Hello everyone My name is unclemike, but you can call me Mike. I'm just getting into fly fishing, and I've been trout fishing for around 17 years. Most of my fishing has been in the mountains of West Virginia. I've always been interested in fly fishing, but not enough to abandon my ultra lite spinning outfits. After a move to North Carolina, I'm needing to invest in some fly fishing gear as most of the streams here require the use of a single hook. Sure I could Jerry rig something up with my spinners, but what fun would that be? So I've charged myself with learning a new sport and I'm faced with a bewildering amount of choices.

My fishing with this rig will be almost exclusively in small streams and rivers in the mountains. Rainbows, brookie and browns, but the browns will not be huge (under 18"). From what I gather, I think I will need a 7'6"-8' rod with a large arbor reel.

Some questions:

Is this rod too short for a beginner?

If I go with the short rod, should I look for a medium or slow action?

Are the large arbor reels essential for a beginner (less tangles)?

Suggestions? Please be as specific as you can. I'm faced with such a huge assortment of choices that It's bewildering at this point. I want to buy quality and something I can grow with, but not something that will break the bank. I've read countless reviews and looked at hundreds of combinations, and this is what I've come up with:

In either the 7'6" or the 8'. This is on sale at a local shop for $149 BTW.
Redington combo

My other choice would be this rod:
St. Croix rod

With one of these reels:
G. Loomis reel

Okuma reel

Lamson reel

Thanks for any guidance. Sorry for the long post.

Mike

I don't think any rod is too short for a beginner. A rod may be too long or too short for a given fishing circumstance. For small streams in the Sierras in Northern California, a popular rod choice is an 8 foot 4 weight. If you don't have to worry about brush or overhang, go to a 9 foot rod. Here in Northern California, I use a 9 foot 5 weight as my "general purpose" trout rod. My "creek" rod is an 8'3" 3 weight.



Most newbies do well with medium or medium fast rods. Since the rod bends deeper toward the middle of the rod, the caster can develop the sense of the rod loading. If you want a fast action rod, upline the rod, so you can slow the action.



Large arbor reels are good for anyone.

Since you are in for the long haul, don't be afraid to bust the bank when it comes to gear. You are going to keep it for a long time, so it's going to pay for itself rather than buying something to replace it once you grow out of it. Also when you buy the good gear, you get lifetime warranties. Consider it as insurance for acts of God or stupidity.

With that said, I'll let the rest of the forum members give opinions on gear.

AbelBoy

I use 7' to 7'9" 3wt rods for small streams in the SNP(similar fishingfor your Smokey Mtns.). lamson's are nice reels but you really don't need a LA reel for what you're fishing. Actually, an Orvis Battenkill for around 100.00( or less) would srve you well. You will be climbing around boulders and such .I have an older Scott G 6'10" for 3 wt and a Diamondback Classic 7 ' for 3 wt and a 3wt bamboo that serves me well on those streams. An 8' for 4 wt would also do fine on some of the streams you'd fish in NC/Tenn. and SW Va.
Best,
Steve

For what you have described, I would recommend a TFO Finesse in a 7'9" 4wt. This rod has a similar action to a Scott G (in my opinion, the best technical trout rod of all time), but is very reasonably priced. This medium to medium fast action will make it much easier to feel the rod load (as stated earlier) and also to roll cast, a must in most close in environments. The rod is $180, and casts as well as my $600 Scott G.

On the reel, you don't need a large arbor. If you like them better, no problem, but I have found that the standard arbors are lighter and balance well with the lighter rods. The Orvis Battenkill BBS is a great value at $100.00. Another good reel for the money is the Ross Cimarron at $150. If you want to spend a little more, try the Ross Rhythm at $190.

Make sure you buy a quality fly line. Rio, SA Mastery, Wulff and Airflo are some of the best. My favorite is the Wulff Triangle Taper. For stealthy presentations, its long front taper can't be beat.

On all of this stuff, try looking on eBay. You can get all of these there, and usually about 10% to 30% off retail (for new stuff). Good Luck!!

I agree with the 7'9" - 8' 4wt. for the smaller areas you'll be fishing. Heck, if the streams are REALLY small, I'd drop it down to a 7' 3/4 wt, too. As to the rivers, how large are they? If they're a good size, that may influence your choice, also. If you're going to be on larger waters more than the smaller streams, I'd recommend an 8'6" 5 wt. to give you a little more versatility: longer distance casts and throwing larger streamers, nymphs and weight.

The aforementioned is exactly how all of us flyfishers got into this jam If you like it, you'll see!

Regarding the brand of rod, don't be afraid to check out having a custom rod made. You'll get a great product, you'll get to communicate directly to the builder, and you'd be surprised at the cost. You won't pay as much as you'd think, and you'll wind up with $ for $ a better made rod. (Disclaimer- not associated in any way to any rodbuilder, other than as customer)

John

I agree with the rod reccomendations but i think you should try out any rod you are interested in (at a local fly shop or gander mountain, cabelas, bass pro, etc.). you may naturally be more accustomed to a different action rod (slow, medium, medium fast, fast). i've heard good things about the redfly 2 but it's a pretty fast, stiff, and powerful rod and may not suit you as a beginner. for what you're doing, you probably could put your line in your pocket if you wanted to. i would reccomend something cheap (but you can spend as much money as you want), like an okuma sierra or slv (slv is large arbor sierra is standard), or even like a pflueger medalist or something like that. i fish okuma sierras (or cabelas prestige, same thing and is on sale for $20 at cabelas online) for most if not all my trout fishing. for rods, i would reccomend something like a temple fork outfitters lefty kreh signature series or a professional series. they have one of the best warranties in the business and both have good medium fast actions (great beginner actions). i personally have a 7'6" cabelas traditional 4 wt. for about all of my small stream fishing. don't forget to look for sales and clearance items on sporting good websites and at the stores. i don't have a quality fly rod that i paid full price for. good luck with your search and decision.