cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board  

Go Back   cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board > non-Sports > Outdoor / Scouting / Survival

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-11-2011, 03:20 PM   #1
MikeWaters
Demiurge
 
MikeWaters's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 36,363
MikeWaters is an unknown quantity at this point
Default How to start out fly fishing if you are poor or cheap

I'm not poor, but I am very cheap. So that means I am in the same boat as the poor when it comes to buying equipment. I like a good bargain.

So you tell me, "Mike, sure fly fishing looks fun, but that's for the rich cats. And I ain't got that kind of scratch." No doubt fly fishing is not cheap, especially when you compare it to the $20 or $30 combo rod/reels at Walmart that many of you might be satisfied with. But you get what you pay for. If you want $20 worth of fun, by all means, go for it. But just remember, scientific research that I read in the New York Times says that when it comes to money, purchase of recreational equipment does improve levels of happiness. Purchase of material goods in general does not.

One thing I like about fly fishing is how compact and simple things can be. I can head out the door to the neighborhood creek with a small reel in my pocket, a few flies, and a 4-piece rod tucked under my arm (small enough to fit in a suitcase or backpack). Sure when I hit the river, I have a lot more equipment than that. But it can be very simple.

The two most important pieces of equipment you need are the rod and the reel. The rod is probably more important than the reel in terms of performance vs. price.

I bought my first rod/reel off of craigslist, so that's a great place to look. Rich kid whose parents bought him a rod/reel, and he dumped it for cheap. That's what you are looking for.

Assuming you are going after fresh water trout, or similar sized fish, you should probably get a 4 weight or 5 weight rod. The weight refers to the "power" of the rod, i.e. how much line/weight it can fling forward. The smaller the weight, the smaller the fish and fly/lure. Fishing streams and small rivers? 4 weight would be great. Going after steelhead? Probably need at least an 8 weight.

The 4-piece 5-weight rod from St. Croix is an excellent deal. I recently purchased one.

http://www.stcroixrods.com/shop/catalog/Fly-25-1.html#

It comes with a 5-year warranty. Warranties are important, because rods do tend to break, due to any number of reasons. Including falling down, smacking it on things, slamming it in doors and pickup beds. The better rods will come with a lifetime warranty, such as the Temple Fork Outfitters rod that I own.

Another potential source for some good deals on stuff is from http://sierratradingpost.com . Get on their emailing list and they have all kinds of coupons. For example, with their 35% off coupon that they sometimes have, I can get a Redington 8 weight w-piece rod and reel combo (with fly line) for $67. Lifetime warranty. Hard to beat that.

Better reels are most important for when you are bringing in a big fish. Then things like the drag and how much backing line you have come into play. One small reel manufacturer that is getting a lot of good pub is an outfit called Allen. If you get on their email list, they have specials/coupons on their reels and other equipment. I purchased their 5/6 Trout reel in red, and it is very sharp and very nice. It might be more than you want to pay for at the very beginning, but you won't go wrong with it, and it will holds its value well.

http://www.allenflyfishing.com/

In general, the cheapest way to buy flies is over the internet. They are at least 50% less online compared to most stores, at least in my area. In an area where fly fishing is popular, the price point may be close to the same. In that case it probably makes sense to support your local fly fishing stores. I have used http://thetroutspot.com and found their customer service to be excellent. The fly quality appears to be very good as well.

My fly fishing buddy swears by Orvis equipment and stores. Orvis is one of the really big fly fishing outfits with a very good reputation and they treat their customers right. But they are also very pricey. I went to their store the other day, and felt a little out of sorts. It seemed to be the kind of place where people go before their $15,000 fly fishing trip. Where if you don't own a $3000 shotgun, you ought not bother walking in (they did also sell expensive over/under shotguns as well!). I went there to get backing for my new cheap internet reel, and they did that at no charge. So if money is not an object, they are likely good folks to get you started.

On my one and only day-long guided trip, I used an Orvis Helios rod, which costs $800. Compared to my $60 rod, for the kind of fishing that I am doing, I didn't really notice a difference. The main difference is the weight. The Helios is much lighter, which has its advantages. But for a beginner like you or me, don't bother. At least not yet. You will find over time, if you get into this, that there is mission creep. Wants become needs, very quickly indeed.

And no you don't need a trout fishery to start fly fishing. I've done most of my fly fishing at my neighborhood creek here in Texas, catching bluegill and smallmouth bass. You can catch warm water fish just as well. And I haven't even mentioned saltwater fly fishing, which is a huge industry as well.

Good luck!
MikeWaters is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 11:59 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.