[scottdog900]

I was up on the Cache la Poudre last weekend doing some camping with the wife and dogs. Got a chance to do some fishing with my spinning gear and had great success (2 rainbows and 1 brown in 20 minutes -- but then the cheap rod broke). It looked to me that if you knew how to fly fish you could go up there and have a 30-40 fish day without much of a problem. In short, I love that place -- so much fishable water!

I've decided that this year I will learn to fly fish for trout. To that end, I need some reccomendations on equipment (rod length, weight, reel, etc.). I'm fairly adept at casting as I grew up fishing for panfish and small bass on flies. I'm just not sure what size gear to get for the trout (was thinking 4 or 5 weight). I'd probably use this gear for chasing some bluegill/small bass as well. Are there any advantages/disadvantages to longer rods? My budget is about $150 for the rod, reel, and line. Looks like Cabelas has some decent combos...

Many thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[scottdog900]

Thanks for all of the great advice. The bit on the "economy" of equipment really makes a lot of sense especially since the fishing conditions one encounters while fly fishing seem to vary widely. And also, I'd rather buy the right equipment the first time than buying it over and over again

After doing a bit more research, it seems that the best advice is to buy the nicest equipment you can afford. Although I'm losing my job soon, I'm getting a nice severance package, so upping the budget a little shouldn't put me in the poorhouse (besides, I'm a fishing fanatic, so I'll get my money's worth -- at least this summer while I "search" for a new job ).

From what I've read, it sounds like fast action rods are the most versatile although they present a much steeper learning curve for beginning anglers. Is this accurate? I'm willing to pay my dues now so to speak in order to have better performance down the road, but does it make sense to buy something I can "grow into"? I've talked to some folks at the local fly fishing shops in Boulder, but it seems that just like in fishing, there are 100 different perspectives on the same technique...