02-07-2014, 09:10 PM
I'm not finished, actually...
Just to throw this out there, after 25+ years, I still fish almost exclusively with a fly rod, and that is usually 3 to 4 times a week, every week. I still use Wal-Mart style rod/reel combos, a mish-mash of random cheap reels that came pre-spooled with line, old dog fly rods that I find at garage sales and D.I., etc. The most I've ever paid for a rod was $450.00 for a Sage which lasted all of one trip before I took at back for a refund. (I went back to my mid-70's fiberglass Fenwick that I paid $5.00 for at a yard sale) My most expensive reel is a $50.00 Ross Reel that doesn't perform any better than my $25.00 Okuma reel, and isn't nearly as fun to use as my mid-60's Perrine automatic reel:
![[Image: Perrine_zpsf7fbc93d.jpg]](http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/flakestein/Perrine_zpsf7fbc93d.jpg)
To be honest, before meeting FlyGoddess, I had no idea what sinking line was, or that it had "x"'s to indicate how fast it would sink, etc. I just knew that my WF Floating line worked just fine,and if I needed it to sink, I'd add sinkers. I've purchased one sinking line in my life and it was devoured by WiperHunter's boat prop, so now I'm back to my WFF again -- works for me like a charm. I still don't know what the X's mean on tippit, I still don't know how to tie most of the knots that fly fishermen use, I still use giant indicators, I have a 5 weight line on my 3 weight rod, and frankly, my casting technique is embarrassingly bad. Who cares? I still catch fish, I still have fun, and I try not to let the intimidating stuff get to me. (I won the summer fly fishing contest too... </elitist>)
The point of all that was, do whatever feels right to you, and don't get bogged down by all of the intricacies of fly fishing. The idea is to have fun, not stress out and be frustrated. All that detailed crap will come with time, maybe, if you want it to. Buy a cheap set up and go hit the river; there is no better teacher than trial and error, imo, and few things more satisfying than catching that first fish on a fly.
[signature]
Just to throw this out there, after 25+ years, I still fish almost exclusively with a fly rod, and that is usually 3 to 4 times a week, every week. I still use Wal-Mart style rod/reel combos, a mish-mash of random cheap reels that came pre-spooled with line, old dog fly rods that I find at garage sales and D.I., etc. The most I've ever paid for a rod was $450.00 for a Sage which lasted all of one trip before I took at back for a refund. (I went back to my mid-70's fiberglass Fenwick that I paid $5.00 for at a yard sale) My most expensive reel is a $50.00 Ross Reel that doesn't perform any better than my $25.00 Okuma reel, and isn't nearly as fun to use as my mid-60's Perrine automatic reel:
To be honest, before meeting FlyGoddess, I had no idea what sinking line was, or that it had "x"'s to indicate how fast it would sink, etc. I just knew that my WF Floating line worked just fine,and if I needed it to sink, I'd add sinkers. I've purchased one sinking line in my life and it was devoured by WiperHunter's boat prop, so now I'm back to my WFF again -- works for me like a charm. I still don't know what the X's mean on tippit, I still don't know how to tie most of the knots that fly fishermen use, I still use giant indicators, I have a 5 weight line on my 3 weight rod, and frankly, my casting technique is embarrassingly bad. Who cares? I still catch fish, I still have fun, and I try not to let the intimidating stuff get to me. (I won the summer fly fishing contest too... </elitist>)
The point of all that was, do whatever feels right to you, and don't get bogged down by all of the intricacies of fly fishing. The idea is to have fun, not stress out and be frustrated. All that detailed crap will come with time, maybe, if you want it to. Buy a cheap set up and go hit the river; there is no better teacher than trial and error, imo, and few things more satisfying than catching that first fish on a fly.
[signature]