Myth or fact? Fly Fishing Is an Expensive Hobby

[dryflyguy]

Good point about conditions.
Especially with the price of gas now
As the old saying goes - timing is everything

As for the gear:
You can certainly fish as cheap as you want to.

I started out using an old shakespeare fiberglass rod and reel - with a level line - that I inherited.
Got into the streams using rubber chest waders, with cleat soles ( I recall falling in a bit)
But I caught fish........

 

[FarmerDave]

Less expensive than golf. And you don't have to pay every time you step on the water.

Good one.

And most of the time you don't have to wait for the group ahead of you to finish the hole.

Excuse me. Playing through.

 

[Brown71]

Spending on any type of fishing can be however you want it to be. But spending lots of money does not mean you will catch lots and big fish.

 

[WWKimba]

I look at it this way. My Mom used to buy bargain cookies (100 in a bag) that didn't taste very good and they sat around and went bad. When she bought the good cookies (a dozen a pack and twice the price) they were gone before you knew it!

If you fish and enjoy it, you'll find that it is NOT expensive - it's just WORTH IT!

Kim

 

[tomgamber]

I'm not a fan of that analogy. I never spent a lot for a rod. 200 tops after age 45. But none of my fishing was ever discount cookie bad before 45. As a matter of fact, once I started spending more on equipment, I was a little disappointed my experience wasn't relatively better. I think if you really like fishing enough. You could have a Snoopy rod. But what fun would that be.

 

[JeffK]

Got another comparison. I'm going fluke fishing on a party boat tomorrow. Cost: $80 ($92 w/ Eventbrite fees). Went to stock up on new line, bait, hooks, and sinkers - another $55. Add $30 for gas to the Jersey Shore and the rough total is $175 without meals. Heading to the Little Lehigh for the trico hatch is a lot cheaper.

 

[DomR]

Remember as soon as you purchase it, gear is a sunk cost that amortizes over the amount of years you use it. So if you plunk down $1,000 for a rod at say age 35 and use it until say age 75 the average cost per year of use is only $25 a year. Cheaper than a single case of beer annually.

Should you really even count gas and food as fishing expenses? Realistically unless you're alternative is to sit home and eat food scavenged from the land, you're probably going to spend $ on those items anyway on any given weekend.

 

[pcray1231]

Swattie's post about conditions was spot on.

Regarding gear. I have some nice gear so I shouldn't talk, lol. But a nice rod, nice waders, etc. I don't think they catch me any more fish than a low end one would. Nice waders last longer than cheap waders, they don't really do anything different. A nice rod or a top notch fly line may be more pleasant to fish with, but with cheaper gear maybe you take an extra step or two closer before casting. It's just not a big deal and not affecting your catch total. It's relatively rare, in PA, for a fish to be "out of range". Just wade out farther!

There is only 1 piece of gear I think actually helps me catch more fish. Polarized glasses. Good ones are better, but even cheap ones are light years better than no pair at all. Most important is having a pair that is light enough you'll wear in a forested canopy, or mornings and evenings. You can have a nice pair, but if they're too dark, and you take them off when you get in the forest or the sun sinks behind the treeline, they ain't doing a dang thing. It's not about seeing fish. It's about seeing structure. Seeing those 2 boulders and the deep lane between them, which may adjust your cast by only a foot or two but makes all the difference. When walking up a small stream seeing that random deep pocket in the rubble from 20 feet away, instead of discovering it by stepping in it. Just reading water, better, and at a greater distance, WILL catch you more fish. Like rods and waders, going up in price isn't automatically better, there exists overpriced junk that ain't any better than the cheap stuff, and you can find quality at the mid price points too. But a real upgrade in glasses will produce more fish than a comparable upgrade in waders, rods, lines, etc.

But yes, as far as skill, understanding conditions is #1. And next is probably focus. Seeing that beak on the far bank that nobody else sees. Still striking on that indicator pause even after the previous 200 pauses were rocks. Casting proficiency, fly choice, etc. all come waaaayyyy down the list.

 

[Brown71]

Pcray is spot on the polarized. A cheap (or expensive) pair of polarized glasses is worth its weight in gold! Not only for trout, but for all species. My little boy and I wade the shallows of our local lakes in spring/early summer, along with The Bay up in Erie a good bit. Its nothing short of amazing what youll find when you can see from junkfish to gamefish. And when you can see them, you can see their reaction to what your doing, and usually the chances of catching go way up, in my experience.

 

[CalBar]

It certainly can be either one. You won't necessarily catch more fish with expensive gear. I started out in the 60's with a cheap rod and fished mainly a few basic streamers for crappie and pickerel from the bank using straight 6 lb mono instead of tapered leaders. I caught a lot of fish on that setup. If you want to fish for trout, you probably need waders, but beyond that, you can still catch a lot of fish on that setup.

