newbe questions

Again thanks for all the imput and info. It is well appreceated. The latest
video I picked up was Fly Fishing Made Easy from Scientific Anglers, Brian
& Judith O'Keefe are the instructors. The local hunting/fishing store over
in Mo. (just a few miles away) have an assortement of fly equipment but
since they mainly deal with bass fishermen they are not up on fly fishing.
The have some Flueger fly rods in the $40-$50 range in 8-9 ft. lengths but
the reels are the cheap $10. martins. Also was looking at the complete
outfits in Bass Pro and Cabela's catalogs. They have complete outfits in the
80-100 dollare range. Might be better off going that way since the WF line
is included.
Mike



Greetings Mike,
The 7wt may be too short of a rod to start with to learn the correct
mechanics of the cast. I would start with a 8.5' or 9' fly rod. in a
5 or 6wt. The reason being is you have to learn to load the rod and
it's much easier in those lengths. After you learn the basics and
understand the cast, I would suggest looking at sorter length fly rods.

The other thing I've learned is when starting, is to not pick-up any
bad habits. There are a lot of videos out on the market, but only
a handful which I would consider worthwhile.

All good fly-casters have developed their own style after learning
the basics and understanding the mechanics of the cast. If I could give
a suggestion on where to start, I would suggest to purchase Mel Krieger's
book called The Essence of Fly Casting. The descriptions and photos
are easy to understand.

Off the records, I had quite a few bad habits when I started. Mel Krieger
corrected me on my basics, it was like learning how to cast all over
again.
And to learning to break a bad habit is worst than starting fresh.

Remember, there are no shortcuts in fly-casting, what you put into it
is what you'll get out of it.
Good Luck and great fishing, it's a wonderful relaxing hobby.
fwiw,
-tom

Mike wrote:
Again thanks for all the imput and info. It is well appreceated. The latest
video I picked up was Fly Fishing Made Easy from Scientific Anglers, Brian
& Judith O'Keefe are the instructors. The local hunting/fishing store over
in Mo. (just a few miles away) have an assortement of fly equipment but
since they mainly deal with bass fishermen they are not up on fly fishing.
The have some Flueger fly rods in the $40-$50 range in 8-9 ft. lengths but
the reels are the cheap $10. martins. Also was looking at the complete
outfits in Bass Pro and Cabela's catalogs. They have complete outfits in the
80-100 dollare range. Might be better off going that way since the WF line
is included.

There are good reasons to go with a Bass Pro or Cabela's outfit
but the fly line is not one of them. You will almost always want
to replace the fly line included with the entry priced outfits
with a decent fly line.

The second most important piece of equipment in fly fishing after
the fly rod is the fly line. Trying to learn to cast with a bad
fly line is a beginner's worst nightmare.

The fly reel, on the other hand, is just a place to store the
fly line in a bluegill-sized outfit. The cheap Martins will work
just fine as will a Pflueger Medalist. When I built bluegill
fly fishing outfits for my nieces I put Pflueger Medalist 1492's
on them for about $20 apiece as I recall.

Others here have first-hand experience with the Cabela's outfits
and are better able to give you recommendations on them. Good luck.

--
Ken Fortenberry