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How Much Should I Initially Spend?
Given that you have decided to make a basic investment in the sport and you want to buy sufficient basic equipment to get you out onto a river or a lake, here is a very basic list of things to buy at a very reasonable cost.
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Cost |
Rod and Reel Package with line.
We have now introduced a new rod
package from WildWater. It contains
a rod, reel, fly line, backing, leader,
rodcase and small fly box with a life
time guarantee.
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$109 |
| Waders. Adams Bilt. Breathable. |
$129.95 |
| Fish Pimp- Fly Sauce |
$3.95 |
| Pinch on Strike indicators |
$3.20 |
Tippet. - #4, #5 and #6 Ump -
$3.99 each |
$11.97 |
2 zingers to hold your nippers and
forceps onto your vest |
$3.90 |
| Forceps |
$5.25 |
| Nippers |
$1.95 |
| Vest. Pacific Fly |
$28 |
| Boots. Chota; Abrams Creek |
$69.95 |
| Split-shot - super doux selection |
$4.99 |
| Flies. $2.00 a piece. For your first purchase, assume that you will buy 1 dozen flies. In our shop we do a bakers dozen meaning that you would get 13 flies for the price of 12. |
$24.00 |
| Net. Adams Bilt |
$24.95 |
| Total |
$421.06 |
With the foregoing the only other things you will need to start fly fishing is a hat, a license, a pair of Polaroid sunglasses and maybe an extra lightweight shell in case it rains. But we would assume that you would already have serviceable items which would suffice. If the weather gets colder you will need other layers for warmth. Those items can be purchased as you need them. However the object of this is merely to demonstrate that for a very reasonable sum of money you could equip yourself adequately to go onto our rivers tomorrow and catch good trout.
If I can start at such a reasonable cost, why do I think it should cost more? If you understand this question, you can understand why the fly fishing industry does itself such a disservice. For basic freshwater fly fishing there is minimal need for $800 rods, $600 reels or $800 waders.
A salesman can always try and tell you that an $800 rod is better than a $200 rod. But it is generally not 4 times better. One of the reasons rods are so expensive is the lifetime guarantee foolishly introduced into the industry years ago. Even the best graphite rods shouldn't cost more than $350 but the manufacturers are now making the rod purchaser pay for several rods to replace the guarantees projected to be claimed.
For most trout fishing, a reel is simply a device to hold line while one fishes. There are plenty of excellent reels for less than $200 which will do the job perfectly. Higher priced reels are not necessary. In saltwater or where very big fish require a reel to play it and become part of the equipment which fights the fish, it is a different matter. But that is not pertinent to this discussion.
As for waders, anything over $200 is paying for a name. There are perfectly serviceable and reasonable waders under $200 which will perfectly suit the recreational fisherman.
Of course as you develop your skills you will require different equipment for different purposes. But the bottom line, and the point of the above is that there is no need to be intimidated by someone who tells you that fly fishing is expensive. Its not.
We have a more detailed discussion of equipment here.
[Back to Getting Started]
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