willdeb
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Can someone tell me a good fly rod and reel that I should get. I was thinking some thing right before advanced. :-D
Best fly rod and reel I could get that is not to cheap and not to expensive
RowJimmy
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Check out TFO bvk ! Advance rod beginner price. I got a Helios for sale too homie!
gfen
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This is a silly way to go about it.
Goto your local fly shops, and talk with the people who work there. Be honest, and tell them what you're looking for and have them guide you. Don't lie to them, and just tell them you're getting a feel and browsing, try some of their rods out and figure out the one YOU want.
While they may not seem as personalized, Cabela's will gladly walk outside with you and test cast a few rods, although they're more willing to play if you go on slow days and not when its packed. I wouldn't be surprised if Bass Pro does, too.
You can ask a thousand opinions, and none of them matter. Only yours does. The Salesperson's opinion doesn't matter, either. Don't let them sway you.
What I do think you should do is decide on the general use of the rod, the length and weight. If you have an idea as to the general action, that's nice, too. That helps them guide you, and when you find the rod that's right, you'll know it.
Reels? For trout? They hold line most of the time. Pick one that balances well, fits your price point, and you find visually appealing.
jdaddy
Active member
Price range?
And Gfen already sees this coming but the answer is Winston Passport with Cabelas reel and SA GPX for $300.
bikerfish
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2nd what gfen says, go cast some rods, find what you like, not what everyone else likes. pick something that makes you smile when you cast it and fits your budget. ignore the marketing BS and pick a rod you enjoy using.
ditto on what he says about a reel.
ditto on what he says about a reel.
SBecker
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+2 Jdaddy, and I have the reel for sale already.
Bruno
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St Croix Imperial and an Allen Reel
sandfly
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KDH rod and a Okuma Sierra reel with a Rio mainstream line..
volcanomil
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Sage Vantage rod and Lamson Konic reel
nymphingmaniac
Well-known member
I strongly disagree with gfen about one thing in particular.
What you are doing is NOT a silly way of going about this- at least starting the process. Asking peoples opinions about what they recommend based on their experience (hopefully, see below) is a very good start. May be gfen meant to say, is it is ill-advised to only take the recommendation from the FF site without testing them for yourself with the assistance of an experienced flyshop person there to help. What you need is the personalized service you will get from a shop. That will never happen at at Cabelas or Basspro shops. In all fairness, not every local shop will give you extensive personalized advice. This is where you should ask the board what shops they bought their gear and which ones they would recommend you visiting.
I recommend FFP in State College. I have experienced, witnessed and heard excellent stories about their helpfulness. Moreover, they are having a summer rod sale. 40% off of Z-axis (out of price range maybe), Orvis TLS and hydros and G-loomis rods. Dave Holmes was helpful to me (although a bit gruff and dry, in a lovable way) and your best bet is working with Steve himself. I like they don't push the expensive gear on you, just high quality stuff that will do the job.
Everyone , it would be useful to beginners if you let the person know if you actually fish with that rod and what you like about it and may be what you don't compared to the top of the line stuff.
What you are doing is NOT a silly way of going about this- at least starting the process. Asking peoples opinions about what they recommend based on their experience (hopefully, see below) is a very good start. May be gfen meant to say, is it is ill-advised to only take the recommendation from the FF site without testing them for yourself with the assistance of an experienced flyshop person there to help. What you need is the personalized service you will get from a shop. That will never happen at at Cabelas or Basspro shops. In all fairness, not every local shop will give you extensive personalized advice. This is where you should ask the board what shops they bought their gear and which ones they would recommend you visiting.
I recommend FFP in State College. I have experienced, witnessed and heard excellent stories about their helpfulness. Moreover, they are having a summer rod sale. 40% off of Z-axis (out of price range maybe), Orvis TLS and hydros and G-loomis rods. Dave Holmes was helpful to me (although a bit gruff and dry, in a lovable way) and your best bet is working with Steve himself. I like they don't push the expensive gear on you, just high quality stuff that will do the job.
Everyone , it would be useful to beginners if you let the person know if you actually fish with that rod and what you like about it and may be what you don't compared to the top of the line stuff.
krayfish
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< $200 rods... St Croix Imperial, Cabelas LSI or Redington RS4
Redington CD reel ($89) and Rio Gold line ($69)
< $300 rods... Sage Vantage with Redington CD reel and travel case, Scott A3 (discounted),
Price isn't a factor... Sage z-axis (discounted), Orvis Helios, St Croix Legend Elite
There's a ton of discounted reels out there. Make sure you put a quality line on it if you are casting more than 15-20'. It makes a big difference.
edit: I fish with a z-axis, St Croix Legend Ultra, St Croix Legend Elite, Sage RPL+ and a Sage LL Series if that helps. I also had a Cabelas LST (model before the LSI) and an RS4 that I fished twice and raffled off.
Redington CD reel ($89) and Rio Gold line ($69)
< $300 rods... Sage Vantage with Redington CD reel and travel case, Scott A3 (discounted),
Price isn't a factor... Sage z-axis (discounted), Orvis Helios, St Croix Legend Elite
There's a ton of discounted reels out there. Make sure you put a quality line on it if you are casting more than 15-20'. It makes a big difference.
edit: I fish with a z-axis, St Croix Legend Ultra, St Croix Legend Elite, Sage RPL+ and a Sage LL Series if that helps. I also had a Cabelas LST (model before the LSI) and an RS4 that I fished twice and raffled off.
jdaddy
Active member
40% off Hydros and G-loomis? Limited stock, certain models (G-loomis), etc?
