I am very interested in learning to fly fish. Does anyone have any suggestions on a forgiving fly fishing set up that wont brea

[wittsec]

I am very interested in learning to fly fish. Does anyone have any suggestions on a forgiving fly fishing set up that wont break the bank. And before you mention it, yes I know the best thing to do is borrow but I also have no friends that fly fish. One of the bad parts about living in the desert.

[Ontario Honker Hunter]

Don't borrow or lend fly fishing equipment. Even the finest graphite rods may suddenly break for no apparent reason. Very hard to explain that to the owner of an expensive Sage rod. And some of the fancy fly reels I saw the dudes using up in Alaska were frighteningly fragile.

[Ontario Honker Hunter]

What's your price range?

[buckhunter]

Lots of good outfits in the Cabela"s catalog.

[RockySquirrel]

Walmart set. You can practice in you back yard as much as you like and not worry about breaking anything.

[LostLure]

like buckhunter said, there are some good combo kits from Cabelas. Thats what I got when I first learned.

[Ontario Honker Hunter]

I picked up a great outfit from various vendors on E-Bay. Just make sure everything matches ... same weight rod, reel, and line. You can't go wrong with a Scientific Angler System 2 reel from 3M. Usually lots of them pretty reasonable on E-Bay. They will last you a lifetime. Also LOTS of new flyline up for sale on there all the time very cheap. A three piece rod is handier for hauling on the plane but two piece will do you fine. To make yourself a tube for the rod go to the hardware store and buy a length of PVC sewer pipe, cut to length, and then glue on a flush out cap at one end and solid cap at other end. Probably want to buy a new rod rather than used. Lots to choose from in the low to medium price range and even more real expensive stuff. Length and weight will depend on the kind of fishing it'll be used for. Again, make sure the weight is consistent for rod, reel, and line.

[Ontario Honker Hunter]

And you should get weight forward line. That will have a "WF" in the type description. The number should be the weight (e.g. WF-6 = weight forward six weight). There are other types that are better for particular situations (e.g. DT = double taper for back casting situations; ST = straight taper for ... well, really good for nothing in particular. Maybe trailing behind a float tube? Be aware that many combo packages contain straight taper fly line. You will get nothing but frustrated trying to learn with that stuff). Also you'll want floating line, not sinking or sinking tip. Down the road you may eventually work your way up to wet fly fishing but for now stick to floating line.

[Ontario Honker Hunter]

Once you get your outfit look around for fly casting classes. Even though there is not much water available in your area you still may find people who are teaching it. During the winter I went to clinics held in an indoor tennis stadium. Worked okay except that my fly line would pick up a lot of the fuzz from tennis balls. We had to clean our line at least once a night.

[Dangle]

Having conducted "learn to fly fish" Schools for 30 yrs. I could tell you, but won't because no one yet, who presents the topic is capable of corresponding back. They run off, and hide it appears.

[Hoski]

Dangle, that was very helpful...shame on you.

Pick up just about any of the various starter combos, most will come pre-spooled for roughly $100. Get on the water and don't worry about looking like a pro. You'll throw lots of tangles, catch plenty of streamside brush, stick with it.
OHH offers some pretty good suggestions about type of line etc.
My best SteelHead was caught on a $100 "starter outfit".

[Dangle]

Ok, OK Hoski you caught me in a weak seasonal moment. Shame on me as a good compassionare conservative. There are lots of decent packaged buys, or packages you could put together these days givin you had the qualified assistance. But a critical aspect of a rod is it should be around 8-9 foot long, and most importantly a MEDIUM ACTION ROD so it flexes well under the grain weight of the matching line! You want to feel the bend of the rod for timing of the cast purposes. A fast action rod doesn't flex easily, and a slow action rod throws toooo big of arcing loop to learn how to cast with. An $ 800.00 fast action, graphite rod does you no good, or a several $$$ thousand dollar cane rod as well. Trust the dangle, forget the "Cabelas has some good outfits," or whomever. Get the right action rod.

[wittsec]

Thanks all for your help, sorry about the long delay in responding but I was having some PC issues. I think I have a good solid direction to look towards now though I admit I had to look up a lot of what you were all saying.

[fliphuntr14]

Redington crosswater 5wt great entry level rod with good action. It is also the like 5 iron of golf, you can fish the largest array of fish with this wt. it comes with line and a leader. When learning to cast focus on the false cast and the roll i practice very often more often then not i am casting on the lawn. I would recommend consulting someone on form it will save lots of headaches later, but it is possible to teach yourself, it will take patience. When i teach people to fly fish i try to use a very catchable fish (blue gills, bass, cutthroat in lakes) on larger dry flies.

[Joe DiPietro]

Reddington's pursuit combo is tough, easy fast action rod making it a cinch to cast and very forgiving on most beginning casting mistakes, has a lifetime warranty, include everything down to a tapered leader... you cant beat the price or the quality rod, reel, fly line, case, for $120-ish or less depending where you buy from...