Bill,

Thanks for your advice. I have (of course) a few more questions. When you
say a little larger size reel, what do you mean larger? Larger than what
exactly? Larger than #7? Could I get your opinion on the reels I mentioned,
viz Orvis "Clearwater" and "Rocky Mountain" and the LL Bean "Streamlight"?

I assume WF7F is a kind of line? I know there are all kinds of lines and I
have no idea which would be appropriate for whatever kind of fishing I end
up doing. I guess I need to buy a book and do some research.

In reference to the rod, I was doing some reading of old ROFF posts and saw
references to some old brown Fenwick fiberglass rods that were meant to be
pretty decent. Mine however would be bottom of the line. I bought it in a
local sporting good store when I was nine (and I would be surprised if it
cost more than $30. It was rebadged for Milbro and is amber in colour and
looks to be of low quality construction. OTOH, after 30 years nothing seems
to have perished at least.

Finally, is there trout fishing in Sequoia National Park, do you happen to
know? I go there quite a lot.

Thanks for listening,

Dan


"Bill Kiene" wrote in message
m...
Hi Dan,

I sold that rod and own them too. That was on of the best casting sizes
Fenwick made in those days. Today for trout we use mostly 4, 5 and 6
weight
rods, but your rod is fairly soft and will work for lots of fly fishing in
California.

I would buy a little larger size reel that is for a # 7 line rod and all
the
ones you mentioned would be fine.

I would spend some money like ~$50US for a good new WF7F.

There are lots of fly fishing clubs and good fly shops in California for
help.

--
Bill Kiene

Kiene's Fly Shop
Sacramento, CA
www.kiene.com

"Dan" lose wrote in message
...
I need some help from you fly fishers out there. I want to try to take
up
again fly fishing for trout. I have a rod I bought for the purpose when
I
was a kid. It's a cheap 30 year old Fenwick rod, made, I believe from
glass
fibre. It is 8 1/2 feet long and says AFTM 7 on it. I assume this means
its
"weight" is 7? My question is, would this be a reasonable rod to try fly
fishing again after doing it perhaps half a dozen times in Scotland as a
kid
30 years ago? Opinions on this would be useful. I also need suggestions
as
to what might be an appropriate reel to buy to use with it. Do I need to
buy
a reel of a matching weight? I was thinking of maybe an LL Bean
"Streamlight" or an Orvis "Clearwater" or "Rocky Mountain" (These last
are
now on sale.) Do any of these sound reasonable?

Just to make matters harder, I have no idea yet where I am going to
fish.
I
am located now in Southern California and know nothing about the
possibilities for trout fishing here, so opinions on where I might start
would also be welcome. As a kid I fished small rivers and lochs in
Scotland
and I think I would like to do something similar. Northern California is
a
possibility. I am somehow (and I dont want to knock anyone else's
pleasure)
against sitting in a boat reeling in trout after trout in a lake that
will
be restocked the minute I have gone home for the day. What I remember
liking
about it as a kid was that the fishing was but one part of a whole day
spent
in the wilderness with few people around.

This no doubt all sounds rather woolly, for which my apologies. I would
be
genuinely grateful for any practical advice.

Dan Hugh-Jones