by dahlberg » Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:13 pm
hey Jbird,
I loved your post! You're only out of line when you don't have any line left.
I'm personally using two different rods that are comparitively cheaper than dirt. Both are beginner SCi Angler combos you can buy at walmart.
They could be improved with another guide or two, but they cast great. As a matter of fact, IMO, as someone that can cast 90 feet of line using just my hand and no rod at all I think their basic design, i.e. action are WAY better than many rods that cost 5X as much money.
My question to you is this, how can a beginner possibly judge a fly rod?
The ones I consider poor in action have actually been designed to help minimize the problems caused by flaws in stroke and I can cast them, but find them horrible for super high line speed casts, shooting a bug under a cut bank or overhanging tree because they unload too quickly and often have what I can a "hinge" in the upper third.
Also, IMO, a drag system in a fresh water reel is absurd. All I want is enough drag so the reel doesn't overspin when I strip line off. Also the weight of the reel is important in that it should NOT BE TOO LIGHT TO COUNTERBALANCE THE WEIGHT OF THE ROD UNDER LOAD. i.E. too light is way worse than too heavy when it comes to a reel. Try casting a 10 weight with no reel on it. It will kill you quick.
Also purchasing tippet spools from a flyshop is far more expensive than simply buying a spool of mono of the right dia.
You're totally right on the button regarding matching line and rod, and that's where some of what you refer to as Chinese junk can really miss the mark.
If you're a trout guy you need way more stuff than if you're fishing warm water species.
If you already own a boat or are fishing smallies, largemouth and panfish there's no need for waders. A pair of old tennies did me fine for most of my 20 odd years of guiding smallmouth fly people.
In my early twenties I was invited to a $10,000 per week atlantic salmon camp by a former client.
I listened intently to all the B.S., tried to absorb an unbelievably confusing chart intended as a guide for which fly for which day and weather and water and time of year and felt totally overwhelmed. My vision was 20/10 then and I had a hard time telling many of them apart.
I fished with the gilly for 2 days, stood where they said, used what they said etc and caught 2 fish each day while most of the other guests caught one or none.
I then went out on my own, watched the critters for a while from a cliff and began applying the simple things I'd learned on my own as a kid fishig smallmouth.
At the end of the week the camp total was 90 odd fish of which I'd caught eighty some. I caught them on a fly I tied using the fuzz from the couch dubbed on to a wiggle nymph fuselage I made from a couple of salmon hooks and a strip of copper wire I swiped from an old lamp cord.
Needless to say it really rattled the experts.
The point is, if you learn to cast well and control the line in the water it doesn't neccessarily involve a whole lot of money or voodoo.
Sorry to get riled up, and I very much appreciate your post and cost break down, but the contrived mysticism that pervades the fly industry is disgusting to me and I think is the one most important single factor that turns off would be fly fishers.
Again, thanks for your post!
best,
L
Larry Dahlberg
The Hunt For Big Fish