It is my opinion that a beginner will not know/feel/see/appreciate the difference in rods by test casting. A beginner could likely end up with a slower action rod, improve his casting, and be left with a slower action rod that does not fit his now perfected casting stroke. I remember going to the Orvis store and a guy (no longer there) spouting off about how you could bomb 65ft casts with the new Helios 1oz 2wt 6'6" rod and was adamant that I do that. Naturally it just ended in me looking like an *** (pretty easy for me to do).
Per maniacs request:
I own more than a few high end Winston rods. I have owned/currently own 9ft 4wt BIIIX, 9ft 4wt BIImx, 8ft 4wt WT, 8ft 4wt Assent, 10ft 4wt BIIx and 10ft 4 wt BIIIx. That's a bunch of 4wt Winstons and a decent range of actions/series. I had read glowing reviews about the new 4wt Passport and recommended it to a couple of people of the forum. Becker was one of the folks who bought the deal at Cabelas. I forget what his price was but basically right now it is $300, which is $200 for the rod, $69 for SA GPX line and backing, and $30 for the "line holder" (reel). Note it is actually a decent reel and Becker is crazy for upgrading it.
I test cast, as well as fished with his rod a couple of times and it is an amazing rod for $200. Simply awesome. Light, fast(ish but a bit forgiving), has nice hardware, great blank, nice cork. It is made in China. Frankly, I believe that is the reason it is not $300-400. It carries the Winston warranty (which lets face it $60 repair fee no $200 rod is not that great but hey everyone is charging a bit for "warranty" repairs now a days). I believe HeritageAngler has cast and fished the rod with high praises.
This leads me to a final thought. There is more than casting a rod. Fishing a rod is the ultimate test. My suggestion is to meet up with a few guys on the board that have various rods and give them a try. Hit one of the jams and ask to try a few different rods. A rod that is superior dry fly rod may not turn over a double nymph rig well. A excellent 4 part cast rod may be miserable roll cast rod (can't test roll cast without water imo). We live to feel the fishing thrashing about at the end of our rod. What happens when the perfect casting rod transmits no feeling back when high sticking?
gfen
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No, I assure you I meant exactly what I said. Look at any thread requesting suggestions for a brookie rod. All over the map. Rather than load someone down with preconcieved notions, they should get out there and form their own opinions without marketing, brand loyalty, or buzz to get in the way.
Actually, I've never had an issue with the guys in the Cabela's shop going outside to throw a line. They've even been excited to do so on a slow day, although they are a bit more apprehensive on busy days.
The nice thing about Cabela's is they've got a great range of stuff, cheap to expensive. The bad thing is its good to support your scene, and feeding money back to their corporate empire isn't helping the little guy stay afloat, and its nice to have a little guy around when you need to run out to buy a box of hooks and don't feel like a 50 minute drive is worth it.
Here's hoping Heritage Fly Shop has a box of hooks...
sandfly
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Yeah, help the little guy....HUH....where have I heard that before.......
gfen
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Consistently from me, actually. If you were 30 minutes and not 3 hours away, I'd shop there.
nymphingmaniac
Well-known member
gfen
"I've never had an issue with the guys in the Cabela's shop going outside to throw a line. "
I don't view this as service and help. May be I misunderstood what you meant.
Jdaddy, our opinions on this are amazing similar:
beginners may not recognize (this is not meant as an insult) what they will fish with the best, let's say 3 months from now when they improve. Even non-beginners adjust their cast in a few hours of changing rods
Casting on a lawn is just a very small indicator if a rod is right for you.
You guys are great about scheduling jams etc. A good place to sample rods would be at one of these events
"I've never had an issue with the guys in the Cabela's shop going outside to throw a line. "
I don't view this as service and help. May be I misunderstood what you meant.
Jdaddy, our opinions on this are amazing similar:
beginners may not recognize (this is not meant as an insult) what they will fish with the best, let's say 3 months from now when they improve. Even non-beginners adjust their cast in a few hours of changing rods
Casting on a lawn is just a very small indicator if a rod is right for you.
You guys are great about scheduling jams etc. A good place to sample rods would be at one of these events
nymphingmaniac
Well-known member
PS. i didn't make a recommendation because I started on old glass rods (there may be renewed fascination with them, but I don't recommend them as the only rod), went to less expensive graphite (Orvis clearwater or whatever it was called 20 years ago), right to Sages and St Croix legend ultras.
I have no experience with mid-level rods
I have no experience with mid-level rods
pcray1231
Well-known member
For us to give advice, please give a little more info on where you plan to fish with it, and we can zero in on what you're looking for. There's a myriad of options out there and pretty much all of them have their time and place. Since we don't know your time and place, it makes it tough to narrow it down for you.
FWIW, I've always found Cabela's to be pretty helpful and knowledgable when I've bought stuff there, mostly hunting and camping stuff. For fly fishing gear, I've never bought any big items there, but have been along when a friend did and they were pretty good, helped with advice, allowed him to test cast, etc.
Thats not meant to steer you away by any means from the local shops. I agree with gfen. Get the advice. Then go test cast and see what you like (we're all different and one size does not fit all). Then buy it from somewhere that was good to you, don't just go online to save 5%.
FWIW, I've always found Cabela's to be pretty helpful and knowledgable when I've bought stuff there, mostly hunting and camping stuff. For fly fishing gear, I've never bought any big items there, but have been along when a friend did and they were pretty good, helped with advice, allowed him to test cast, etc.
Thats not meant to steer you away by any means from the local shops. I agree with gfen. Get the advice. Then go test cast and see what you like (we're all different and one size does not fit all). Then buy it from somewhere that was good to you, don't just go online to save 5%.
