Which Flyline

[Flysmallie]

10 hours ago, duckydoty said:

My opinion ( and it’s not really worth anything) is fly line is the most important factor in the equation.  Any rod, cheap, expensive, new, used, or custom made can throw a good well matched fly line.  Even the best rods will struggle and create aggravation trying to throw a cheap, unbalanced, and unmatched fly line.  Over lining by one weight can make for a more forgiving learning curve and a weight forward line is easier to learn on

 

I’m not going to try to impress you with my knowledge but I would believe this guy right here over anyone else. I have had the pleasure of spending a single day fishing with him and I learned a ton without him ever even realizing that he was helping. I’ve met some good fly fisherman and fished with some great guys. Duane is at the top of those lists. I will always pay attention to what he has to say. 

And I can tell you for a fact that a quality Rio or SA line will outperform the line you have. No doubt in my mind. 

I fished for a long time with what I had. I practiced. I fished. I thought it was as good as it got. Then I bought a good quality line and things were much, much better. 

Good luck. You are on a very rewarding journey. 

[jdmidwest]

Duane is right.  Cabela's probably dumped a starter line on it.  It is a $99 combo.  The reviews say the rod and reel seem to be good quality, but I doubt if they put much of a line on it.

Fish it and see how it goes.  Then borrow a reel from someone and try it with a different line.

My words of advice, rods do most of the work, then the line.  For the most part, the reel just winds the line back on unless you are fishing bigger fish.  So spend the most on the rod, match it with a good line, and don't worry about the reel so much.

[ness]

Travis: If I was taking you through fly fishing boot camp I’d tell you to spend six months with that rig as is. You listen to these gear heads and you’ll end up blowing money reaching for tiny incremental tackle improvements that you frankly won’t be able to appreciate. Yet. Put in the time, learn to read the water, cast, do mends, perfect drifts, set the hook, play and land fish. And don’t freakin’ rule out dry flies! Now, drop and give me 20, maggot! 

 

[tjm]

One weight heavier isn't likely to over load the rod at usual fishing distance, I might go up two weights to cover the flaws in my casting style. And while I fully agree that top quality lines are worth the money, and full length lines will reach out farther, I tend to recommend a less extravagant line for  learning use, the Cortland Fair Play line casts pretty well for me and can be bought for <$14. Cheap buy in means I can buy 3-4 different weights and test the rod for what works best in my hand. In my fly fishing actually hooking a fish at over 40' is very unusual, my casts rarely exceed 50',  so is 90' of line necessary? On a double taper it is essentially two lines, wear one out and turn the thing around to get a few more  years out of it.  On a weight forward all that built in running line could just as well be backing in most usage.  I recall my first year of fly rod fishing, I wrapped around logs and threw the fly up into sycamore trees and hit rocks with the line and stepped on the slack by me and.., long story short that good line (@~$70 now) was trashed in 9 months, the next line lasted three years, as my ability to avoid catastrophe increased the lines lasted longer and longer. And while the top line will make your rod perform better in expert hands, it didn't make that much difference in my casting until I developed basic skills; further, the rod will still be a basic rod. So, my advice (and it is worth every penny it costs!)  I'd buy a couple of the cheap weight forward floating lines and try them, I expect the line you got is level line and  WF in same weight rating will be heavier at casting distance. Six months or 500 fishing hours from now you should have a much greater appreciation of fly line mechanics and enough ability to determine if you want upgrade just the line or you want to go for better everything. Al made a good point about lines and leaders when using the bobbers.