Fly Fishing Gear

We furnish all fly fishing gear for our drift boat trips including flies. Your welcome to bring your own outfit if you so desire. However, we do not furnish any tackle on our raft trips. Solitude River Trips has never charged for flies, and never will.

FLY ROD:
A four or five weight rod in the 8 to 9 foot length. Naturally we recommend Orvis. Orvis rods are superb, and their tapers and actions will deliver the fly on target with excellent line control and a minimum of false casting. They also offer a fabulous guarantee. Try the top of the line Zero Gravity or the T3 series.

REELS:
There are many good reels on the market and Orvis has some of the best. For a great price try the disc drag Battenkill reel and for a top reel go to the CFO series. Its important to match your rod to your reel. The CFO has extra protection against the elements and beautiful good looks with a consistent finish reel to reel. The Battenkill is a super tough reel with a great drag system at a reasonable price. Battenkill Bar Stock or Battenkill Mid-Arbor.

FLY LINE:
A good weight foreword line, such as Orvis Wonder Line is l20% slicker than the slickest (there old Wonderline, new Wonderline Advantage gets out beyond the tip of your rod quickly, loading your rod for maximum power.

LEADERS & TIPPET:
Tapered leaders approximately 7 to 9 feet long are best. Orvis is a very strong leader with a tapered butt for flat turnover. It has great knot strength and true diameter. Leaders should be 5 or 6 pound, no lighter. Orvis Super Strong tippet material is a good bet. Tippets should be no lighter than 4x with 3x being preferable. Super Strong has twice the breaking strength of Maxima and Climax.

WADING SHOE:
Orvis Clearwater Wading Shoe offers lightweight comfort, support, and protection. These are handy for side stream fishing.

FLIES:
Our guides supply all of our guests with a good selection of flies to use during the trip. But if you tie your own or want to purchase your own, here are some patterns:

  • Elk Hair Caddis Light & Dark 10-14
  • Schroeders Parachute Hopper 10-12
  • Royal Wulff 10-14
  • PMX Orange, Red, Olive 10-12
  • Freddy 10
  • Parachute Adams 10-14
  • Stimulator..Orange,Yellow & Green 8-12
  • Dave's Hopper 8-12
  • Royal Trude 10-14
  • Irresistible 10-14
  • Yellow Humpy 12-14
  • A few bead head nymphs

Remember a hook file, clippers, fly floatant and a pair of forceps/pliers.

IMPORTANT NOTE!
If one likes to nymph fish then we suggest bringing ALL of your own tackle. Our guides are dry fly fishermen with only occasionally having to use an indicator fly with a weighted fly on a dropper.
Solitude River Trips 2007