Beginner fly rod

[jhm2023]

If it's a starter kit you're wanting, check out the Redington field kit. Match the particular kit to the species you wish to pursue, which they make pretty easy. Most kits come with garbage fly line, but the Redington field kit comes with an appropriately matched Rio premier line for the species and that has a taper that's on the easier side to cast. Not the cheapest kit, but you get what you pay for and crap rods and lines ruin the experience. A bonus is you can get replacement tips sections for 25 bucks.

 

[Donjuan]

I've heard it said buy Echo and spend the rest you save on traveling to fish

 

[Mojave]

I like Loop rods from Sweden.

Almost all rods are made in China, but the company is here in Sweden.

 

[406flyfish]

As a fishing guide, I certainly wouldn’t pay more than a few hundred dollars for your first set up. Either combo below are excellent. It will come with everything you need and will eliminate the headache of piecing everything together.

I’ve had clients who couldn’t tell the difference between a $1,200 Helios 4 and a Clear Water. I’d recommending buying from a local fly shop if you can.

Clearwater® Fly Rod Outfit

Hands down the best fly rod you can buy for the money, the well-appointed Clearwater series includes options to cover every angler.

www.orvis.com

ECHO Traverse Kit | Echo Fly Fishing

echoflyfishing.com

 

[brca005]

I’ve got a Redington Crosswater combo 9’ 5wt, I got it on clearance, also this way I can go beat the tar out of it and not feel bad. I also feel a 5wt is a one and done combo, being versatile, can go for small panfish or trout all the way up to bass or northern with everything in between.

I’ve had a few different Redington’s and like them, I got them off Facebook marketplace for the budget friendly part and liked them.

I’ve also got a 9’ St. Croix Avid fly rod and I always grab the Redington over it.

It all boils down to personal preference and budget, like any other piece of gear we talk about on here.

I’ve always wanted to get an Echo, just haven’t pulled the trigger yet on one.

 

[butcherboy]

My first fly rod was purchased at Walmart! I can’t remember the name of it but rod and reel cost me about $60.00. That was a lot for a Highschool kid with no job. I caught a lot of trout with that one on the San Juan quality waters. Fished circles around the guides there. I upgraded to a St Croix 9’ 5wt and I absolutely hate this rod but I’ve never replaced it. It’s just too heavy and stiff. I mostly use my 7.5’ 3wt redington for small creeks and streams dryfly. My brother bought the blank and then “built” everything on it and gave it to me as a gift.

Sage, Fenwick, Orvis, Loomis, Reddington, Scott, TFO, etc. all have some midrange to low rods that would be just fine. You don’t need a high end rod even as you progress. What you will find is what you prefer overtime. Fast, medium, or slow action, weight, etc. I prefer a light slow action rod.

 

[flyfisher117]

As an enthusiast of Winston Rods I will say you do not need to buy the top of the line gear. Trout aren't too hard on it. That being said I personally do not find the bottom of the barrel Amazon gear to be enjoyable. My first Cabelas kit taught me a lot but durability kind of sucked. I have also found that buying nicer quality fly lines has just given me more years of usage. Better bang for my buck in the long run.

I will echo everyone else a 9' 5 Wt moderate fast action rod is a decent place to start. It's the staple trout rod. I also use mine for light duty bass. If you are positive you only want to target trout you could drop down to a 3wt or 4 wt rod, though they won't be as forgiving on fly selection. My absolute favorite trout rod is a 7'6" 3 wt.

For ~$400 you could do..
A TFO or Orvis Rod
A Lamson Liquid Reel
A Scientific Anglers Trout fly line

This is the combo we set my wife up to learn on 8 years ago and she's happily fishing away still.

 

[bigbassin]

By natives I assume your talking brook trout in small mountain streams? If so, an 8’ 6” or 9’ 4 wt is what I’d recommend.

I’ve really liked my TFO 8’ 6” Finesse 4 Wt. It mostly gets used on small creeks for sub 10” trout, but it’s caught bass and carp throwing clousers and woolly buggers on big rivers too.

In order of importance, line matters way more than the reel. Say you have $100 bucks left after buying the rod, I’d spend $75 on line and $25 on the reel. The line is what you are truly casting and loading the rod with, not the fly. Any floating, weight forward 4 wt line will work, I think in order, Rio makes the best fly line, followed by Orvis, then Scientific Anglers. Their prices correspond with this.

The reel is a glorified line holder in all freshwater situations, and not as needed as most think in most saltwater situations. I’ve landed bonefish, snook, and redfish on a $30 bass pro reel, you don’t need to spend money on the reel for a 4wt unless you can afford it and want to.

