Rod / Reel Recommendation for newbie

I recently decided to get into fly-fishing (at the age of 30). I have fished all my life off and on and especially when I was younger growing up in Spokane WA and Hackcock County KY.

After a recent trip to TN and fishing the Buffalo river for bass (using spinners), it hit me. I have totally lost touch with nature and those 2 days camping on the river made a deep impression on me. I moved to San
Antonio, TX over 10 years ago and have done little when it comes to the outdoors.

Anyway, this trip really shook me up. I have acquired about 6 books on the topic of fly-fishing from amazon.com but still waiting for them to arrive. I am planning to goto a fly shop this weekend and pick up some gear so I can start practicing.

My question is about what type of reel/rod I should get. After I do a lot of research on the subject (reading the 6 books, and practicing) I would like to fly fish the Texas hill country. My desired fish will be bass, but the questions I have are the length of the rod I should obtain and what weight range I would need for the above conditions.

The price is not a real concern, but I would rather not go out and buy the most expensive items if I have no reason to have them. I think the most important part will be the casting techniques. Anyway, if anyone could help me out with information on a good reel and rod I would be very appreciative. I am just sorry I have waited so long to take up this beautiful art of fly fishing.

I got about 5-7 years to learn as much as possible before my son/ daughter will be old enough for me to teach! Can't hardly wait for those days. Again, thank you.

go to WWW.fedflyfishers.org and see how to contact the local San Antonio club.
Go visit one of their meetings and go on one of their outings. You will meet a bunch of folks who will help you get into this sport. Go to the club auction and spend more than you need to spend and you will have a hell of a lot of fun and get some pretty cool stuff. Most of these clubs have an introductory course they teach on occasion and you will be on your way. The streams in the hill country are a lot of fun and standing in a river helps when it is over 100 degrees.

I would not use a 7 foot rod if I were you. For me, I have a hard time roll casting my 7 footer. If I were more proficient at it, it would be no big deal, but still being somewhat of a beginner, I'd go with a bit longer rod,I think an 8 or 8 1/2 foot would be fine.
Smaller rods are of course an advantage where there is not much room to back cast. Longer rods require less ablilty to control to make a decent cast. As others have said, you'll eventually acquire several rods, sometimes even different lengths for the same weight.

Remember, it is NOT the length of the rod that determines casting distance. I can cast my 7' almost as long as i can cast my 9' rod.

I bought a 6wt rod to bass fish back in Indiana, though I never got much chance to use it. Here in North Carolina where the bass grow bigger, i'll wind up buying a 7 or 8 wt to fish for bass.

You have the automatic reel, single action, multiplier action. I've always read that most of the "real fly fisherman" frown on the automatic reels-not much "sport" in it. The multiplier reels are the same as spinning or bait casting reels, there is a ratio of handle cranks to spool turns. The single action is just that, 1 crank of the handle equals 1 turn on the spool. Most people use these, especially beginners- every reel I own is a single action.

Be sure to buy a reel that matches the rod, it should be balanced, just like spinning or bait casting you are used to.

I don't think anyone has mentioned it, but cabelas makes some good fly rods and so does basspro shops. I can attest to the cabels stow-away rods, I have 2 of the 5 piece travel rods. They are very reasonably priced and work well. I have the 4wt and 6 wt models. I think the
6wt just just over $100 and the 4 wt was around $80. I have heard alot of good things about the bass proshops rods from alot of people on multiple website forums., but I do not own any.

hey, I'm a cheapskate, but the stuff I have works well for me.

Much snippage has occurred...................

WOULD SOMEONE, PLEASE RECORD THE TIME AND DATE OF THIS LAST POST!

Richard, you must be so proud!

Op --Fuck Mike, I want to be like Rah Dean!~)--

I'm going to stick my neck out on this one, as I am just getting back into ff'ing after years away from it. Since you say you are planning to fish the hill country, I assume you mean you will be fishing the rivers as opposed to lake fishing. If that's the case, I don't think you need to go up to an 8-weight or above. I would think a 6-weight would be adequate.

Yes, you will be throwing larger, more wind-resistant flies than you would trout-fishing, but the rivers I have fished around here (Guadalupe, Pedernales, Blanco, San Marcos) don't call for huge bugs like lake-fishing does, the wind won't be as much of a factor as on lakes, and you aren't going to be making extremely long casts.

