must say I have Bonded with a Shilton SL6 and not out of bounds for the future.

I like the Shimano 10wt a lot and has proper saltwater guides and a proper reel seat , and seriously considering a Biocraft #8wt as a light weight combo as Well - what other alternative ?, for a 12Wt a Mid range Explorer/Stealth /Redington ??? - What else?

Reels

#8wt - I want to buy a BioCraft 7/8 Shimano reel .- are they OK reels for saltwater I really like the finish and feel
#10wt - Dunno do I buy 2x Shimano 7/8 Reels or rather something like a 10/11 Weight Redington Behemoth
#12wt - Dunno

What to do ?

2x Shimano 7/8 reels for the #8 and #10 and a 11/12wt Redington Behemoth

or

1x Shimano 7/8 temporarily use a 11/12 Behemoth on the #10 Wt taking a view on the Future for a SL6 Shilton ??

the 8 and 10 weight will be used most of the time for Estuaries and Gully's

and the 12wt for use on Yellowtail / Snoek / and the odd small gasbottle

Usage would be 90% CapeTown to J bay and 10% will be other destinations .

or am I completely missing the plot ?

[Kevin James]

Mate, it's a debate that goes round and round sometimes.

With reels, get the best you can afford even if you end up saving a bit before buying.
Most of my reels are over 20 years old and at the time spending R1500 was like a major decision......kinda like your situation right at this point. They are used, abused, thrashed but still loved........oh, and they still catch fish!

Yes, looking after gear helps and washing and cleaning takes time, but it's worth it.

Again, with rods -
Getting something that has the warranty behind it helps.
Rods break unfortunately and having peace (piece) of mind helps.

The rest of the stuff you can make up your own mind with regarding lines etc.

That's just my take on the situation - sure others might have a different view and tell me I'm insane or wrong.

EDIT
Mate, those boats you are designing look amazing - read that other thread and they are off the planet. Nice job!

[allsorts]

I'm in a similar position in that I'm doing more flyfishing after a hiatus. In my case I had a bunch of high-end American rods which I sold off over time. At current prices they are out of the question so I've looked at the high-end of the local brands, currently using one of Frontier's Horizon 5wt XRS rods and recently a Stealth Infinity 8wt. Both have excellent warranty support and frankly perform extremely well compared to my Sages and GLoomii. I haven't yet felt handicapped using them. I personally would avoid Shimano products as the local agents aren't great at product support whereas Frontier/Stealth & Explorer are all very good. There is of course nothing quite like owning a high-end American fly rod but as tools for presenting flies you will find the middle- and top-end of the local brands will do an outstanding job.

SW reels - just look for a used Shilton on Gumtree - they pop up pretty frequently.

Alternatively you can use a big 'cartridge' trout reel for all but tail & big leeries. You need to strip them and grease them in every nook and cranny and over every screw head but the best part is that you have no worries about corrosion under your line because the spool is plastic. I started with a Dragonfly 375 (which I still use) and caught plenty of SW gamefish in Durban harbour with it - kingies, queenies, scad etc. It can handle 90% of what you are likely to hook in estuaries, especially off a boat. I think there is a lot of faffing about high performance drags when in fact apart from offshore local or exotic destinations the reality is they are not needed 90% of the time.

Of course if I'm at the Strand and there are big leeries about I want to have on a Shilton or something similar...

[Garage]

Reinier,

The best value American rods are probably TFO and they have rods for every application. The BVK is a great flats rod (think grunter, Leeries and other estuary work) while its hard to beat a TiCRx for bluewater stuff.

Even TFO is expensive now with the exchange rate, in which case Stealth will never let you down. I would buy Bombers for bluewater stuff and Infinity for lighter stuff.

I agree with what has been written about reels; buy the best you can afford. Shilton takes some beating, but if it is a little expensive, the Redington Behemoths have been praised the world over. 3-Tand are also superb reels and hard to beat for the price, but I think that they are no longer available in South Africa.

[Mr AceCraft]

Thanks everybody for the feedback it does help a bit.

Took some picks of the 3 rods I have. and also reels the 2 newer ones are Kilwell , bought them 5-6years ago for a Zambezi trip but never used in Salt - think I will keep it like that .

2 reels that's taking my immediate fancy in SA 1) Brand new Shimano Ultegra 7/8 @R899 ( is this a bargain to go for or skip ) new Sage 2210(9/10wt) @R2300 or better to rather go for Behemoth. for the 10wt rod.

For a 7/8wt Stealth has a complete combo kit rod /reel/line @R3100 with a blue water reel - are they good or alternatively a explorer guide 7wt with Explorer reel @ R2700 rod&reel.

I had a look at a 12wt the Weekend and Honestly think that is a little further in the future.

Who makes TFO/BVK/ TiCrx or is it the type of carbon classification ? - sorry but the tackle lingo I still need to learn

[smallstreams.co.za]

Who makes TFO/BVK/ TiCrx or is it the type of carbon classification ? - sorry but the tackle lingo I still need to learn

TFO - Temple Fork Outfitters (the brand)
BVK and TICRx (the models)

BVK is the latest model between the 2

[beefybovril]

TFO BVK are awesome rods, cant go wrong in the 8 / 9 / 10 wt range.
Shilton reels are great - kind of a top class reel which doesn't need a homeloan to buy....IMHO....

[will101]

Honestly you can throw those Killwell reels away, I use mine as line storage. I think for false bay, your 12wt is a very good alrounder especially if you fish with other people and dont want to take half an hour to pull in a yellowtail / katonkel, and they are more than capable of the schoolie class yellowfin that you get around bellows in Dec.

[Mr AceCraft]

I did do a few enquiries and I am sure these TFO rods are fantastic but you guys have expensive taste $250-280 State side and R5000+ locally

all legit , and then add a SL6 Shilton with some supa duper cold water and dolphin safe fly line and bang you have a R12k combo

mmmm -seems I am buggering up this fairy tale with facts:smile:

[Bryan]

R5k sounds like too much for TFOs locally unless they have really taken a hit with the R $ exchange.

Phone or mail Adrian Anderson from the distributor to get the facts: adrian@adventure-flyfishing.co.za or 082 922 5571

You can often find nearly new 2nd hand Shiltons going for R2.5K Keep an eye on OLX and Gumtree and you may even find full combos going for good prices. Guys but the heavier outfits use them once then sell them often so keep an eye out