Anybody take a fly rod to the BW? just starting to get into it and was thinking I might have to try landing some smallies or trout up there this year.

I'm taking my fly rod this year and hope to tie into a small mouth bass or two. There is a fly fishing forum here on the bottom in the forum section you can join, good info.

Here is the link for the Fly fishing forum... Link

That is all I take. This is one of the best smallmouth fisheries in the world. If you are just starting, you might take a spinning rod as a backup. Wind and canoe casting can get the best of you. Plus you need to be able to cast fairly long distance to do your best.

Take a 4-piece 8-wt rod with top quality bass taper floating line with welded loops, and 8-12 pound bass leaders. Unless you want to hate pike, splurge on some 13 pound Suflon Micro-Supreme wire tippet. Some handy knots are: perfection loop, Lefty's loop, double-uni.

Awesome, thanks. I could see myself getting in trouble with my wife with the new fly fishing addiction ;-). I've been out panfishing and I'm hooked. Looking forward to getting set up for some big pike in the near future!

I accidently ended up guiding a couple of flyfisherman when I had my outfitter and that is all I do now! It is addicting, I used to take a spinning rod along but now I bring 2 fly rods (7 wt and 10 wt).

My experience is that a long rod helps in picking the line up off the water and you should spend a little time learning to cast sitting down. I was nevery overly concerned about the distance a client could cast, I was more concerned about their accuracy. If you can place a fly in frisbee at 20 yards then I would position the canoe for you to hit the right spot at 20 yards. If you can hit the spot at 40 yards, even better, but the boat position is what is critical!

Have a great trip!

I'm trying to talk myself into getting a 10wt and going after some big pike, right now I just have a 5wt cheapo that I bought for getting the hang of it and make sure it was something I really wanted to do. Cabelas seems to have some really reasonable equipment, their 6 piece rods kind of sound convenient for something like the BW.

You will get differing opinions, but this is mine:

In the spring you don't need to cast huge flies for pike. You can cast bunny strip flies and reasonably large poppers with an 8-wt which serves double duty for bass. Some would say that an 8-wt is a bit hefty for smallies, but you are always battling wind, boat positioning, and sitting low in a canoe. So I find an 8-wt to be a good compromise for fishing both species. Plus you can put more money in a good rod/reel/line combo.

For a rod, I would stick with a 4-piece rod. The rod tube will fit on the side of a portage pack. I use a segment of vinyl downspout as a lightweight rod tube for two 8-wt rods. I bought a Cabela's 10 weight LST (or something like that) and was unimpressed in that if felt a bit soft. A fast action rod is generally better for casting big flies. So I would get the best 4-piece fast action rod you can afford.

For reels, you don't need the best for pike and bass but a good drag system is important. I like Lamson reels which all share the same drag system at different price points.

Don't go cheap with line. Top quality weight forward line with a bass or pike taper is good. I have used Rio Clouser, SA pike line, and this year Airflo Pike/muskie taper. I like the Airflo because it changes color between the running line and the weighted head. I tried Teeny Muskie line once and did not like it because the coating was brittle and cracked where I stepped on it once which made it almost unusable.

For tippet, I like Surflon Micro Supreme 13 pound wire tippet. It is expensive but the best I have found for knot tying and small size. It will fit through the eye of regular bass flies like a woolly bugger for example yet is strong enough for a 40 inch pike.

Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for the input, its kind of disappointing that we don't have much selectikn here in Fargo for fly gear. Cabelas in Grand Forks seemed like a good trip to take afterlooking on their website and reading reviews on their rods.

Good catalogs are:

Cabela's fly fishing supplement
Orvis fly fishing
Feathercraft
The Fly Shop
The Fly Fishers Fly Shop
Murray's Fly Shop