If you thought you might like to learn how to drive a car, would you ask
a Rolls Royce salesman what he recommends for your first car? Why would
you ask a fly rod salesman about beginner fly fishing equipment unless
money doesn't matter to you?
My cheapest store bought rod is a Cabelas Traditional including line and
reel which is around $130 is a great beginner rod and reel combo. Just
the rod is about $60. There are lots of other good rods for even less,
but I can't tell you from experience. My good buddy uses a rod that he
bought at Salvation Army for $5 with a reel, and line. Nothing makes him
happier than standing next to someone with $400 waders and an $800 Sage
rod and $100 line on a $300 reel and then Ed pulls a huge steelhead out
of the river with his $5 rig. This is a typical fishing day with Ed. I'm
almost embarrassed with my $130 rig except Ed bought a Traditional too
before I ever met him and he uses that one often when he wants a 6
weight. Actually, we own about 40 rods combined including some expensive
ones and you probably will end up with a bunch over time. It's nice when
you get an expensive one that you know from your own experiences why you
are getting it, not because of a sales pitch. Certainly, you don't need
to spend more than a $100 for a beginner rod. I'm talking 2008 prices.
If you are thinking that it's nice to buy only one rod for the rest of
your life so it should be the Roll Royce, you should know there is a
real need for many rods if you fly fish often. A cheap rod is especially
useful when you are fishing places where you might drop it or walk into
shrubbery and break it or you don't want to get it stolen while eating
lunch. A cheap rod attracts less thievery than an expensive rod. Another
pal of mine got 3 Sages stolen from his car a few months ago. I haven't
ever had anything stolen yet, knock wood. Part of that good luck
probably comes from leaving my Sages at home. Now I'm afraid to use
them.
One more thing you will be happy about if you get a cheap rod is that it
will be a great rod for loaning or giving to another beginner some day
when you make your move to a Rolls Royce if you ever want one. Chances
are that you will always cherish your first rod for all the enjoyable
memories it helped produced.
Here are a couple more thoughts about rods. 4 pieces or more are
desirable to fit it into your car or suitcase and nowadays they really
perform well with modern materials. I have lately been using one of my
homemade 7 piece rods most of the time. I put a picture of last week's
rainbow here which I caught on my 7 piece 6 weight. I have 4 of them in
different weights and they cost about $50 each. I bought the closeout
blanks on sale and later got cheap parts from http://www.acidrod.com/ I
caught my bow on a tough fishing day and one guy with an $800 Sage got
skunked on the same trip. Surprise! Fish don't care what brand you use.
It's better to spend the money on more trips. I own 2 Sages, but why
would a beginner get one on a tight budget?
A 6 weight is used nowadays by many for steelhead and smaller trout and
might work fine for your first rod. I use a 6 for bass half of the time.
Now I have 20 rods from 2 to 12 weights including some bamboo and a Spey,
so I'll use one of them almost randomly just for fun and get them
exercised. They almost become old friends after a time regardless of how
much they cost.
Finally, stop worrying about what rod to get and just get the cheapest
one and go fishing. Don't wait, your missing the fun. Additional advice
about equipment and fishing can be found free online, but sometimes the
online advice is coming from a person with some commercial interest in
their recommendations. Maybe they are guides and get equipment free and
feel a loyalty to some brand.
I've been in 3 clubs and have learned a lot from each. For a small
annual membership, you can learn absolutely everything from friendly
club members. That's probably your best bet to advance your fly fishing.
Here's a link that connects you to a club in your area:
http://www.fedflyfishers.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4357 Don't join the
Federation of Fly Fishers yet because your dues for your local club will
include a mandatory $5 membership to FFF.
Learn your knots before you go out and some day consider improving
fishing for huge fish with catch and release practices.
