Thread: Fly rods for beginners

I often hear people say, "I’m going to buy a cheap fly outfit just to see if I like it." I certainly understand not wanting to spend too much money on your first outfit, but I always try to explain to people that there are a lot of cheap, crappy rods on the market. These rods are so bad, I can pretty much guarantee you won't like it. Here's a post from flyfisherman.com that sums this up well:

"MY first rod I purchased for flyfishing was in the early 1990's, an Orvis Green Mountain version, 9' 5wt 4 piece. It was very stiff and heavy. Horrible rod to learn casting with. A rake handle would have been better. However it was what I thought was normal, until I bought a Sage 7'11" 4wt, LL, and I discovered what a really good fly rod was like. The difference was so amazing to me, almost magical. My casting immediately improved 90%. I caught many more fish. I wish … I would have learned on a good rod….

I think it is important that a beginner find a good rod to learn on, but some of the cheap packages that attract new fly fishermen really have very poor rods that would discourage anyone. Cheap does not have to equal a bad rod, but some companies are doing the flyfishing industry a disservice by offering bad rods for beginners, which likely causes many drop outs in learning flyfishing."

I agree, Kevin. An expensive or a brand name type rod does not mean that it is a good casting rod and the same for a cheap rod. Bad rods can happen at high end, medium end, or low end of the price range. The same can be said for good rods of the price range. If possible it is always a good idea to try a rod out before buying. Sometimes this is not possible so the best defense against getting a bad rod that I know of is to do some consumer buying research on rods or maybe trying one that a friend or acquaintance has. Word of mouth is not always a good thing since even though a particular rod may be good for a lot of folks, a rod is still not a "one size fits all" type of product.

i use a lot of cheap fly rods,let me quantify that statement.i also do not use cheap line and i over load these rods with heavy line ,to make them load and cast like i want.
i must agree that a well made fly rod is a pleasure to cast,and a cheap rod can ,and in most cases will discourage a new person to the sport of fly fishing.
i own a couple of good true six weight rods and they are my favorite rods ,and the rods of choice when i take my grandson's out for a fly fishing trip on the lake.
a good rod can make or break a beginner fly fisherman,also a cheap line is just as bad as a cheap rod,not to mention what the wrong leader will do to a cast.



i hate duck grass

A fly fishing outfit has to be balanced......rod, reel, line, and leader should work together in harmonious fashion to make the cast as simple and effortless as possible. A good quality fly line is critical to this equation as an experienced fly caster like Shooter has pointed out. His experience has taught him to balance a cheap rod with an over sized high quality line and modify that outfit to fit certain specific casting needs. Unfortunately for beginners they are often victims of packaging where corners are cut to value price an outfit and fly lines are usually the item sacrificed. Great pioneers in the industry like Orvis and Cortland are guilty of producing and promoting these products to keep up with a rapidly growing and completive market. For any beginners reading this thread that want to try their hand at fly casting this is my suggestion: Having been a fly fishing guide and casting instructor I will suggest that you spend the extra money and buy a good value priced rod from a high profile company like Sage. The older Sage Discovery Series rods had wonderful balance and tapers for beginners and have continued that line with their Launch series. Bass Pro carries these rods now along with alot of other good mid priced rods. Ebay would be a good place to look for one of the older Discovery Series. A good rule of thumb is to take the rod and lay it on your index finger above the handle and move it until it reaches a balance point. If that point is close to the first guide then changes are that rod will cast smoothly and load well (balance). Also a good rod should have 10-11 guides on a 9 ft model. The more the guides the better....they keep the line from slapping the rod during the cast and let the line "shoot." Buy a simple large arbor fly reel that is low in weight and cost. And buy a good quality WF line that matches the weight of your rod. I hope this helps and above all have patience when learning to cast....Rome wasn't built in a day.

Orivs is a great start, in fact it's almost mandatory. I bought an el cheapo from BPS and I regretted it after a few months when it collapsed on a forward cast. I looked up and it was broke in half. I didn't take the advise of a friend of mine who was purest, he said "spend at least 100 dollars", that was 14 years ago.

I started out fly fishing with an outfit I bought at a flea market, 8'6" Daiwa Apollo rod, Pfluegger automatic fly reel and it had floating line on it. Cost me $8 bucks but I learned to cast with it.

My main rod right now and one I'd recommend for a kids starter rod is the Courtland FairPlay. I've caught a lot of trout on it, also bass and panfish and it holds up real well. It's a 5 weight but this winter I'm gonna get a better rod but I'll still keep it.

Fatman