Hmmmm, there were more posts.....some involving jello. A couple of my posts as well as Dylar's are missing. I noticed the forum acting odd last night. It was down?
Yep. I'll try a one post reconstruction of what was covered.
Rod - Go to a shop, let them know what you want to do with the rod, and cast a bunch of models, until you find one you really like. 8wt is probably your most versatile option, but I use a 7wt, and it handles big fish and heavy cover just fine, and turns over good sized flies, as well.
Line - It's rare that you would need a sinking line to fish streamers for trout in the freestone streams we have in NC. Under most conditions, your best streamer setup is going be a floating line, a longer leader (7-9' depending on the stream) and weighted streamers or streamers fished with split shot.
Use a sink tip or full sink line for fishing aggressive cross stream presentations in high, dirty water, or when you're fishing a tailwater. Certain unweighted flies with a built in action on the retrieve (for example, Todd's Wiggle Minnow, seen below) will fish best on a sinking line.
Keep in mind that lines are going to either have a warm water or cold water coating on them. Bass lines, optimized for warm water, are likely to get brittle and crack if used to fish for trout, especially once the water gets into the 40s or lower. Cold water lines will start to get overly stretchy and feel 'noodly' or 'jello-like' if fished extensively in water that is in the 70s or higher.
Flies - Trout are notorious short strikers, so you might want to tie up/invest in some patterns where they hook is in the 'tail' of the fly. The sculpzilla is a personal favorite here.
STRIP SET!!! If you try to set with the rod rather than the line, you're going to be heartbroken.
. I'm mainly picking this one up to throw bushier patters for largemouth, but would also like to toss a few larger patterns in the smallie rivers to see if I can entice some bigger critters.