When I first took up ff'ing, the fellow at the Austin Angler (the owner, IIRC), recommended a 6 and an 8, with the 8 more for lake-fishing, and I found his advice to be right on. I have fished both, and on Lake Travis the 8 was a definite advantage. But for wading and fishing the rivers (really more like streams in most cases), the 6 was plenty. It also had plenty of backbone to handle the fish you will likely encounter. (We aren't talking about 10 lb.
hawgs that you need to winch out of cover, but sleek largemouth,
Guadalupe and the occasional smallmouth.)

I'll leave it to those more experienced than I am to give you advice on brands and such, but I just thought I might give you a perspective from someone who lives in this area.

Chuck Vance (of course, if you are planning on lake-fishing, ignore everything I wrote)

But there is the Orvis 25 year repair/replace guarantee. And one should never forget the absolute pleasure that one gets from not having to let
Walmart have any of one's cash.

I don't know who carries the Temple Fork Rods in the San Antonio area, but you could find out from their web site. In the Dallas area they are in the Blue
Drake flyshop and at Bass Pro.You won't confuse their hardware with top of the line stuff, but I sure do like the way they cast. I think my next couple of rods will be Temple Fork rods.

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

I picked up the Complete Book of Fly Fishing by Tom McNally last night at Barnes and Noble while I wait for my other books to arrive from amazon.com. I was a little confused after reading about 4 chapters last night about the previous recommendations. Your post makes more sense to me. From my understanding of the hill country rivers, they are not very wide so it seems the 6 weight line would be more suited.

I also got recommendations on some 8 1/2 - 9 ft rods, but it seems that would be a little overbearing when the streams in the hill country are not more than 50 ft wide (I may be wrong about this). I was thinking more of a 7 foot rod would be a better choice. I am very new to this, so I may be missing some of the reasoning behind previous recommendations, so if this is the case, hopefully someone will make this more clear to me.

After reading the book I mentioned above, I am most confused about the reel. I understand that there are basically 3 types, and the author pretty much shunned all but the single action. However, the reel section in my opinion was a little light on what to select for particular situations. Thanks again for all the help.

Ha, very good point. Thank for your response, it was very valuable.

Yep. The hill country rivers are more like streams for the most part. I have recently been fishing them with a 5-weight, and while I wouldn't recommend that to someone buying his first rig, it works well for the most part.

The one problem I have encountered is the wind. It can blow pretty strong on some of those rivers, but IMHO, it's a tradeoff. I could go heavier but then when I do catch the smaller fish it's not as much fun. Instead, I am simply trying to improve my casting skills and approach so that I can get the fly/bug where I want it even with a good wind blowing.

I think an 8 to 8-1/2' rod would be just about right. A shorter rod could come in handy some times, but for the most part, if you are dealing with brush and trees, the longer rod will serve you better for rollcasting or dapping.

Just to give you an example, a couple of weeks ago I was fishing the upper Guadalupe, and to get to the fishy spots required "casting" where I was surrounded by trees. In some cases I could do no more than poke the rods between branches and lob the flies (mostly beadhead wooly buggers) or sidearm-sling them out. I was using my 5-weight,
8-1/2', and even a 7-footer wouldn't have had any room for a backcast, plus the 7' wouldn't have been able to reach past some of the branches or rollcast as well.

There was one spot where a 7' rod might have come in handy, and that was when I found a little pocket in the trees where I had just enough room for a backcast. If everything was perfect, I wouldn't hang up on either side, or in the branch that was overhead behind me.
Needless to say, I lost a few flies, and a shorter rod might have helped, as it was the overhead branch that got me every time.

But the rest of the time I was glad I had a longer rod.

Sorry I can't help you with that one. I simply use an old SA
System 1 for my bass rods, and my 5-weight is an Orvis Clearwater.

Hell if you are going to Austin, why not go to The Austin Angler? it has to be one of the best fly shops in the state.

They're available through dealers as well, tho I don't know how many carry them.
about one is "better" for you.

A shark hunter, eh ?

It is true that you are likely to be drawn to certain rod charac- teristics in the long run. But at this stage you are not likely to know what they are and you may well be misled by your previous experience with lure/bait casting rods. So I would pick a rod that should be easy to learn and live with now and not worry about what may be perfect for you in the long run.

If bass will be your primary target, I would just go out and buy a Sage DS2 9' 8wt and be done with it. I suggest this because it is a decent rod that is reasonably priced (for a fly rod); it should be easier to learn to cast than many others; it should be relatively easy to learn to cast the heavier flies and sinking lines that you are likely to use at least some of the time for bass in lakes and impoundments; and it is reasonably rugged.

I would also buy a large arbor open-spool reel with a decent drag that does not cost more than apx. $200. Three that I think are decent (there are others...) are the Orvis Battenkill LA, Lamson Velocity, and St. Croix whateverthemodelname.