New to the Sport

[CAMBYSES]

Hello all,

I am new to the sport of fly fishing and new to the forum, so let me start by saying hello and thanking all of you for posting some very good info. I have been checking out the forum for a few weeks now.

I have a few questions: I have been a very dedicated fisherman for more than 10 years. Mainly bass, but I just recently moved back to delaware county and would like to try fly fishing for trout and small mouth. I will be mainly fishing Ridley and chester creek, The brandywine, and Marsh Creek on my float.

1. What is a good "Starter" rod? I know this is a loaded question but I would prefer to start out on something cheap like in the $100 range for rod and reel.

2. Will I be able to use the same rod on both trout and bass?

3. Are there any good fly shops in or around delaware county? I am in Lansdowne

Thanks and I am sorry if these have been posted before. I serached for the rod question but I didnt find anything and the other questions came to me as I wrote this.

Thanks again

Bob

 

[live2fish]

Just about all the rod makers have rods in the $100 range. I have a Cortland 9' 6 wt that me $95. Also try Cabellas, Bass Pro Shop or any of the others.

My 6 wt is used for everything. A bit heavy for bluegill and a bit light for the bigger steelhead, but it does the job.

Can't help with fly shops in your area, since I'm at the other end of the state.

Hope this helps.

 

[Bamboozle]

Bob:

The Sporting Gentleman is just a short drive down Baltimore Pike to Media. It is a excellent fly shop with a wealth of experience available. You may be hard pressed to find a $100 outfit there but I'm not sure you want to go that route.

While I agree that you could easily choose a cheap rod to cover all of your Delco bases; you will definitely end up with more rods down the road so you MAY be wasting $$$ but only you will know for sure where you plan to go with this new hobby. If your budget will allow you to spend more money; you will never be sorry for investing in better tackle that will serve you now and into the future.

If you are adamant in starting off inexpensively; I hear that Wal*Mart sells a Cortland starter outfit that is pretty good and they were on sale recently for $50. There are three stores close by, Glenolden, Eddystone and Boothwyn. I fished for years on Ridley, Springton Reservoir, Darby and everyplace else with a 8'6" 6wt. A 9'0" rod will also work fine and while it may be a tad long on smaller creeks it may be better for when you're in your float. If I was in your shoes I'd buy a 6 weight outfit with my second choice a 5 weight.

Finally, a hour + ride to Cabela's in Hamburg can get you a nice combo for exactly the price range you mention. I recently bought my nephew his first outfit. I had "all purpose" in mind when I chose it for him and I chose an 8'6" 5wt.

Good luck and welcome to mania that is fly fishing.

 

[troutbert]

Good advice so far. You might also try French Creek Outfitters, at Phoenixville. They carry various makes, including Cortland, who have rods priced at $79.95 - $99.95.
For one rod for bass and trout I recommend 8 1/2 foot, 6 wt.

What did you mean about fishing in your float?

 

[Padraic]

I'm of the opinion that there is a huge change from a 5 wt flyrod to a 6... Much more than from say 4 to 5 or any other line change. What I'd suggest is that you decide what you want to fish for most of the time.

If you like trout, an 8' 5wt is going to be about right for almost any water in PA. You can fish big water with it, you can fish tiny mountain creeks. You can fish for bluegill and small bass with it. I even got a 20" smallie on one. (My first rod, a whitewater classic from BassPro, which I still enjoy using) But a 9' 6wt is going to be a lot of rod on all but the biggest trout streams.

A 9' 6wt is going to be a good rod for light warmwater use. I use mine for bluegill, because you will be throwing some larger flies like poppers and sliders. It's going to be a little too light for bigger bass flies, but smallies will hit larger mayflies and caddis. I use my 9' 6wt for smallies a lot, because I tend to throw sliders like the Clouser Floating Minnow for them. These are not too hard to cast, even in the larger sizes. It might be a little tough to use a 6wt for weighted flies though. And you can use this one for trout on medium and larger streams if you put a fairly long leader on the line.

There really is no rod that is perfect for all situations, and trout vs warmwater is a wide gap to cross. But you don't need a golf bag full of rods either. You'll probably end up with that many, but you don't really need 'em.

$100 is fairly tight for the budget, but I'll second the reccommendations above. As I noted, I am very happy with my bass pro shops 8' 5wt. And Cortland makes some rods that cast beautifully. They may not have hand tooled hardwood reel seats, but I don't think that's a major priority.

 

[tomgamber]

I'm gonna disagree with you on this one , Pad. I have a 5-6 wt rod and use weight forward 5wt and a Double taper 6wt line on this rod. I have a couple of 4wt and think there is a really big difference between teh 4 and 5wts. I have used both my 4 and 5 wt for bass...The 4 was much more unintentional but did just fine on a pretty hefty bass. I don't make a habit of iusig the 4wt with bass though. However I would not hesitate to use a 6wt for bass at all. I think its a great wt for for small and largemouth. There are plenty of guides in the Outer Banks that put a 6wt in your hand when they take you out for specks and Schoolie stripers.

