[Derajaman]

Hey guys, I'm new to fly fishing, actually as in today was my first lesson. I definitely have a new perspective of fishing and wouldn't mind getting into fly fishing a little more since Colorado is a good place for it. Anways, what I was gonna ask is what would be a good starting rod and reel and line and such for a beginner? I've seen some combo rod and reels for around $50 to $60 that come with line, backing, and leaders but didn't know if those are something to avoid. I also want to add that I don't want to be spending A LOT of money since I can't really afford good stuff. Under $100 is what I would like to do. What is a good flyline weight to start out with? Are those quick connect flyline to leader things a good idea to get or are they more of a pain to deal with? Thanks guys, just any beginner tips or advice would be appreciated.

 

[Derajaman]

Yah, the rigs I was looking at were the scientific anglers from wallyworld. When I was having my lesson yesterday, I borrowed my roommates rod and reel that he got as a pass on from a friend and the teacher told me that the rod was really flexible and was considered more of a finesse rod and thought it would be harder to learn on. After trying the rod he had brought which was stiffer, it did seem easier to cast. Would less expensive rods be towards the stiff end or the flexible end? Is there site that anyone knows of that shows all of the different types of fly knots? As in the ones to connect your leader and your fly line or what to use on your fly? And I'm a real newbie when it comes to fly fishing, but what is a tippet?

 

[Derajaman]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I'm still thinking before I jump into anything that I find. We visited that St. Peter's Fly shop over in old town this afternoon to see what they had. Definitely some nice stuff I'm just not sure if can through down $180 for a rod and reel quite yet. I do think I want to get into flyfishing because of its advantages here in Colorado. I'm thinking of looking at the sportsman's warehouse tomorrow to see what they might have. Now, I know that fly fishing is set around trout, but just how careful do you have to be with flyfishing in catching fish compared to spincasting? Right now I'm using a medium-light action rod with 8LB test line, how would this compare with using 5 or 6 weight flyline and a good leader and tippit? I know I have to play the fish more but when would a fish be too big for this setup?

 

[Derajaman]

Hmm...well if you say you can pull in 20" fish on a 5wt line then I guess thats what I'll go for. I guess I was more concerned about the leader and tippit seeing as how thin they are for the fly how they can withstand the force of a 20" fish pulling at it.

 

[Derajaman]

Thanks for all of the advice guys. Went looking at Sportsman's Warehouse today for some rods or rod/reel combos just to get an idea of what there is. I saw in the last post that Cortland seems to be a good brand, but what about their combos? The ones we saw were $89 for rod, reel, backing, line, leader, tippit, and a video. I guess thats a little inexpensive for all of that. I'm pretty sure I want to go with a slower action rod since the one I have been using is a real fast "finesse" rod and it just makes it so hard to cast for some reason, might also be the case that the rod is a 6wt and the line looks to little to be that big, seems more of 3 or 4 wt line. Is there really any good way to tell the stiffness of a rod besides going to a store and feeling it? I've noticed very few sites online tell you what the action of the rod is and it seems the less expensive I go the faster the action is and just doesn't seem to be what I'm looking for.