Obviously Im a beginner to fly fishing, and ive done nothing but look on the internet with regards to how to accomplish a good days fly fishing and picking up tips, my first day out last week resulted me in a haul of seven rainbow trout up to 2.5lb in weight, using a floating fly line, a 8lb leader, 4lb tippet point (attached to a orange shipmans ginked up) and a 4lb dropper (attached to a epoxy buzzer), the stillwater i fish contains trout from 1lb up to 22lb+, so is my set up too harsh or should i come down in line strength.
I realise this question will have been asked before, but id just like a few guidelines.

You seem to be doing just fine with the setup you have Bernie, I have always believed in if the outfit works, and yours seems to, stick with it, cheers...

I think with the success you have had, your setup is obviously adequate, why change anything? The 4lb tippet is fine, if you are fishing a lightish rod , I would imagine a 5 wt or thereabouts. If you start going with a 7 or 8wt rod, you might have to step up the tippet strength, due to the rod probably not having the sufficient flex to protect the light tippets, especially if one of those larger fish decides to grace you with it's presence.

If the water holds fish up to 22lbs you ought to be using at least a #6, better still, a #7 rod. In which case you might find a 4lb leader may, on occasion, result in a breakage and you may have to step it up a little; however, if it works for you why change it?

Incidentally, what brand of tippet line where you using?

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How poor a thing, sometimes I find,
Will captivate a greedy mind - Isaac Walton.

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Im actually using a #6/7 fly rod, so would stepping up to a 6lb tippet & dropper strength be best, and does the the thicker line not put fish off slightly ???

Theoretically, yes, you would think so, but in practice, it depends on a number of things.. Lake trout might not be as leader shy as stream trout, but this is a gross generalisation, and not always true. I have seen lake trout that are very spooky, and the thinnest tippet scares them. A 6/7wt with a soft flexible tip should offer you good tippet protection anyway, but for a guy who is new to the game, you are on the right track, and seem to be doing great, so don't allow yourself to become confused by technicalities. Just enjoy the fishing, and if you do something that you think is not giving the desired result, then try to work it out. Too many people become over technical, and forget why they started doing it in the first place...to have fun and enjoyment. Remember you can never learn everything, and you can never become good at it, just better than you were last time out. Just when you think you are starting to know it all, along comes a fish to teach you how little you really know. This will happen until the day you die.

Well done on your catches,i dont think you are that much of a beginner,

ive been out 7 times now and have not yet caught a fish

bloody hell - seven fish, first day? you should be giving advice rather than asking for it.

Mate,

As already said on here, your doing fine. I personally favour 8/9 wt lines on 8wt fast actioned rods followed with 3/4 + 5lb Fulling Mill flurocarbon tippets. It works for me and that's all i'm bothered about.

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Hardy/Greys. Fulling Mill.

Well I am a beginner, as last week was the first time id ever picked up a fly rod and reel, as ive been course fishing for best part of 25 years.
Obviously ive done weeks and weeks of trawling the internet to get some idea of what to do and how to cast, so I think now ive got the basics and caught a few fish, its just fine tuning my casting ability, and fine tuning my presentation, but I must say that there's defiantly a science to fly fishing.