I'm about ready to go back to nightcrawlers.

[JSzymczyk 0]

Couldn't agree more. Like many people, I started out fly fishing on the cheap because I had no other choice if I wanted to do it at all. With every new and increasingly expensive unnecessary gewgaw that comes out, I am more grateful that I was forced to learn that expensive tackle is not necessary to succeed in this sport. True, I do spend more now on tackle and related items than I did when I was just starting out, but not that much more, and I still always look for bargains - as Utyer said, the closeouts, the off-brands, last year's models, etc., and I catch all the fish I want.

 

I have a friend who used to have me build all his rods and furled leaders for him, and he was not only satisfied with the quality he got at bargain prices, he actually made a point of showing the stuff to other fishermen we'd meet and talking it up, even when I wasn't there with him. That was all before his father, a wealthy entrepreneur, decided to rescue him from his meagerly-paid teaching job and groom him up to take over the family business. In the space of just a few short years, my friend became quite a wealthy guy himself. Don't get me wrong, he worked his ass off for it, learned a ton and even started his own business from scratch and made it take wing right in the very heart of the recession. He deserves every penny he's earned and I don't begrudge him any of it. What makes me sad is how it's changed him. The last time we fished together, shortly after I'd lost a job and was forced to take a lower-paying one to keep afloat, he found a reason to turn his nose up at every piece of tackle I brought with me. Before I could even get my self-built rod strung up, he hauled out one of several high-end numbers from his new SUV and all but insisted that I fish with it instead. (I politely declined). Then he talked me out of wearing waders in the boat when he saw that my new ones were a brand he didn't recognize. He-even acted appalled that I had showed up to meet him in my little used commuter car. "What the hell are you driving that for?" he asked. I explained that it was a 3-hour drive up there, that we weren't going off-road, that gas was $4-something a gallon and that my car gets 41mpg, but those facts seemed lost on him.This from a guy who once went with me on a ten-day trek across Michigan, camping out every night in the back of my '89 Chevy van, and agreed with me that life didn't get much better than that.

We barely talked at all during our 5-hour float. This was a guy with whom I used to be able to talk and laugh like a couple of hyenas, non-stop and far into the night, slowly emptying a cooler of cheap beer in front of a campfire way the hell back in the woods by some little no-name creek or other, but suddenly it was like we didn't even speak the same language anymore. If that's what money does to you, They can keep it. I don't begrudge anybody his toys, but I do miss my friend.

Okay, I guess I've wandered a bit from the original topic, but not that far. By way of reeling it in (pun intended), I offer this hopeful ending to my melancholy little tale: on that last trip, I outfished my well-heeled friend about 3 to 1. With my homemade rod, no less.

 

That sucks. Everything but the last sentence.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------

 

I guess what I am honestly unable to relate to is the approach to fly fishing (or fishing, period) by someone who as an adult just "decides" to start doing it. I believe perhaps this crazy marketing is aimed at those people. They probably make up a much bigger market than people like me, who have fished literally as long as I can remember.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

I guess what I am honestly unable to relate to is the approach to fly fishing (or fishing, period) by someone who as an adult just "decides" to start doing it. I believe perhaps this crazy marketing is aimed at those people. They probably make up a much bigger market than people like me, who have fished literally as long as I can remember.

I think there are a lot of people who fall into this category. I am one of them. I was taught to fish--kind of--as a very young child, but I was only taught to bait-fish, which I hated. I hated worms and crickets and crayfish didn't want to handle them. I got ridiculed for that, which sucked, and the men who were in charge of things refused to teach me to fish with artificials. All my "teachers" wanted to do was park the kid on some bank with a pole and a can of worms so they could go off somewhere else and fish they way they wanted to without being disturbed. So fishing, as it was introduced to me, appeared to be a combination of being shamed and being bored stupid. Complaining wasn't an option, so I went and found better things to do with my time.