If you want to start super cheap a MaxCatch $90 setup (Rod, reel, line, case, hat, pliers, and some flies), would work great just to see if you enjoy it. Despite the whole deal costing as much as nice fly line, the Rod actually casts great. I’ve landed rainbows, browns, multiple species of bass, and even Sea Trout and baby tarpon on it. It’s one of my favorite casting rods I’ve used, but be warned it will snap before the years up. I’ve owned 3 at one point or another and they have all snapped midcast.

 

[wytx]

Do you have any local rod builders, if so go talk with one.
I was surprised at what a local guy could build me on a budget.
He set me up with a nice modestly priced rod that I use to this day.
They have access to nice blanks of all makes usually and can really help get you a decent rod to start casting.
I'd go with a 5 wt and a take down of some size.

 

[Shaun0915]

Redington is my pick.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[snowymtnwolf]

For me. All about the length. I prefer shorter because I don’t need to (nor want to) cast 50 yards + I don’t need to worry about long rod and back casting. Shorter gives me more precision. Especially if you are on side of stream VS in middle (which I do more of). Less weight makes it sweeter to “play” the fish (I’m also ultralight guy for spinning rod).

Grab a few cheap ones and then dial in to exactly what ya want and then sink some $$ into your fav weight / length.

Huh above mentioned the truth - line and leader can be pricey and makes a big diff too. Sometime out costing the rod.

And you didn’t even get into the particulars about reel (which also makes or breaks the rod + experience).

Good luck and Fish On !!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[thinhorn_AK]

By natives I assume your talking brook trout in small mountain streams? If so, an 8’ 6” or 9’ 4 wt is what I’d recommend.

I’ve really liked my TFO 8’ 6” Finesse 4 Wt. It mostly gets used on small creeks for sub 10” trout, but it’s caught bass and carp throwing clousers and woolly buggers on big rivers too.

In order of importance, line matters way more than the reel. Say you have $100 bucks left after buying the rod, I’d spend $75 on line and $25 on the reel. The line is what you are truly casting and loading the rod with, not the fly. Any floating, weight forward 4 wt line will work, I think in order, Rio makes the best fly line, followed by Orvis, then Scientific Anglers. Their prices correspond with this.

The reel is a glorified line holder in all freshwater situations, and not as needed as most think in most saltwater situations. I’ve landed bonefish, snook, and redfish on a $30 bass pro reel, you don’t need to spend money on the reel for a 4wt unless you can afford it and want to.

If you want to start super cheap a MaxCatch $90 setup (Rod, reel, line, case, hat, pliers, and some flies), would work great just to see if you enjoy it. Despite the whole deal costing as much as nice fly line, the Rod actually casts great. I’ve landed rainbows, browns, multiple species of bass, and even Sea Trout and baby tarpon on it. It’s one of my favorite casting rods I’ve used, but be warned it will snap before the years up. I’ve owned 3 at one point or another and they have all snapped midcast.

Have you used any recent Rio fly lines? I only ask because I’ve had terrible luck with them in terms of durability for the past 4-5 years. That’s for saltwater and fresh water applications. I’ve found the SA lines to be much more durable but have mostly switched over to airflo lines.

I also agree with you 100% that in most freshwater situations that the reel is a line holder, I still like a decent reel though.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

My first fly rod was purchased at Walmart! I can’t remember the name of it but rod and reel cost me about $60.00. That was a lot for a Highschool kid with no job. I caught a lot of trout with that one on the San Juan quality waters. Fished circles around the guides there. I upgraded to a St Croix 9’ 5wt and I absolutely hate this rod but I’ve never replaced it. It’s just too heavy and stiff. I mostly use my 7.5’ 3wt redington for small creeks and streams dryfly. My brother bought the blank and then “built” everything on it and gave it to me as a gift.

Sage, Fenwick, Orvis, Loomis, Reddington, Scott, TFO, etc. all have some midrange to low rods that would be just fine. You don’t need a high end rod even as you progress. What you will find is what you prefer overtime. Fast, medium, or slow action, weight, etc. I prefer a light slow action rod.

Sage, loomis and Scott Ross start in the ~ 6-700 dollar range….great rods all of them but not really what I’d call a beginner rod for somebody who wants to see if they like it.

I suggest going out and trying some rods if at all possible, they aren’t all the same/equal. Within brands, there are certain models that are better and within models of rods there are certain weights that just perform better.

One of my least favorite rods I’ve uses was a Thomas and Thomas avant 2 7 weight. It just sucked. The 6 weight from the series was nice though.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

As a fishing guide, I certainly wouldn’t pay more than a few hundred dollars for your first set up. Either combo below are excellent. It will come with everything you need and will eliminate the headache of piecing everything together.

