New to Fly Fishing

I have always thought about learning Fly Fishing, and have since (in the past few weeks) finally bit the bullet. I spent this past Sunday Morning at the local Orvis store, for one of their fly fishing classes. I am hooked (pun intended). Now, I know it is their job to sell me something, I get that. But, I am looking for some other opinions. I know this is a bit of a jump, but I have narrowed it down to the Hobbs Creek combo kit for about $140 I believe; Or the Orvis Clearwater Package for about twice that. Please correct me if I'm seriously wrong here, but as a beginner fly fisher, I am probably not going to notice the difference between the two of them. Not when I'm only going to be using this part of the time. I still want to use my spinning gear, and my new bait casting rod. That will never get old. I just want to learn this, and see if it is as amazing as it looks. After all, I can always upgrade later on. Am I on the right track?

If you haven't already, check out the sticky threads at the top of the forum. There's some really good info in there.


Some things to consider:

1. The Orvis Clearwater is a nice rod and comes with a 25-year guarantee.

2. Orvis is famous for their customer service.

3. The fly line is a very important piece of the puzzle, and I would venture that any Orvis fly line is better than any Bass Pro fly line.

4. If you ever decide to sell the rod, you'll get a lot more for the Orvis than you will with the Bass Pro.

5. If you decide to "trade up" later, you're paying more in the long run. Why not start out with a great rod that will last for years?


For a cheaper Orvis outfit, see here:

All Around Affordable Fly Rod / Encounter 5-weight 8'6" Fly Rod Outfit -- Orvis


This is another good option. TFO makes great rods, and they come with a lifetime warranty.

NXT Rods

I think you are on the right track myself. The Hobbs Creek set up will be good for about anything in a 5/6 weight. Will save you enough to buy you some flies for different species you want to fish for. I hope you enjoy fly fishing, it takes you to another place where time just seems to go by slower while on the water.

Like DBD said you have a lot of other setups that will be good to.

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Originally Posted by MNKK

I spent this past Sunday Morning at the local Orvis store, for one of their fly fishing classes.

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Orvis does most of their classes for free. So, even if you don't buy a rod and reel there, buy some flies, tippet, fly boxes, etc.

I'm happy to say that I took the plunge. While shopping around online, I found that Cabela's had a sale on one of their outfits. Rod, Reel, Line, Case, etc. And it was half off to boot! I've been casting in the back yard for about a week now, and have figured out a good majority of the basic cast. At this point, I can get the line to stop just short of the fence (11-15 yds), and can get the mock fly (waxed jute string) to fly very well. I do have one question now, if you could help. While practicing, I've had the tipped or leader (can't remember the difference) wrap around the fly line. When I untied the knot that I put into it while casting, I noticed that the mono line had cut through the coating on the fly line some. Will that affect the line immediately, or is that something that just happens from time to time, and really won't affect it in the near future. I am hoping to get at least a year or so out of this line, then replace, once I have a better casting ability down.

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Originally Posted by MNKK

I'm happy to say that I took the plunge. While shopping around online, I found that Cabela's had a sale on one of their outfits. Rod, Reel, Line, Case, etc. And it was half off to boot!

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Cabela's has some good stuff. I'm sure it'll work out fine for you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MNKK

While practicing, I've had the tipped or leader (can't remember the difference) wrap around the fly line.

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The knot you're getting in the line is called a "wind knot". It's caused by putting too much power in your stroke too early in the casting motion. This results in a "tailing" loop. (That's bad.)

Here's one of the best casters in the world with how to fix:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp36L6ttbxE

I must say, however, I've never seen this before:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MNKK

When I untied the knot that I put into it while casting, I noticed that the mono line had cut through the coating on the fly line some.

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When I get a wind knot (and everybody gets them occasionally), I just get a knot in the leader itself, not the leader wrapping around the fly line (and certainly not wrapping around it so hard that you cut into the fly line coating. That's really got me scratching my head. :dono

If you haven't done so already, check this out:

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/fly-f...ught-rod-cast/

Never seen the line cut the fly line?? Are you superman? :) Great to hear you have your setup and have started working with it in the yard. Leader goes to your fly line and tippet goes onto your leader. This is easy to understand as the tippet goes on the tip. Keep us updated.

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Originally Posted by STUMP HUNTER

Never seen the line cut the fly line?? Are you superman? :).

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Well, you know what they say....
Not saying that I am, not saying that I'm not... but no one has ever seen us both at the same time! ;) To narrow it down better, It was the mono line that had looped up with the mock fly, around the fly line. I didn't notice it until I casted forward, I believe that whip forward caused the mono line to slice into the fly line, as well as tie the knot. Just curious.

Also, thank you all for your advice. This truly is the best forums I've been on.