Hi, I live in western Washington near highway 2 and have recently decided I'd like to take up fly fishing. Because I am a hiker and I live in the region I do, I'm sure I'll be fishing a lot of small rivers and mountain lakes. I am a rook and have no experience with setting up these types of rods so any help is appreciated! Just looking for some possible setups or suggestions on gear. Thanks
Jayzus, where to start? OK, if you have access to a good library start there. Get more than one book on the basics and read them. It will be a little confusing but reading several authors approaches will get your thinking oriented in the right direction. If you happen to get Lefty Krays book in which he says, "first buy your box of flies", ignore that part but read the book anyway. Lefty is lovable,cranky old fart who taught God to fly fish and who loves to make points in reverse. He has also said that rod building technology has progressed to the point that most fly fisher cant get all the performance out of a $100 rod that is built in it. That is probably true. Alot of folk will chime in with advice on gear so I'll make three points: 1. Have someone who is a good teacher teach you to cast. If you insist on doing it yourself get a book or dvd that tells you how and stick your rod butt in your shirt cuff when you cast. Don't wonder why, just do it. 2. Spend your $s on good waders. If you ain.t comfortable, you ain't gonna enjoy fly fishing. 3. For most of us a reel's only function is to store line. Go cheap. 4. Listen to Lefty, you don''t need an expensive rod. Having said I'd leave it up to others to discuss gear, get a rod, reel, line combo. Regarding flies, you can buy em cheaper than you can tie em.
So true, you don't need to spend a bunch of money on this right now. As much as I hate to admit, Cabela's frequently has decent deals on setups that include the rod, reel, backing and line, sometimes under $100! Make the drive up to Marysville and see what they've got. You also don't need a ton of flies, either!
Watch a couple casting dvd's and find a park to practice casting. Get your self a decent size fly box and some elk hair caddis, Adams, stimulators, pheasant tails, hares ear, prince in various size flies. An inexpensive 4 or 5 wt with reel and floating line should set ou up to fish. Waders and boots would be a good thing to have in the northwest. Outdoor emporium has a scientific anglers rod, reel and line with an informational DVD for $100 or so. At least they did last month when I was in there. Cabelas is good for a starter set up as well.
Find a friend that fly fishes and get the basic's from him. You will learn a lot more from him than reading about it. And lots of practice casting in your back yard or Park as long as you have your Discover Pass
It is hard to stick the butt of your rod in your shirt cuff with short sleeves. Spend your money on casting lessons. Or get free ones. Go to all of the free classes and events that you can!
I wonder what my fly fishing would be like if we had, had computers when I started out. My first rod was a 8' Fiberglas. What brand I couldn't tell you.with a pfluger( I can't spell worth a dam) reel With the old line on it. It was a DT6 Floating line. My backing was Mono as back then I don't think they had any good backing. I bought it at a White Front store. They weren't called big box stores back then. But it was one. I couldn't ask anybody about stuff as I had to fumble though everything by my lonesome. It might of took me a little longer to learn but I did. There wasn't many fly shops out there, but I managed to learn how to by hands on. But today it is all in front of you. Just go to a computer and away you go. Asking all sorts of silly questions, and then you get all sorts of silly answers. I was always of the old school of going out and doing this by ones self. I must just like to bitch. But life it hard.
Welcome to a new addiction. Part of the fun is picking out gear. Got to a local Fly shop that carries Redington and Temple Forks Outfitters and check out their entry level rods and combos. For somewhere between $125 and $200 you can get a GREAT outfit. The same shop will have some more expensive American made rods. Some of those can be had in the $200 range. Sage is the most popular in the NW and made on Bainbridge. St. Croix is a good option and thei entry level US made rods are less than $200. You might also be able to get a kit with the various stream side tools.
If you're close to the Lacey Cabela's it's worth a trip. The fly shop area is pretty big, but it's never staffed. This means you can go in and look around and play with the gear without someone pestering you.
IMO Ross makes a great rod and reel and they have a good combo for around 175.00,cheaper than that often on ebay.Streamflies and the flystop are both good sites with very nicely priced flies.
Your local shop is a good place to start. they are full of good advice and can set you up right and will know of any lessons offered in the area.
Rod portability is a factor, although not an absolute. Unlike earlier times when most fly rods were 2- or occasionally 3-piece models, today there are many 4-piece rods and more, which are easy to fit in or on a backpack. A 4-weight is a fine choice for backcountry lakes and small streams. Ross, Winston, and Sage formerly made superb 5-piece models that can be found second-hand occasionally.
Being a former mountaineer that discovered there is awesome beauty where wild trout thrive and it's a lot easier to get to, I often fish small streams and backcountry lakes for the solitude and peace (at least when I'm not decorating riparian vegetation and trees). Though dated on gear a book titled The Curtis Creek Manifesto has humorously introduced many, many beginners to fly fishing and conveys the essence of a creeping, crawling, stealthy style of angling on remote waters to me. An excerpt of the epilogue
Welcome aboard mate. Sierra Trading post has some great closeouts on fly gear and flies also. I would go for a 4 or more piece 4wt 9' rod with matching reel and wff line, travel cast.
This picture looks like a spot on Friday Creek. If you search a lot of the small creeks in Washington you find things that look like pictures in books.
+1 An excellent all-round choice. I use a 7 piece 9' moderately fast action 4 weight rod for remote streams where abundant spring runoff keeps the riparian vegetation pushed back from the stream channel, and lakes. The 9' length provides excellent distance, plus the line control and hook setting abilities needed for effective fishing. In fact it casts so well for me I am now using it for most of my dry fly fishing. However on small streams my casts are almost always under 20 feet and find any greater distance isn't really necessary. The first rod I got for fishing remote water is a compact 4-piece 7'9" moderate action 3 weight rod that works somewhat better for me on small streams in narrow gorges with a riparian jungle right up to the water's edge. It it casts much farther than it effectively fishes but it's shorter length makes it better for bushwhacking, stealth, and short casts in tight spots. It's a more specialized choice.
I just got a flyer from Cabela's and thery have the TFO Professional 4-piece rods on sale for 50% off at $75.00. That is a great buy. I have one and they are a great rod
I'll put in a opinion....for the money, maybe a little more than you want to spend, but the redington CT rods are very impressive. They come in 4 and limited 6 piece. 386-4, 486-4 or the 380-6 seem to fit the requirements. 149-169 price. They feel like a higher end sage body in a tfo dress....I think if they sold the blanks only it would be one of the top selling custom rods (IMHO).
My 5 cents (inflation has caught up with the price of opinions too). 1.) Take a casting lesson at your local fly shop and test cast some of their rods and reels (~$40-60). 2.) Call Red's Fly shop (Yakima), ask when Steve Joyce will be available and sign up for a guided trip ($450 including tip). Find a friend who knows how to fish and needs little help on the river to split the cost of the trip ($225 your cost). Spend the whole day getting one on one lessons from Steve on casting, presentation, knots, fly selection, etc. In all likelihood, catching and landing fish, whooping it up, taking trophy pictures and generally having a blast. 3.) Now you're ready to make the decision on how much to invest in the absolute myriad of options available on rods & reels.