When I was in my mid-twenties I found a bunch of old spincasting rods tied together with a piece of twine in the basement of a house I was renting. It occurred to me that I was still interested in learning to fish, and, as an adult, I could do things any way I damn well pleased. I went to Wal-Mart and bought a spinning rod and reel, a bunch of plastic worms and few lures, took them straight to a local public lake that had rowboats for rent, unwrapped everything and went fishing. I caught a bunch of bluegills and one good bass. That stands in my memory as one of the best days of my life. I've spent pretty much every minute since then either fishing or anxiously anticipating the next time I could go fishing.

Fly fishing was just part of my natural progression from that point; likewise fly tying, rod building, furled leader-making and all the rest of it. I don't even really regret the poor job my male relatives did of introducing me to the sport, because they gave me a strong, clear model for how NOT to do things when I became the teacher. It worked too--my kids, whom I taught, both like to fish.

[sandflyx 0]

I just ordered the "NEW BELUGA" line for off of newfoundland this year. !!!!! $99.99 500 feet of running line and a 1200 grain head...

 

will be carrying these in my shop this year as well, call for reel size

[RickZieger 0]

I have not bought a new rod in seven years. Still catchibg fish on the rods that I have.

Have bought a few new lines, but found that Dorber has them for under $20 and I love them.

I am just happy that I am having fun as I catch fish.

Also started the process of using up the materials that I have.

Still catching fish on the flies that I tie.

Fish the way you want with the rods, reels,lines and flies you want.

If you are having fun it isn't wrong.

My nickles worth.

 

Rick

[Piker20 0]

Back in my bait fishing days I bought a rod that was simply brilliant. Backbone when I needed it, handles light lines without trouble, light on the hand. Then I snapped the top section some 3or 4 years later and rods had moved on. Went through 5 other rods before found one that was a patch on the old one. And the one I found was a rod that hasn't really changed in design for a decade. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

[utyer 0]

Over the last few decades, my fly rod catches include: Albino Rainbow Trout (not to be confused with the Golden Trout,) Black Crappie, Bluegill, Bonefish, Brook Trout, Brown Trout,Chinook (King) Salmon, Colorado Cutthroat, Flannel Mouth Sucker, Grayling, Green Eared Sunfish, Golden Trout (not to be confused with the Albino Rainbow,) Ladyfish (Skipjack,) Large Mouth Bass, Rainbow, and Steel-head Trout (both the same species,) Rock Bass, Rocky Mt Whitefish, Small Mouth Bass, Snake River Cutthroat, Utah Chub, White Bass, Yellow Perch, and Yellowstone Cutthroat.

 

While this list isn't all that long, there are 25 different species listed, and there are a few species of pan-fish, that I never tried to differentiate when I was catching them. I can't remember how many different days, I have caught multiple different species ALL on generic rods, lines and reels. There is NO NEED, for a specific rod for ANY fish type.

 

I just may try and add a Carp or two to my list, but then again, I don't have a Carp rod either.

[TSPAngler 0]

I don't know about the price tag, but I can absolutely see the reasoning behind producing a carp-specific line.

Most of your warm water lines have a pretty aggressive taper, meant for throwing bigger flies to bass/pike, which means they cause more disturbance when they land on the water. If you're throwing small flies to carp, such a taper is unnecessary, and you can be more delicate in your presentation with a trout-like taper. However, if you've ever used a cold water line on a 95 degree day in 85 degree water, you know how gummy they can get and they don't slide through the guides or cast as well. So a mixture of the two makes sense to me. And if you spend a lot of time fishing for carp, why not get the best tool for the job?

 

No, you don't NEED a special line for carp, plenty have been caught without it, but you really dont NEED any fly fishing gear at all. No point in getting all wound up in what other people buy, sell, or otherwise do with their own time.

[JohnP 0]

If you don't like it, don't buy it. Problem solved, blood pressure unchanged.

[mikechell 0]

This debate came up a year ago or so, and someone posted a link to a very funny argument between two cartoon characters about fly fishing gear. Does anybody remember that? Does anybody still have the link to it?

[Troutbum11 0]

I concur JohnP

[FlyFishin'Jam 0]

I don't know about the price tag, but I can absolutely see the reasoning behind producing a carp-specific line.

