From reel seat to tippet: understanding the anatomy of a fly-fishing rig

The anatomy of a fly-fishing rig

It's easiest to think of the complex connections that go through a fly-fishing rig like the old "Dem Bones" song we all learned as kids:

Toe bone connected to the foot bone
Foot bone connected to the heel bone
Heel bone connected to the ankle bone

From the reel seat ring at the very butt of the rig to the fly at the end, there are a lot of items to consider. And they're all, to the beginner's chagrin, held together by some different arcane formulas.

If you need a refresher on what holds it all together, don't hesitate to check back on our guide to knots:

The ultimate guide to fly-fishing knots

The do’s and do-knot’s fly-fishing knot tying. Find out what you need to know, what you don’t, and how to build your skills and have confidence in your fly-fishing knots

Current Flow StateNick Parish

Here's a great illustration on the overall anatomy of a rigged fly rod:

🚨🚨 Important to remember:🚨🚨

It's important to consider, as we go over this, that casting a fly is a transfer of energy from the caster's body, to the line, to the fly.

Our rigs transfer energy. That's their fundamental role.

The fly rod

There are a lot of variations in types of fly rods and reels you might want to use. You'll vary the setup based on the places you're fishing (are you in the ocean, or a big western river, or a small creek?) and the fish you're looking for (are you fishing for bonefish, or marlin? smallmouth bass, or walleye?)

Rod styles
The first place to start is with rods. Broadly speaking, you can divide fly rods into a couple different categories:

• Single-handed, most fly rods
• Two-handed, rods built for a growing subset of spey-style casting
• Tenkara, a traditional Japanese-style rod without a reel

Key rod facts:

• Most fly rods are between 7'-12' long.
• One-piece ("boat rods") exist too, but aren't very practical.
• They typically break down into 2-5 pieces, or, in the case of tenkara rods, have many sections that collapse into themselves down to 16" sections (perfect for a backpack).

Getting the appropriate size rod

For most beginners, a 9' 5wt is the ideal rod for most trout and general freshwater fly-fishing. It's the size of rod we recommend for your first fly rod.

How to buy your first fly rod

There’s one mistake I want to help you avoid when you buy your first fly rod.

Current Flow StateNick Parish

But, as you explore more styles of fly-fishing, in more types of water, for different types of fish, you'll need bigger and smaller rods. Here's how those are typically considered.

(Bear in mind, with a lot of these very rational-seeming charts, there's wiggle room, and the divisions aren't cut-and-dry. Your rod won't blow up if you fish a 5wt for bass. Unless you hook into a really big fish.)

Decoding a rod's info from its serial number

If you've already got a rod, maybe one you inherited, you will want to find out its specs, how long it is, what action it has. Somewhere on a rod (usually near the cork grip) you'll be able to find a model number that denotes length, weight, number of pieces, and action.

So, 90604F would be a 9', 6 weight, four-piece fast action rod.

Rod action (How fast a rod returns to straight)

Most beginner rods are medium. Rods that are meant to cast heavier flies, such as streamers, are usually fast-action rods. Rods that are ment to be more sensitive, are typically slower action.

Materials influence rod action well. Graphite is faster than fiberglass which is faster than bamboo. Switching from one rod to another, from one material to another, will force you to change timing on your cast to adjust.

There's also slight variation in where the action is applied. Sometimes a fast-action rod is referred to as having "tip action" as the majority of the flex happens in the tip.

Actions, summarized:

• Fast rods: stiffer; back to straight faster.
• Slow rods = softer; back to straight slower.
• Certain materials are slower than others.
  • Fiberglass & bamboo = soft materials.
  • Graphite = fast and medium.

For further info on action:

Choosing The Right Action In A Fly Rod

Deciding which rod action is right for you is one of the most important and personal decisions you’ll make about your fishing gear.

Orvis

The next step on our chain of connection is to the reel. A modern fly reel has flanges on its base that slot into areas in the rod's reel seat, and then are tightened down with a threaded ring that adds tension. Check that tightness from time to time as you're fishing.

Fly-fishing reels

Here's a pretty good diagram of the parts of a fly-fishing reel from United Women on the Fly:

For most trout fishing, the reel's job is mainly to balance the rod and hold the line. You can land a moderately-sized fish by just stripping in line with your line hand and pinning it against the grip with your rod hand (while keeping your rod tip elevated at all times) to get the fish to your net and released quickly.

So the reel doesn't matter that much. Until it does. And you have a monster on the other end of it. Then, you'll need to use the reel's featuers to smoothly increase and decrease the amount of line on the water, and distance from the fish to your net.

There are mechanical advantages to a reel; typically most modern fly reels incorporate a drag system, that allows you to dial-up or dial-down the speed at which a fish can pull line out of the reel. With drag tightened all the way down, it's hard to pull line from the reel. With it loose, the spool spins easily.

Reels are sized in ranges to hold the right amount of a specific size of line. So, for instance, a reel for our hypothetical first-ever fly rod, a 5wt rod, can hold 4-6wt lines. So, if you get a slightly larger or smaller rod, you can use the same reel and swap out lines, or buy additional spools to hold your other lines.

The arbor of the reel, the spool at the center that rotates around the axle, is where the reel and the line interface, and a critical connection point.

For big, heavy rods, or two-handed spey rods that use thick, fat heads on the end of their running lines, you'll need a reel with a larger capacity, a bigger arbor (the ring in the reel that holds the line) to hold the line, and balance the size of the rod.

Backing, Fly Line, Leader, and Tippet

The multiple-segment, many material thing known as a "line" actually contains 3-4 different materials and diameters and each plays an important part. Next in our chain come our backing, fly line, leader, and tippet.