Now(sticking to the subject), for a beginner I would reccomend a 9ft 5wt. I don't like putting shorter rods in the hands of beginners. I think it can be discouraging. Yes a 8ft rod is more versatile but 9ft will help you learn to cast much better. If you're looking to only spend about $100 the courtland outfits are pretty nice. I also like the Cabelas Traditional outfits. They come with a nice reel and they'll set you up with backing and line on the reel before you leave the store. I got on ein an 8wt a few years ago and I like it a lot. Another good start outfit is LLBeans Angler outfit. not a lot of bells and whistle but my first good rod (back when they DID come with wooden reel seats) was an Angler Rod and its still one of my favorites. With that said, I would reccomend that you definately start out with a Weight Forward line. Other than that, if you have the blessing of being able to buy one from a store, not online or mail order, see if you can't get the seller to let you test cast one first.

 

[CAMBYSES]

let me start by saying thank you for all the great replies and info. What I meant by fishing from my float is: I have a Creek Company ODC sport Pontoon with a 30lbs thrust trolling motor.

I think I will be heading up to Cabelas for my rod, I used to live not to far from there about a year ago so I won't get lost. I think Ill head up next week and try to hit Scott's run lake that same day to try and learn a bit about how to use these rods. I like the idea of the 9' 6wt rod. I fish alot for small mouth and would really like to catch a few on the fly, I think the 6wt will give me a little more confidence with such a feisty fish and from what I have read here and else where is that the longer rods are more forgiving with newbs

Thank you all again

Bob

 

[troutbert]

I don't think a pontoon boat will be suitable for the streams you mentioned, which are small. It should work great on the Schuylkill, the Delaware, the Susque and lakes. If you are going to be fishing that kind of big water a lot, than the 9 foot 6 weight sounds like a good choice.
And you can certainly fish those streams you mentioned with that outfit. When I began flyfishing a 6 weight was considered a standard trout weight.

 

[Fredrick]

Cambyses, I live in brookhaven I fish all the places you mentioned and if have any questions just Pm me I will give you my phone number and I will answer any question you have to the best of my ability. The Sporting Gentleman located in Media on state street is a great place to start they are some of the nicest people I know. They do offer used rods there so you can save some bucks and they will be having a sale this weekend coming up. But you should try some lessons trust me there worth it you don't want to pick up bad habits. I also belong to the local Tu chapter and we meet at the Field and Stream gun club in Aston the first Tuesday of every month at 7 pm there will be a guest speaker I don't remember his name but he will talking about fishing for smallies on the Susky you and anyone else that wants to come are more than welcome to.




FRED int:

 

[CAMBYSES]

troutbert, my post was probably misleading, I know my float wont work on the majority of the waters around here, but I was thinking of using it on the brandywine just up stream from Lenape park on rt 100 there is a bridge there that has a parking area and easy access to the water. just down stream the water becomes a good bit deeper and alot slower.

Fredrick, Thank you for the kind gesture and the invite to TU I may take you up on that. Im going to have to check out the Sporting Gentleman. Thank you again. PM sent


Bob

 

[VINNYT]

IF YOU LIVE NEAR A GANDER MT THAY HAVE NICE RODS FOR LIKE 75 OR 100 DOLLARS THATS WHAT I FISH WITH AND THERE CUT THROAT BAR STOCK REELS ARE NICE FOR LIKE I THINK 50 BUCKS.

 

[Wulff-Man]

I think it's a good idea to go to Cabelas and let them set you up with a rod and reel in your price range. Remember that you also need fly line, backing, leaders and tippet, which could add another $50 to $75 to your cost. This is why you should look for an outfit, which includes everything in one price, cheaper than if you buy everything separately. (Then of course there's flys, waders/boots if you don't have them, miscellaneous tools and supplies, etc....!)

 

[OhioOutdoorsman]

Since you'll be going to cabelas, let me make some specific reccomendations. I'm very familiar with cabelas rods under $100 and own several.

Look at the traditional series of rods. Paired with thier prestige plus reel and fly line, this makes an outstanding outfit for under $100. Relatively light with a middle of the road action based on IM6 graphite. They will try to talk you into something more expensive, but try to resist until you specifically figure out what you want. Even the 4 piece OUTFITS don't run more than $115-$120.

If you need waders, cheack out the nylon 3 forks waders. Run $50 bootfoot. My wife has these and has been comfortable from 80 degree weather to cool stealhead fishing with me.

