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Limestone_Eddy

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May 11, 2016
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Hey everyone! I just joined the forum and I am looking forward to learning how to fly fish. I have always been interested in FF and looking forward to being part of a great sport. I just had a lesson on basic casting, reading water, and learning the basics of nymphs,caddis, and mayflies.

What is a basic rod, reel, and line setup for trout and bass? Im looking for something not overly expensive since im new to FF.

Would appreciate the feedback. :)
 
Welcome Eddy

Generally a 9' 5 weight rod is a good start but it depends on what kind of fishing you'll be doing. For small creeks shorter is better. For bass a 6 wt or heavier. But for an all purpose rod a 5 wt is ideal.

As for the exact setup that's really a matter of personal preference. Try different ones if you can. Orvis sells an "Encounter" outfit for $169. ll Bean, Bass Pro, Cabelas sell outfits of all price ranges. Redington Crosswater is a pretty good starter outfit.

There's always the option of buying everything seperately but an outfit is the easiest way to start.

 
Good advice from Cathy.
Although for a first buy, all around rod - I would recommend the 8' 6" length 5 weight. Be just a little easier to manage on smaller streams.
I've looked at the encounter outfits - and they do seem like a great buy for the money.
 

As has been said something in a 9' or 8' 6" would be about an ideal length rod for starters. I would lean towards the 8' 6" myself, as dryflyguy mentioned, it will be a little easier for you to manage. Since you mentioned trout and bass as being your targets, I would also go with the 5 weight.

As for what setup to get, there are a ton of good outfits out there and it can be overwhelming for the beginner. My recommendation is to find a good fly shop near you and go in and talk with the guys there. Most shops ive went to will gladly let you test cast a few rods to see which one suits you/feels best.
 
I appreciate all your comments and insight! Thank you!
 
If you wanna fish trout a 4wt is your best option. Don't listen to anyone talking about throwing streamers and 5wt because I sometimes throw big streamers on a 2wt and can throw it 15-20 feet and obviously do absolutely fine throwing streamers on a 4wt! Lighter line and it's more exciting fighting the fish 8'-9' 4wt is perfect! you can still bass fish with a 4wt.
 
The 4wt will be a little better with the dry flys too
 
8'6" 5 weight should be everyone's starter rod. You don't want to be on very small streams starting out learning to control your cast anyway. Make the first one cheap; the more expensive rods will not improve your performance at all. Once you get the knack, you will know better what improvements to your equipment you want to make. Then you will have a back-up rod when you buy #2.
 
Beware the very stiff fast actions. some of the cheaper rods I've seen sold at walmart or even cabelas are too stiff to load using normal lines and flies. I've heard good things about the Orvis package deals.
 
Jessed wrote:
If you wanna fish trout a 4wt is your best option. Don't listen to anyone talking about throwing streamers and 5wt because I sometimes throw big streamers on a 2wt and can throw it 15-20 feet and obviously do absolutely fine throwing streamers on a 4wt! Lighter line and it's more exciting fighting the fish 8'-9' 4wt is perfect! you can still bass fish with a 4wt.
Click to expand...

Not sure why you are knocking the 5wt as bad advice. It is a good all around versatile weight rod. Just because you can throw streamers on a 2wt does not mean it is the right tool for the job. I can throw streamers 15-20 feet without any rod at all.
 
I'm not knocking the 5wt as bad advice.. I started with a 5wt but I'm saying that If i could do it again I would've just bought the 4wt instead of the 5 wt. In MY opinion a 4wt is the best trout rod.
 
The OP wants to fish Trout AND Bass according to his initial post. The 4wt shouldn't even be a consideration knowing those requirements. He'll want the 5wt. Actually if you made me choose one rod for larger Trout streams and Bass, it'd be a 6 wt. I think a 6wt throws a #18 BWO better than a 5wt throws a size 4 Bugger comparatively speaking, and those are about the extremes you'd encounter under normal circumstances for Trout and Bass. FWIW.

JackM's advice is spot on. I didn't do that, but knowing what I know now I would. The main problem is you don't know what qualities in a rod you like, and which ones you don't yet. Get a modestly priced, middle of the road med/fast, jack of all trades 5 weight to learn on and then branch out and get your specialty rods from there...your 6 or 7 weight for Bass and your 3 or 4 weight for smaller Trout streams. You'll be able to make much more educated purchases on what you like down the line this way, and your first "jack of all trades" rod will become your backup to both and fill the gap between the other two when needed.

IMO a rod that accomplishes all of this, and remains a very nice serviceable backup when needed is a Redington Crosswater at $70.
 
One up on the reddington rod! I don't own a cross water but did get a chance to fish it and really liked it. I do own a reddington vapen 8wt as a pike rod and really do enjoy fishing it. I'm thinking about picking up the 4wt
 
If you're looking for a really cheap rod, I've had good luck with the Cabelas Wind river brand, and have also heard good things about the bass pro store brand. White river, I think? Something like that. I have a cabelas wind river 4 wt that I love! Been fishing it for 3-4 years now, tried to upgrade once, but ended up going back to it. Really a nice rod that I think I paid like $40 for on sale.

I would stay away from the Cabela's brand Prestige rods. I had one in a 6wt, and it really didn't cast well, and was ridiculously heavy for a 6wt! They *are* really cheap though - on sale right now for $35. I should say I have cast a 4wt in the prestige series that was fine.

If you're planning to do a significant amount of bass fishing, I'd probably lean toward a 6wt over a 5 wt. 5 wt can get pretty light for big bass flies, but a 6wt can handle dry flies with delicacy if you lengthen the leader a bit and put on enough tippet. My first rod was a 9' 6wt, and it worked ok for trout. However, once you buy a nice 4wt, you'll probably feel that it casts like a fine instrument compared to a 6wt on a trout stream.

5wt is great for larger trout streams, but in my experience it's a real struggle to use out on the river for bass. Can't get the casting distance you'd want on a river, and it's a lot of work to cast a popper, clouser minnow, or big wooly bugger. I'd rather fish a 6wt on a trout stream than a 5wt on a bass river.
 
In my opinion the 3 forks beats out the wind river.
 
@Jessed

Interesting! What weight rod do you have? Like I said, I had a three forks 6 wt at one point that I thought was completely awful! Too stiff, too heavy, just plain uncomfortable to cast, even overlined witha 7 wt line. But I will admit that it was definitely prettier than my wind river.

What do you like about the three forks? The three forks 4wt that I fished was fine, but I still felt it was a heavier rod than my wind river. It was a little on the slow side though, as opposed to the 6 wt I had that was too stiff.
 
4wt! it was smooth and I was catching fish so no complaints
 

Hi,

Funny someone mentioned Cabelas Wind river and three forks rods b/c I just exchanged my wind river for the three forks rod. I broke my wind river after about 8 months of abuse. I have broken all of my rods except for my large surf rod. This is why I went cheap. I have caught many fish with both rods so I am very happy about my return on investment. Also, I was able to figure what type of fishing I like and what type of gear I might want going forward. The higher end rods are nice. I would have started with a better rod but I didn't really care since I have been fly fishing for about two years and just wanted to get started. Also. I was sure I would break a rod starting out so I figured I would get a cheap one to figure things out. This has worked for me. I like the idea of the higher end starter rods if you can keep it for a few years.

All the best,
 
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