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JCW355

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I'll check that out. I finally caught some rainbows on my fly rod a couple of weeks ago, so now I use it more. Olive beaded head wooly bugger FTW! And a black zebra midge too. Just ordered, thanks for the heads up.
 

gillman7

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Cool, I ordered a card of them, thanks!! :D

That is one of my goals is to learn how to fly fish. I do not have a pole yet, so suggestions are welcome. I want one to learn and grow with. Not top end, but do not mind paying for quality equipment.
 

J.P.

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Cool, I ordered a card of them, thanks!! :D

That is one of my goals is to learn how to fly fish. I do not have a pole yet, so suggestions are welcome. I want one to learn and grow with. Not top end, but do not mind paying for quality equipment.

The good news is that in this day and age you can get a quality setup for little money.
ebay is a good place to find deals on higher end fly rods as well.
 

gillman7

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The good news is that in this day and age you can get a quality setup for little money.
ebay is a good place to find deals on higher end fly rods as well.

Got any suggestions to start? I am such a newbie on this, I don't know what questions to ask.
 

J.P.

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Got any suggestions to start? I am such a newbie on this, I don't know what questions to ask.

You'll probably want a mid-flex rod or intermediate action because they are a bit more forgiving than tip-flex or fast action rods....but they help cast in wind better than full-flex or slow action rods.
Quality gear can be had from: Orvis, Diamondback, Cortland, Redington, Thomas&Thomas, Sage, Winston...and some of them have econo-line setups as well.
St. Croix stuff is decent for the money, and some of Cabela's house brands are made by the top manufacturers.
Of course you can just buy a cheap Korean made setup for very little bread, and some of them are actually worthy casters.
The quality of your gear depends a lot on your experience level....the better a caster you are and the more in tune you are with your rod, naturally the more you'll appreciate all of the subtle things that make an $800 rod worth the money.:)
I've picked up some sweet high end rods on ebay for 1/4 of the price.

Look thru' the Orvis catalog/website and see what you might be thinking about and then get back with us. I've used a lot of their gear throughout the years and can recommend certain models.

Most of the literature will recommend a 7wt as a starter rig, but I tend to prefer 5-6wts.
The important thing is to determine exactly what you will be fishing for..and the associated fly size that you want to throw.
The maximum size fly you'll be using will determine what weight rod you need.

For example, if you are going soley for Bass you'll want a 8-12wt that will handle the size fly that you'll need to cast to catch Bass....and they will still cast smaller flys as well.
On the other hand if you decide that you are going after Trout,Bluegill, or the smaller species, then you might want to scale down so you are not stuck with an overly heavy rod that wrecks your presentation.

I've caught monster Bass on 4-5wt rods tho'. :)
 

RidgeHunter

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Thanks for the notice D. Hoddy, that is a good deal.

Gillman, If you are starting out and looking to get a decent setup, I highly reccomend Mark at RDP flyrods. He is a great guy and builds custom rods on tiger eye blanks for a great price (sub $200 range).
He will use whatever reel seats, guides and thread color you want.

My go to rod is 8'-6" 4/5wt (it is closer to 5) from RDP with mid-range Ross reel spooled with Wulff Tri-Taper and it is a great rig, hard to beat for the money.

A 8"-6" 4/5 wt is a versatile rod and will work well for most stream fishing.

With my ability/fishing style and the water I frequent, a more refined rod would be a waste.

http://rdpflyrods.com/flyrods.html

Think I'm gonna order a 6' 2wt from him before too long, just to play around with. Would come in handy in spots where longer rods dare not go.:D

ETA: The heat messed with my brain, I like an 8'-6" rod, not 7'-6" for most situations, although I own both.
 

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