The Best Fly Fishing Gear in the World
I’ve been a gear nut for long as I can remember. Going back to my grandpa and dad’s old fly rods, I remember always being fascinated with the load of stuff they’d pack into the truck whenever they went fly fishing. Once I was old enough to go along, I got to actually touch some of the gear, and use it only when my dad was watching.
Fly Rods
This is where you’ll run into the biggest sticker shock. You can easily spend over $1,000 on a new fly rod. That gets you a top-of-the-line stick, constructed with the latest and greatest in materials and technology.
Obviously, that’s not reasonable for most people. Instead, I’d suggest focusing on rods in the $150 – $300 category. Generally, these rods are seen as a mix between entry-level and mid-priced offerings, and you’ll find tons of great options here.
Fly Reels
You can spend almost as much – or more – on a fly reel than you can on your rod. For the vast majority of fly anglers, though, a reel that fancy is complete overkill.
Trout fishing rarely requires the freight-train-stopping drag some of these high-end reels boast. If anything, reels serve as little more than line holders 90% of the time when you’re chasing trout. It’s just not common to get into fish that requires a finely-tuned drag to land. With that said, you can still get a good reel with a good drag that’ll perform when you do meet that 22-inch trout when you least expect it.
Fly Lines
Fly line is a lot more expensive than regular monofilament or fluorocarbon fishing line, and for good reason. Fly line comes with a coating to either make it sink or float, and floating lines are key to 90% of effective fly fishing.
Some fly lines retail for around $140, but you don’t need to spend that much. $50 – $80 gets you a good quality line that’ll last for a few seasons at least, if not longer.
Flies
If you have just started fly tying or have been fly tying for years, then you’ll already know that buying the right fly tying materials and tools is quite an investment. You might have thought you’d save some money tying your own flies, but when it comes down to it, the time it takes and the costs of fly tying supplies makes this a bit of a myth.