You should be able to walk out of their with rod, reel, backing, leader, tippet, flies, waders, nipper, hemostat and cheap polarized sunglasses for well under $200.

I won't kid you and say this stuff is as good as more expensive stuff, but its very servicible and won't fustrate you as you get started.

 

[CAMBYSES]

ohio, that is a very practicle approach and I appreciate the good advice. I was thinking about all this today and I just cant justify a high end purchase for a rod and reel for this, Im not even sure this will be a lasting venture or a quick passing fad for me, Ive never even held a fly rod

When I first started Bass fishing about 6 years ago I bought a real expensive Casting combo, which went pratically unused for more than 4 years because I just didnt like the way it fished.

I will be heading to Cabelas on my next four days off which will be this Tue, Wed, Thur and Friday. And maybe I can try to get to scotts run or go to hopewell just to get some casting practice.

Thanks again

Bob

 

[JackM]

I think going inexpensive on the first rod makes perfect sense. But if you do stay with it long enough to catch a trout, particularly on a dry fly, you will never look back. Good luck.

 

[ian_brown]

fwiw - I bought a 5 weight, 8` Cabela's Traditional rod to learn on (about $120 for an outfit). I learned to cast with it fairly easily, but then I tried my brother's 5 weight, 9' Orvis Clearwater ($195 for the outfit). You get what you pay for.

The first time I tried the Orvis, I knew I made a mistake. If you know how to cast, try out a bunch of rods before you buy one.

 

[OhioOutdoorsman]

I would also put the orvis clearwater outfit on the short list, but also consider that the main casting difference between the 8' 5wt traditional and the 9' 5wt clearwater may be the foot difference in length. The clearwater has a lifetime warranty too. A 9' is easier to cast/mend than an 8', but that extra foot may get in the way on smaller streams.

If you could borrow someones equipment, that would be best.

Cabelas does sell some not so good rods IMO, their genesis has a crummy reel seat that broke on me and both it and their three forks line have worse blanks IMO compared to the traditional. My wife learned on a 9' 5wt three forks and was/is happy with it....i just think the traditional is worth the extra 25-30 bucks. (Hard to argue with a purchase of a 8' 5wt three forks/pflueger medalist combo for $75 though!)

Even though they market the genesis combo specifically for somone like you, I would specifically not reccomend getting that combo. The reel seat and the reel are JUNK. All plastic including the drag on the reel. This is what I started on and regret it. Both were broken within 6 months. Cabelas replaced it, but I promptly sold it and bought another outfit.

I've also fished/built several 5 piece cabelas stowaways and think the traditional has better blanks. I also think that the prestige plus reel is better than the CSR (smoother drag and more relieable - have had two frinds who had CSRs bind up on them after minimal use.)

I would agree that an 8' 5wt would be best for eastern trout but I would prefer to use a 9' 6 wt for smallmouth.

If you already know how to cast, consider spending a little more money, but if you're going blind, go cheap.

 

[jayL]

Just a heads up...

Scott's run might be frozen soon. I've also had lots of problems with wind there, so its not the best place to learn to cast IMO.

I've only been there a few times, so I could be wrong...

Jay

 

[ian_brown]

ohiooutdoorsman,

I agree with all of your advice on buying equipment. One small point on the Clearwater v. Traditional: I also tried a 7'9" 5 weight Clearwater, which is shorter than my Traditional. I prefered the shorter Clearwater because it loads more easily. The Traditional is stiffer.

My brother and I are both just picking up the sport, and we noticed dramatic improvements in our casting using either length Clearwater.

 

[ryguyfi]

As a fairly new flyfisherman I know where you're coming from. I started back in May when I got some gift certificates for Dick's Sporting Goods. They have a limited fly fishing selection but I got what I needed. A Scientific Angler 456 reel (around $30-40) and a 8'6" rod (around $50). Now I had no clue what I was doing so they salesman there showed me what else I needed. Fly backing- first thing put onto reel, followed by floating fly line, usually weight forward WF for easier casting to beginners, then your tapered leader, usually a couple and some tippet to replace your leader as you cut it shorter. Now on my setup I've caught several 4-5lb bass. Now using a 5x tippet you have to learn to play them. This isnt your 8lb test on a spinning rod that you can just bring in as quick as you can. For me as a beginner my setup is perfect for 90% of the fishing I want to do. Everything I listed and a few starter flies cost me about $150 total. Now I warn you, once you get started in this sport you better take a second job to pay for all the stuff that you need/want/don't really need but it looks cool. I would suggest hitting up your local fly shop to learn and ask for advice. It took me several trips out to catch my first trout. Just be patient and always willing to learn. This is a fun sport with much to learn. Ohh, one more thing... bring a camera so you can show us your first fish, the monster (or 2" bluegill) on your new flyrod!