Ever Thought About Getting Into the Great Sport of Fly Fishing? Here are some Helpful Tips to get You Started..

Fly fishing can be a very intimidating hobby to pick up. There are so many small tricks to know that it can be hard for the beginner to get their foot in the door. For instance there are up to 5 different technical knots to know in between your fishing reel and your actual fly (hook). Now those are easy to find online and figure out, but the whole process can be frightful to the newbie. So here are some hints to get you started easily, including the basic items you will need.

Fly Fishing Reel:

Now a fly reel differs from a standard fishing reel in many ways. The reel on a fly fishing setup for trout should be the least of your worries. The basic point of the reel is to hold line. You won’t need any fancy drag systems and crazy expensive reels to fish for trout. These reels can become very expensive (up to $1000) and that money can be better spent on purchasing a high quality rod and fly fishing line.

What Kind of Reel should I buy and How Much can I expect to Pay?

You can get a starter fly reel for around $30, don’t expect it to be very fancy, but it will do the job. Due to the standard technique of “stripping” fish in as apposed to reeling as you would in most fishing situations, you will not need a high quality reel. Once you get serious and start going after really large fish, then you should consider upgrading to a high quality drag system. (drag is resistance applied to the reel as the fish pulls. When the fish pulls with a certain amount of pressure, the reel will release line.) You can apply pressure with your hand to the reel to act as drag (called palming), instead of using a drag already built into much higher priced reels. So My advice to you is if you have a limited budget, buy a decent reel and save most of your money for these next listed items.

Fly Fishing Rods:

These are among the most important items in your trout fishing setup. You will find the price range of rods to be huge, and can easily cost into the $1000 range. However You won’t need to spend that much for a nice one. You can easily get away with spending less than $200 on a rod and you might also get the industry standard lifetime warranty. It might seem expensive at a couple hundred bucks, but you will have it for the rest of your life. By spending this much on a good rod you will be able to cast much easier, and shorten the learning curve. To try and learn

to fly fish with cheap equipment will potentially frustrate you and cause you to quit. So spend a fair amount on a rod that will be a pleasure to cast. This could easily be compared to blogging. You can write the greatest content in the world, but if you blog doesn’t look good and is not user friendly it can only ever be as good as your platform. So don’t use a crappy blogging platform (or fly fishing rod) and you will be much happier in the long run.

Fly Lines:

Now this is your most important piece of equipment you can buy. If I were using a 5 weight rod, the I would need to buy a 5 weight line. This seems obvious right, well probably not, if you haven’t fly fished. By using the appropriate weight line, you will ensure that you can cast long distances fairly effortlessly.

Just as it is important to use the proper sized line, you will also need to keep in mind that quality fly line is your very best friend. Often times people will spend a lot of money on a rod and reel and think that cheap line will work. This is not at all the case. You absolutely get what you pay for in this department. Cheap line will make casting difficult and will make the process of learning to fish with a fly rod very difficult. You should budget 40-50$ for a good fly fishing line. It will last you a few years and make your casting a breeze..

Fly Fishing Kits/Combos:

This is where the manufacturer will put everything you need in a nice little package to get you on the water fast with minimal shopping. You will need to be aware that these kits are not created equal. They frequently include cheap fly line, and inferior rods and reels. They are targeting people who don’t know any better, and are looking for an easy way into the sport.

These combos are not always a bad option though for the beginner flyfisherman. There are a few brands such as Redington and Scientific anglers who offer high quality kits that I would recommend at very reasonable prices. You can expect to find nice setups for less than $200. They include high quality gear and usually have videos and instruction manuals to get you rolling.

Summary:

You don’t have to be intimidated with the thought of learning to fly fish. There are a lot of small parts, but once you have the basics you will be able to figure the rest out easily. It is also not nearly as expensive as you might have thought. I could easily write another 5000 words to try to explain this fairly complex style of fishing. But I don’t think I have time to write a book today. I have covered all of the small details of learning how to fly fish on my website. It is a vast subject that can never be fully covered and is a constant learning experience.