Bass fly fishing Ireland - Part 22 - The Set Up

With spring fast approaching lots of people ask me what is my basic set up for bass fly fishing in Wexford. What do I bring and what do I fish with? The following is a list of my basic personal Fly Fishing Bass Setup - Please click on the links for more details and diagrams/animations

The Basics

The Reel - Danielsson L5W 6/9
The Rod - Redington CPX #8
The Line - Rio Aqualux Striped Bass Line at this time of year plus a Rio Outbound WF8I/S

The Detail

20 pound Dacron backing in a high-viz colour like chartreuse or orange
2 wraps around the barrel of the spool, attached to the spool with a 6-turn Uni Knot
Bimini twist on the line end of the backing with a doubled over closing knot to provide double loops
I will cast with a #8 line on a light windy day and an #9 line on a strong windy day, but I will cast both on the #8 weight Redington CPX at this time of year
I will whip a loop with fly tying thread on the backing end of the fly line, sealed with superglue or Zap A Gap
I will place another whipped loop in the leader end of the fly line
Tapered leaders hand-tied with Rio Saltwater Hard Mono
I will tie a Perfection loop in the fly line end of my leader
The Leader is built and tapered with blood knots, (alternative reverse allbrights if using droppers) starting with 40 lb Rio Hard Mono, going to 33 lb, then 22 lb, then 15 lb
Tippet section of leader is 18 lb Rio Fluoroflex plus. Its diameter is smaller than than that of the mono.
The go-to fly on a typical day would be a chartreuse and white Lefty Kreh deceiver about 2.5 inches long tied with a Non-Slip Mono Loop.

The Gear

One small Caribee or Simms bum bag containing ALL of the following
Two small C+F fly boxes one containg deceivers, the other containing clousers
One Fishpond nippers
One Stream works forceps
Spare braided loops and super glue
Ten pre built leaders 9 - 10 feet
Spare tippet material
One spare spool loaded with alternate fly line
One pair of Smith Sunglasses – Tan or yellow - NEVER leave without them
Small tube of sun factor
One Olympus MJU
One stripping basket

Under / Wader Wear

all the following are breathable

Hellyhansen base layer - warm for this time of year
Patagonia insulator pants (maybe) and fleece
Vision Extreme Waders and Jacket
Vision felt/stud boots