Help Me Pick My First Fly Outfit

[OzarkFishman]

My wonderful mother-in-law asked me what I wanted for my birthday, so I told her I would like a fly rod and reel. Instead of buying me something that she knows nothing about, she simply gave me $200. I promised her I would spend it all on a fly fishing set-up.

I would like to buy an outfit and still have a little money to get some streamers and poppers. I plan on using the outfit mainly for bass fishing, but will also trout fish occasionally (I have only fished for trout once and that was at Bennett). Being a bass fisherman at heart, I have a feeling I am going to like streamers and poppers the most (I could be completely wrong).

I have read the recent thread on the best set-up for smallmouth and from what I can gather I should go with a 6, 7 or 8 weight.

So here are my questions:

1) If I plan on fishing for largemouth bass sometimes, should I go with an 8 wt. (some of the places I fish regular produce 4 - 5 pound bass)?

2) Do you all have any specific recommendations as far as brand?

3) What kind of fly line am I looking for (weight-forward line, etc.)?

4) What kind of tippet am I looking for?

5) I have many more questions, but I will leave it at that for now.

I have fished long enough to know that $200 is not going to buy me a top-of-the-line outfit, but I would like to have an outfit that I can fish with for a long time and that feels good in my hands.

Thanks in advance for any help. I won't be able to respond until Sunday, I will be in California for my sister's wedding.

OzarkFishman

[FishinCricket]

Just send me the money and I'll spend it for you...

[eric1978]

I have fished long enough to know that $200 is not going to buy me a top-of-the-line outfit, but I would like to have an outfit that I can fish with for a long time and that feels good in my hands.

If you're wanting that $200 to get you a rod, reel, fly line, leaders, tippet and an assortment of flies, you might have to do your shopping at Walmart.

Spend the money on a decent rod, then think about the other stuff later...you have until spring anyway. Don't worry too much about the reel...the line is more important. Plan on spending at least $40 or $50 for the line, and just get yourself a basic reel that nicely balances the rod. The rest of the odds and ends you can pick up here and there.

Look at TFO rods, or pick up something used on ebay. Seriously, your rod is the meat and potatoes...don't get too cheap on that one part. If it turns out you like fly fishing, you're about to go broke anyway, so you might as well start off on the right foot.

[ColdWaterFshr]

To answer your questions in order:

1) No. An 8 wt is overkill and will be tough to learn to cast. Get a 5, 6 or 7 weight at most.

2) No. They're ALL pretty good quality and all are also pretty good at ripping you off. This is fly-fishing, you're automatically paying more just by daydreaming about it. First off, on a $200 budget, you are in no-mans land. You aren't going to get a whole set-up with the big fancy-boy names. And Wal-Mart isn't going to get you there either - they don't care! Check out Albright. They set out to RUIN the high-dollar fly-fishing market and I think with a little more marketing budget , they easily could. http://albrightflyfish.com/items/gpx-fly-rods/list.htm. An Albright GPX is as good as any TFO in my opinion. They're both made by the Ko reeuns, so why pay more for Lefty Kreh's little wuss signature? Thats all it is.

3) weight forward

4) Don't sweat the details. 4 and 6 lb mono that you use for regular fishing will work fine as tippet for bass fishing poppers and streamers. You want to splurge on some tiny spool of $15 fluorocarbon tippet in 2 and 3x later, but I wouldn't waste it now. Mono is best for poppers anyway since it wants to float.

[AZ_Trout]

My wonderful mother-in-law asked me what I wanted for my birthday, so I told her I would like a fly rod and reel. Instead of buying me something that she knows nothing about, she simply gave me $200. I promised her I would spend it all on a fly fishing set-up.

I would like to buy an outfit and still have a little money to get some streamers and poppers. I plan on using the outfit mainly for bass fishing, but will also trout fish occasionally (I have only fished for trout once and that was at Bennett). Being a bass fisherman at heart, I have a feeling I am going to like streamers and poppers the most (I could be completely wrong).

I have read the recent thread on the best set-up for smallmouth and from what I can gather I should go with a 6, 7 or 8 weight.

So here are my questions:

1) If I plan on fishing for largemouth bass sometimes, should I go with an 8 wt. (some of the places I fish regular produce 4 - 5 pound bass)?

2) Do you all have any specific recommendations as far as brand?

3) What kind of fly line am I looking for (weight-forward line, etc.)?

4) What kind of tippet am I looking for?

5) I have many more questions, but I will leave it at that for now.

I have fished long enough to know that $200 is not going to buy me a top-of-the-line outfit, but I would like to have an outfit that I can fish with for a long time and that feels good in my hands.

Thanks in advance for any help. I won't be able to respond until Sunday, I will be in California for my sister's wedding.

OzarkFishman

Go online to Cabelas --look up fly rod and reel combos. You can get some acceptable outfits for $200. Suggestions: TFO - Echo - Cabelas SLi -- Redington's Red.Fly2

But this won't leave you much left over for flies. Thus you might want to look at the $150 range -- Cabelas Tradition outfit -- St Croix's Rio

All will get you started -- as you get deeper into this addiction you can buy more and upgrade - save your old stuff for backup.

[timsfly]

TFO rod, 109.00 decent reel 39.00 or down, line 20.00 (333 cortland)

leaves quite a bit left for 2 leaders, 3 spools of tippet, and a packet

of silver rings, which will make the leaders last for 3 or 4 months

each, you can do it eaisly for 200.00, skip Cabelas and BP if your needing

real help, go to your local shop, you'll get as good a deal, and if something

messes up, you'll get better service.

[RSBreth]

I would go to the Bass Pro Outlet Store and check the fly gear there first before you buy new. I've seen TFO - Bass Pro brand, and St.Criox rods marked way down the past couple of trips. Yeah - you won't get top of the line with that budget, but I have had some good experiences with "cheap" (150$ or so) rods. Matter of fact, one of my favorites for Smallmouth is a discontinued Bass Pro brand 4-piece 6-weight I got for a steal.

I'd worry more about the rod than anything else at first. If you are ONLY Bass fishing maybe a 7-weight, but learning to cast - I'd say 6-weight.

[Justin Spencer]

I'd find a rod that has a lifetime warranty, most of these can be replaced or repaired for 50-60 bucks, and you should be able to find one for $150 or so. You WILL break your rod, no matter how careful you are, and with a warranty you won't feel too bad when it happens. Everyone is right, the rod is what you want to concentrate on, if you can swing it look for a reel with a large arbor, helps get line back quickly. If you have to toss in a little cash yourself to get what you really want, by all means do it. The quickest way to end your fly fishing hobby is to try and do it with poor equipment. Most of us started that way and somehow survived it, but when we finally got a good rod we were really hooked and got snobby about poor rods.

[snagged in outlet 3]

I would buy a used brand name rod before any of the low end discount products. The low end rods all seem to be too slow. I bought an Orvis outfit for my daughter at the recommendation of a fly shop. What a pile that thing is. Reel is okay but the rod is so slow it's terrible.

Try and locate a used Sage VPS which is built on the old RPL blank. They are medium fast and not overly expensive.

SIO3

[ness]

Call this number: (417) 847-4956 and ask for Tim. (Tim's Flyshop in Cassville). He's got a good selection of stuff, he'll steer you the right direction, good prices and service, and no BS. Well, maybe a little BS, but it's the good kind.

I've got a Cabela's 15 minutes from my house, and I've shopped all over the web. But, last time I bought a couple reels I went through Tim. Good deal, quick shipping, good guy. What more could you ask for?