Most of your warm water lines have a pretty aggressive taper, meant for throwing bigger flies to bass/pike, which means they cause more disturbance when they land on the water. If you're throwing small flies to carp, such a taper is unnecessary, and you can be more delicate in your presentation with a trout-like taper. However, if you've ever used a cold water line on a 95 degree day in 85 degree water, you know how gummy they can get and they don't slide through the guides or cast as well. So a mixture of the two makes sense to me. And if you spend a lot of time fishing for carp, why not get the best tool for the job?

 

No, you don't NEED a special line for carp, plenty have been caught without it, but you really dont NEED any fly fishing gear at all. No point in getting all wound up in what other people buy, sell, or otherwise do with their own time.

 

Whoa, hang on a minute this dude has a point....Some thoughts about this before we get all elite and snobby again.

 

1. Find me a tropical rated line in a #5 and below.

(I like many people also fish in places where there is no ozone layer and outside is like an oven, use a non tropical line and it fails instantly. I use my #5 in the salt on flats or at the beach for species up to 10lb, and it is a hoot! Even tho the line becomes like a piece of chewing gum. Now rio take your carp line away, make it a tropical line in #5 and below)

 

2. There are no tropical integrated sink tips (clear or t-whatever) below a #6, why? Also no 5 weight full intermediate tropical.

 

3. I guess i just want tropical rated lines in smaller sizes that is all lol PLUS the carp line is coldwater "The line is built with a supple, coldwater coating that ensures the line remains tangle-free"

 

4. Rio are silly

[Sundance 0]

In most endeavors we start out buying the cheap stuff only to realize that we wasted our money. Did that with woodworking tools. Now I buy fewer items, but wait until I can buy quality.

 

You can buy expensive gear (Cadillac, Lexus) for quality reasons or for status. Same with fishing gear. Can I tie good flies on a Thompson A vise? Yes. Do I enjoy tying on my rotary Dyna King more. Yes. Better quality, longer lasting. Can do things I cannot with a Thompson A. Can I throw my 8 weight farther (a BIG advantage in western steelhead fishing) than my 5 weight trout rod? Yes.

 

Ever notice how cheap car models soon begin to grow and go upscale? Manufacturers of fishing gear use the same technique to push the market toward the higher end. Fall into that moving stream and you will soon be buying expensive gear when it is not any better.

 

So is expensive always better? NO. Do I enjoy casting my expensive Sage rod? No. My $100 Temple Fork casts better. Tying stuff at fabric stores is often just as good and far cheaper than the same stuff at fly shops. On the other hand, high quality and expensive Whiting hackles tie more and better flies than the cheap stuff.

 

So sometimes quality and expense matter, sometimes they do not. Many of the comments above are right on. A little judgment goes a long way. Knowing WHEN to buy quality and WHEN the cheap is just as good makes all the difference.

 

Status buyers are often the ones driving up the cost of fly fishing gear. I have guided people who just went out and bought $1500 worth of the best gear available and can't cast past the oars. As one client said to me, "I don't care if I catch fish, I just want to look the part." Probably lends "authority" to the lies that get told back home.

[sniperfreak223 0]

huh, I use a Cortland 333+ WF7F for carp most of the time and I've never noticed much of a difference between that and a Rio Carp WF7F I ws gifteda year or so ago, either in casting, presentation, or catch rates...no wonder most of my reels are spooled with Cortland 333+ fly lines, whether they're intended for trout, bass, panfish, carp, pike, or whatever.

 

Of course I'm too poor to buy into the "species specific" stuff...

[ditz2 0]

One needs the proper tools for the intended job. Does one need a $400 reel with a fine drag to catch an 8" trout or 5" bluegill? No.....does one need a $400 reel to boat a fast and far running salt speedster? Not required but it will do a far better job than most $50 reels and for much longer. Just buy the correct tool for the job.

[Panama Red 0]

One needs the proper tools for the intended job. Does one need a $400 reel with a fine drag to catch an 8" trout or 5" bluegill? No.....does one need a $400 reel to boat a fast and far running salt speedster? Not required but it will do a far better job than most $50 reels and for much longer. Just buy the correct tool for the job.

 

X2

 

I am by no means a tackle snob, however, after years of fishing saltwater I have learned what works and what doesn't and budget accordingly.