I’ve had clients who couldn’t tell the difference between a $1,200 Helios 4 and a Clear Water. I’d recommending buying from a local fly shop if you can.

Clearwater® Fly Rod Outfit

Hands down the best fly rod you can buy for the money, the well-appointed Clearwater series includes options to cover every angler.

www.orvis.com

ECHO Traverse Kit | Echo Fly Fishing

echoflyfishing.com

Kelly galloup will say whatever you want him to if you’re paying him. I don’t believe for a single second that he uses that rod setup.

Especially since he has his own rod design (streamer) made by echo to his specs. I’m pretty sure he just makes videos like this to sell stuff at his shop. He talks about how thousands dollar rods are not worth it but when I went to his seminar a few years ago he was using a cf birkheimer rod with a nautilus reel which is absolutely a 1500.00+ setup.

All that said, that echo streamer rod is pretty neat. That’s not to say that kit is bad, it’s probably pretty good but I do t believe he uses it or used it for an entire season.

 

[bigbassin]

Have you used any recent Rio fly lines? I only ask because I’ve had terrible luck with them in terms of durability for the past 4-5 years. That’s for saltwater and fresh water applications. I’ve found the SA lines to be much more durable but have mostly switched over to airflo lines.

I also agree with you 100% that in most freshwater situations that the reel is a line holder, I still like a decent reel though.

Nothing recent on the Rio. I think the 8wt saltwater line I have spoiled up is 8 years old and still good to go, 6wt sinking line is 7.

My 4 and 2 has floating (Orvis), both less than two years. I’ve also got a floating 6 wt Scientific Anglers that’s pushing 10, but I’ve never liked it that much. I also have all most no use for a floating 6 wt so it’s good enough to not replace.

 

[2ski]

Listen to the Born Primitive pod that Aron is doing now. He's dedicating some pods to fly fishing so you might pick up some stuff. He talks about this in one of them.

The Clearwater is the cheapest Orvis with a 25 year warranty. That was my first rod and I haven't seen a need to buy something new. I've changed the line out on it. That's the one thing I would do is buy expensive line and ditch the line that comes with the Clearwater.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Listen to the Born Primitive pod that Aron is doing now. He's dedicating some pods to fluffing so you might pick up some stuff. He talks about this in one of them.

The Clearwater is the cheapest Orvis with a 25 year warranty. That was my first rod and I haven't seen a need to buy something new. I've changed the line out on it. That's the one thing I would do is buy expensive line and ditch the line that comes with the Clearwater.

Fluffing huh??? Talk about a career change…..

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Nothing recent on the Rio. I think the 8wt saltwater line I have spoiled up is 8 years old and still good to go, 6wt sinking line is 7.

My 4 and 2 has floating (Orvis), both less than two years. I’ve also got a floating 6 wt Scientific Anglers that’s pushing 10, but I’ve never liked it that much. I also have all most no use for a floating 6 wt so it’s good enough to not replace.

Maybe the issues are a bit more recent. I took a Rio flats pro to Mexico last summer and it got all chewed up and we weren’t even fishing over coral, just catching mid size bonefish and baby tarpon. I also had a 9wt with an SA grand slam that looks like it’s new even after 3 separate saltwater trips. When I was in Hawaii fishing for bone fish last winter, the guide said he’d given up on Rio lines for the same reason.

 

[2ski]

Fluffing huh??? Talk about a career change…..

Lol. You have to love autocorrect that corrects to the wrong thing.

 

[Flyjunky]

There’s some good info on here but I’ll give you the same talk I give everyone who comes into my shop.

Define a budget you want to spend on your 3 core pieces…rod, reel, and line. Within that budget spend more on your fly line than you were expecting. A good fly line will make things way easier on you at this stage of your fly fishing experience than a rod or reel will. I could line up a $1200 rod with a crappy $40 line and that rod will cast terrible. Conversely, a $150 rod with a nice $99-$129 line will cast sweet.

The places where most manufacturers skimp on combos is the fly line, especially those packages at $250 or less. Usually above that price point the upgrade you get in a line is worth the cost increase of the package.

If you’re planning on fishing small creeks with short casts a rod/line combo that loads the rod with relatively little line outside the rod tip will make your learning and enjoyment so much better. In other words, it’s frustrating for beginners learning to cast and present a fly if your only casting 20’-30’ but it takes the entire head of the fly line to be outside of your rod tip in order for you to load that rod.

Go talk to a local fly shop if you have one, they should know what works best for your situation and where you plan on fishing.