Salomone: Complete packages for beginners
Purchasing a fly-fishing outfit doesn't have to be an intimidating prospect
Michael Salomone/Courtesy photo
You’ve been watching fly anglers from afar or perhaps you’ve been out a few times with borrowed gear. This is the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. We are fly fishing. It’s time to commit and purchase your first fly-fishing outfit.
Price tags hanging on gear in fly shops can be intimidating. Buying fly gear one piece at a time drives up costs. Fly lines alone can run well over $100. Anglers looking to streamline the purchase process do well by selecting a package deal where the whole fly fishing outfit can be obtained at once.
What comes in an “outfit” for fly fishing? Outfits for fly fishing come as complete kits. Most companies include everything to get an angler from open box to river bank — no setup required. The fisher needs only to tie on a fly and go.
The fly reel should come equipped with a backing line already installed. Backing is a narrow diameter, braided line that is attached to your fly reel and connects to your fly line. Backing becomes critical when anglers gravitate towards big game or saltwater fly fishing. Fish in the ocean regularly make runs that exceed the lengths of a fly line. This is where backing becomes an important element in fighting the fish. This factor is not that important in fly fishing for trout, but fly reels are designed to have some backing installed before the addition of a fly line.
The reel should have a fly line matched to the size of the fly rod. A good starting point for most fly fishers is a reliable 5-weight rod. The 5-weight is the workhorse in the trout world. They also crossover nicely to panfish like bluegills and and even handle moderate work for largemouth bass.
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The 5-weight fly rod is the staff most anglers carry day to day. A 5-weight can handle the angling tasks for most situations. Dry fly fishing, nymphing and small streamers flies can all be presented well with a 5-weight. The size of the majority of trout will be easily handled on a 5-weight rod.
The terminal end of your fly fishing line is adorned with a tapered leader. The leader is made of monofilament. It comes tapered, meaning the line is thick at the butt end where it attaches with a loop-to-loop knot to the fly line. The thin end is tied to a piece of tippet or tied directly to your fly. That is it. A complete fly-fishing outfit ready to get in the river — just attach a fly.
Vail Valley Anglers fly shop in Edwards stocks a collection of complete outfits from reputable names such as Orvis, Temple Fork Outfitters and Echo ready to hit the river.
The Orvis Clearwater outfit is a classic beginners package that has jump started more neophyte anglers than any other. The Clearwater outfit holds a position at the high end as far as outfit pricing without breaching the $450 demarcation. The quality of an Orvis Clearwater rod hovers well above the price tag when it comes to durability and performance.
A more economical choice from Orvis is the Encounter outfit. Under $200, the Encounter is an outfit worthy of a first fly rod purchase.
Echo delivers a variety of new fly angler outfits. Echo takes pride in making an affordable rod. Echo rods filled a much needed niche. People put-off by high priced items felt excluded from the big boys club until Echo affordability fell upon the fly fishing industry.
There are two Echo Gecko outfits, one designed for panfish and one for trout. No matter where you live in the United States, an Echo Gecko outfit will get the kids started right.
The Echo Traverse kit comes with a rod, reel, backing and fly line in a travel tube. This is the top end for Echo outfits and the outfit I purchased for my youngest daughter.
Temple Fork Outfitters is another economical fly-fishing company offered by Vail Valley Anglers. The Temple Fork Outfitters NXT is a quality outfit that will last far beyond the initial years.
Whether the purchase is a gift for an existing angler in your family or to satisfy the curiosity fly fishing creates, first fly rods need not be an intimidating purchase. Prepackaged fly-fishing outfits make the initial steps to embracing fly fishing easy to grasp. Fly-fishing outfits: from reel and rod to river — no set-up required.