Even now, when I compare the price of even "nice" fly fishing gear to the price of a bass boat, fly fishing is still cheap. A lot of other hobbies cost a lot more.

Exactly! Try headding to the range for a similar amount of time with store-bought ammo!

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

My parents both followed the line of not mistaking cost for value. While fishing sometimes supplemented food for the family, we never calculated the $/lb. This also held true with hunting. There was always more value in the moments, than there was in any of the other aspects.

 

[troutbert]

I heard for years that flyfishing was expensive, the rich man's sport etc.

Then I went to a presentation by a bass tournament guy. The amount of money they have tied up in a boat, outboard engine, boat trailer, big truck to haul boat, rods, reels, boxes upon boxes of lures, etc. would be enough to buy a house.

The amount I've spent on flyfishing is a small percentage of that.

 

[Acristickid]

Laugh to myself about people who paid $150,000 for sprinter vans.

Seems to me many people own $60,000 pickups , $20,000 side by sides, $30,000 boats , $100,000 fishing cabins.

I spend my money on travel , adventure and experiences which is nowhere near that expense.

Don’t fall victim to the “Jones’s” or the millennial “living their best life” BS on social media.

 

[JSky]

Fly fishing has been pretty expensive for me and I know it is possible for me to stick with strictly the necessary items and cheap ones but I know fishing wouldn't be as good. Having more flies, accessories like floatant, a net, fluoro tippet, etc make the experience much better but it ends up costing more. So by nature is fly fishing expensive, cheap, or can it be both?

Any hobby that sells branded finger nail clippers for $100 is an expensive hobby.

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

Any hobby that sells branded finger nail clippers for $100 is an expensive hobby.

😀 Too true, but FFing is only expensive if you make it so. I've had the same <$1 drugstore nail-clippers tied to my vest (with waste mono-filament) ever since I started over 30 years ago. I may need to go to CVS since some rust is starting to show up.

 

[chadm]

I would say it’s pretty cheap if you want to keep it simple. You can get on the water for about $200-300 and in a year or 2 be decently set up for the about $1,000 between rod reel line waders pack, net, and flies buy once you have a set up you only need to spend about $50-100 a year in flies, leaders and so forth. You obviously can make it much more expensive but I fly fished for years in Sandels and shorts with a $200 pole with a fly box, extra leader stuffed in my pockets.

 

[Dr.J 1952]

I am OCD. A friend of mine once said that it was a good thing I don't golf as I would be making my own clubs. I have also been a semiprofessional guitar player for the last fifty years, so you can imagine how much musical equipment I have. As far as fly fishing goes, my passion is tying flies. Over the last thirty years, I have amassed a huge collection of materials. My latest obsession is articulated streamers. I probably spend about $200-$300 a year on new materials but mainly hooks, thread and tungsten beads and cones. It works out for me as I tie a lot of flies for my fishing buddy who usually drives. I can tie flies for pennies so I'm not afraid to lose flies. As far as equipment goes, as others have said, there are quality rods for under $200. As far as waders go, buy quality ones, shoes as well. If you gauge things over a course of many years, it's not that much. I do most of my trout fishing with an Orvis click and pawl reel.

 

[jifigz]

😀 Too true, but FFing is only expensive if you make it so. I've had the same <$1 drugstore nail-clippers tied to my vest (with waste mono-filament) ever since I started over 30 years ago. I may need to go to CVS since some rust is starting to show up.

So true. "fly-fishing nippers" are such a waste. A pair of Loon brand nippers cost $10 or something and a cheap pair of fingernail clippers is $1. Also, all of those nippers leave off the technology that exists on a pair of fingernail clippers that makes it easier to remove line, even thick, chunky line. - the LEVERAGE. That little leverage makes it so easy to cut through 0x tippet or 20 lb mono. Nippers, not so much.

 

[afishinado]

It's true you don't really have to spend a lot of money to fly-fish. I started FFing as a teen and certainly didn't have a lot of money to spend. I fished a used heavy glass rod and reel with crappy line. I wore cheap rubber hip boots in cold weather and waded in with jeans and sneakers in warmer weather. I tied my own flies with the Eagle Claw bait hooks I had, most of my material came from the birds and critters I bagged hunting, and my tying thread was from my mother's sewing kit. I caught lots of fish and had a great time every time out!

 

[NittanyBearcat]

I think that comparatively speaking to other outdoor activities fly fishing can be a relatively inexpensive activity. A rod, reel, line, and waders would be the most expensive purchases but they will last for many seasons. The price of a fishing license and trout stamp enables you to be on the water all year and is less than one round of golf at most courses these days. As others have said it can be as cost effective or expensive as you want to make it. The more I fish the more gear I feel that I “need” to get or at least that’s what I tell the wife haha.