Suggestions On Gear Upgrade For Newbie

[Jack Jones]

So...I just got in to fly fishing about a year or so ago. I'm using a starter kit from the dreaded Bass Pro. It's one of their Dogwood Canyon kits. I managed to also dig up a Cortland Fairplay rod that I had as a teenager (when I did not take it seriously). I am looking to upgrade because I do feel the quality is lacking. It's been two years and I'm still using the same fly line on it.

I mostly fish for trout at Taneycomo and Roaring River. I'm considering maybe trying for a little panfish and smallmouth as well. That said, I guess a 5/6 wt will probably do me just fine.

Can anyone suggest a good upgrade kit, or piecemeal upgrade? I don't always have a ton of disposable income at one time, but tax refunds are a-coming. I was looking at the Temple Fork NXT outfit at Flyshack.com. Anyone have an opinion on that?

Your wisdom is appreciated.

[Trout Commander]

I have a TFO Pro ($149), which I would consider a pretty good upgrade from the Dogwood Canyon rod. The reel is a BPS White River Fly Shop Hobbs Creek I reel (added the reel backing and line for $20 - a total of $169 for the outfit). The reel probably isn't any better, maybe not even as good as your dogwood canyon, but you could talk to them about a combo with a higher end reel or ask how the Hobbs creek reel stacks up to the Dogwood canyon OR just upgrade your rod and get the reel later.

Mine is a four weight. I got it to be able to fish Taney, small streams and ponds for blue gill. A lot of small stream fish and blue gill just wouldn't be that fun to me on a 5/6wt and the 4wt has fought 20 inch plus fish at Taney handily. Just something to think about no matter the brand you go with.

[aftersh0ck]

the only fly outfit i have ever owned is the hobbs creek and it works fine. you said your new it should be work good enough until you feel its the equipment holding you back from stepping up to the next level. then again this is coming from a guy who does most of his fly fishing with a spinning reel on a 5ft rod casting it like a fly rod.

[stlfisher]

I would look at TFO or St. Croix. St. Croix has some nice options that are affordable. The Avid is a great rod, but may be more than you want to spend. The Imperal and the RIO Santo have positive's review's as well. I have heard great things about the Echo Carbon which is comparable in price to a TFO pro series.

As far as weight I started out with a 9ft 6 weight to use for both bass and trout and found it to be very versatile, but it also didn't excell at fishing for either species. I thought it was on the heavy size for trout and on the light side for bass. I actaully like my 5 weight for trout, small bass, and large Bluegill. If I want to target big bass I would use a 7 for smallies and an 8 for largemouth (especially in areas with vegetation etc). Just something to consider if you want to seriously target big bass it might be worth it to buy one rod now and a second heavier rod later on to toss the big bass bugs. If you just want to target smaller bass and trout mainly then the 5 weight will get it done easily and give you a better all around trout rod IMO.

[flytyer57]

I use St.Croix rods for the better part of my fly fishing. I have 3 Avid series rods in 5-7-9wts. I also have a St.Croix Premier 4wt. Then I also have a Berkley 6wt which was my very first fly rod. I think I paid all of $25 for it back in the day. It casts just fine.

Most of my reels are Ross Reels Cimmarons. I recently picked up a couple of Hobbs Creek reels from Bass Pro for my 4 & 6wt rods. I think they are better than the Dogwood Canyon reels. I like them. For the price, they work just fine. Good drags and large arbors.

You didn't mention what your price range was so it's hard to give any suggestions for a particular rod. TFO, St.Croix and others make rods in different price ranges. I would go with a 6wt if you wanted to fish for bluegill, trout and smallmouth with it. It will cast smaller flies yet still handle some of the larger flies.

Note: most rods designated with two line sizes (5/6) will usually cast the heavier line better.

[Hopper]

All my rods are TFO, just bought a TFO BVK 8'-6" 5 wt. and used it at White River last weekend paired with a Lamson Konic, rod is fantastic and performed as advertised, I don't think you can go wrong with a TFO rod that comes with an unconditional lifetime garantee.

Gregg

[Jack Jones]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Orvis Streamline Combo?

[Zach Bearden]

I'll also vouch for the TFO pro series. I have a 4wt that I fish my dries on. Casts good with a rio line.

I use a Ross Flystart that was like 50$. I only have one complaint, I had it get a little sand in it and the drag locked up. Pulled the spool off, rinsed it out, and it worked just fine.

[drath]

While you can generally get away with a pretty cheap reel, some of the super cheap ones don’t have adjustable drag. That’s fine if you’re only targeting smaller fish. I lived without it for several years. But if you ever get into a monster and want/need to play it “on the reel” an adjustable drag system comes in very handy. You’ve mentioned that you may be going after some smallies (hopefully some big smallies) so you may want to spend a few extra bucks on a reel with adjustable drag.

It’s not a “necessity” but it is a feature worth spending a few extra bucks on.

-D

[Jack Jones]

Actually, I've been relatively satisfied with the Dogwood Canyon reel. It does have an adjustable drag, and I've played with that a few times. Does anyone have any input on fly lines to replace what's on their? I'm looking at Cabela's lines since I'm not sure I'm ready to spend $50-60 on line yet.