Fly-shops are there to sell you things. Some will give you first class
advice, and yet others will merely try to sell you something. The only way
to make sure you get what you really need, is to inform yourself as well as
you possibly can. There are a couple of fly-shop owners posting on here (
and of course there are many other good ones as well, but I don´t know them
!), who can be relied upon to give you good advice on gear etc, as opposed
to merely selling you something.

Manufacturers advice, and general "blurb" with regard to the gear they sell
is often less than useless, as most will exaggerate, obfuscate, and lie
through their teeth in order to flog their gear.

I am aware that many people advise beginners to use WF lines, I have just
never been able to figure out why. I rather suspect it is because there is
more money to be earned on a WF line, and advertising is a very powerful
force. Much greater than common sense.

With regard to the "thousands" of people I have taught to cast. This sounds
ridiculous of course, but is a fact. Where I live, people are obliged to
take a number of tests before they can go fishing. For a long time I
instructed large numbers of people wishing to do this. Often up to a
hundred or more at a time, and several times a year. Normally, most could
cast well enough to pass the test after two Saturday mornings instruction,
and a couple of days practicing on their own. At such a rate, and after over
twenty years of doing it, it does not take all that long to have taught a
few thousand people. It also does not take long before you have cast
several thousand rods and lines! Not to mention the odd conglomeration of
reels and other gear which turns up. Nevertheless, one often has difficulty
persuading people to change what they bought! Even when it is quite
obviously unsuitable! Nowadays, most clubs etc here have a selection of
suitable gear for people to use for casting practice prior to tests etc, and
this is much better than them buying a load of stuff beforehand.

People learn things at different speeds. Out of a hundred people say, maybe
60 will learn to cast ( under the same instruction of course), in two
Saturday mornings. Others, say 20 to 30, will require more time, maybe four
or five Saturday mornings, and the rest will need much longer. This is
perfectly normal. Trying to learn on your own will work, but may take a lot
longer, as you do not know exactly what you are trying to do. It is rare
for somebody to be able to cast immediately, but it does occur. Much as
some people can shoot very accurately immediately, or pick up a musical
instrument and play it almost immediately. Talent also varies widely. If
you have no talent, you can still do it, but it takes a lot more time,
effort, and application.

There are some people who are quite fanatical about WF lines, and I know a
couple of top casters who use them. If you are a top caster, then you don´t
need any advice from me anyway. If you like, and use WF lines, then that is
great, I have nothing whatever against you doing so. I do not use them
myself, and I do not advocate them either. Most especially not for
beginners.

Usually, people are advised to use a WF line one rating up from the rod
rating. For a long time, most rods had two ratings marked on the butt i.e
#6/#7 or similar.
This was usually a manufacturers recommendation that the rod would cast a
DT#6 or a WF#7. This is because a WF line of the same rating as the DT
would be too light to load the rod at short range, Many beginners still
have difficulty even when using a WF one rating higher, as this also does
not load the rod well at short range. If you have trouble loading the rod,
then use a DT one rating up. This is easier to start with. All rods will
cast a range of lines, but it will be easire and better with the right one
for you.

Before you can catch fish at ranges of sixty feet and more, you must be able
to catch them at ranges of thirty feet or less! Doing otherwise, is trying
to run before you can walk, is extremely frustrating, and is in any case
more or less doomed to failure.

WF lines were originally designed for distance casting, invariably with a
double haul, and they do work quite well for this. ( Not as well as a
shooting head though). For some stillwater or other long distance work they
are more than adequate, especially some of the newer special lengths and
tapers which are offered. These are in no way suitable for beginners!

One inevitably returns however to the simple fact that beginners are unable
to cast much distance, they often can not cast at all! Selling them, or
advising them to buy something which they can not use properly, is
absolutely pointless, and merely results in them becoming frustrated, not to
mention the money they wasted.

What the "mainstream advice" happens to be at any given time, has never
worried me much at all, although when I first started a long time ago, I
wasted time, money, and tears, on the wrong things as well. Doubtless every
half way experienced angler on this group, or anywhere else for that matter,
has wasted varying amounts of time and money trying to set up his optimal
personal rig, or rigs. This is part of the game really. But many beginners
simply can not afford to go this route, they are better served with
reasonably priced and suitable gear to start with. They can always buy the
fancy stuff later, after they have learned how to use it.

By the same token, buying extremely expensive gear to start with is usually
a mistake. Once upon a time, the standard advice was to buy a reasonable
rod, a cheap reel, and the best line you could afford.

Rods and reels, even the cheap ones, are now generally so good that it does
not even matter much what you buy, they will work. This will save you
money, and allow you to gather knowledge and experience. With regard to
lines, it is certain that the best lines will allow you to cast better. But
as you can not cast to start with, and are liable to beat hell out of your
first line anyway, as handling etc also has to be learned, then it is
probably better to go for a medium priced line, as you will probably ruin it
in your first season.

Advice on this or any other group, is only advice. It may differ widely.
This does not necessarily make it "wrong". As a general rule, if you get the
same advice from ten experienced anglers, and differing advice from three
others, then go with the majority! Hardly anybody will wilfully give you
bad advice.

The best way to get started is not to buy anything at all! But to take
casting lessons from a good caster, or a reputable guide, preferably a well
known pro. After this, you "KNOW" what you need and why, and it will work
out cheaper in the long run, not to mention the time and frustration you
save as a result. Very few people go this route, but it is undoubtedly the
best way of going about it.

If you don´t want, or are unable to do this, then you are forced to rely on
advice from others, and your own devices. What you make of this is entirely
up to you.

Even with the best advice, best instruction, and the best gear, you can not
learn in twenty minutes what it has taken others twenty years to learn.
Fishing is a continual journey of discovery. It is not like learning to
ride a bicycle! You will never be "perfect" no matter what you do, and there
is always something new around the corner. Casting is only a part of what
you need to learn.

There are now millions of people flyfishing. The skill and knowledge level
of these people differs massively. Just because somebody has been fishing
for twenty years does not necessarily make him an expert, and by the same
token, some young guy who only started a year ago may be brilliant at it!
Normally, it is quite easy to tell who is a good angler, and who is not.
Merely watch and listen. Many things become obvious in a very short time,
even though you yourself may have very little knowledge of the matter, you
can tell very quickly indeed whether somebody else has.

What you need to do is go fishing and enjoy yourself, that is really what
fishing is all about. If you enjoy yourself, then many things will come
quite naturally, without even a conscious effort on your part. If you look
at fishing or casting as a task which somehow has to be accomplished in a
given time, and then you are an expert, then you will very likely fail, and
you will also not enjoy yourself much.

TL
MC