Hi To All Members

marty · April 2, 2008

first off, hi to all the members. my name is marty

i've always wanted to learn to fly fish and i've finally made the commitment to do it. but now i'm completely lost as to what to buy, where to buy it and who to ask for advice. that's how i ended up here. i'm hoping to meet some experianced fly fisherman and get some much needed advice. and hopefully make a few friends and new fishing buddies along the way. i've signed up for lessons, baught some gear and been reading books, magazines and surfing web sites for as much info and guidance as i can find. i guess my first question would be, should i buy 1 rod or 2. and what length and weight should they be? also, are there groups in town who get together who accept new faces and don,t mind alot of questions? i'll take as much help and guidance as any of you are willing to offer.

thanks

Pauline · April 2, 2008

Hi Marty & Welcome aboard ....

My suggestion would be to come out to the club. We meet every Wednesday evening at

Queen Mary Park -

Look under memberships/meetings on main page for the address.

We always welcome new faces willing to learn and share their experiences.

We are having a beginner tying seminar coming up on April 12th and then there

are two casting clinics coming up as well. There is a wealth of knowledge at the

club, and if you ask the question, someone will have the answer.

Tomorrow nights meeting is the Iron Fly Tyer which is always a lot of fun.

Hope to see you there one evening.

Pauline

RangerBob · April 2, 2008

You came to the right place Marty. Welcome aboard the board... and ask away.

Dito what Pauline says, come on out to a meeting.. and be sure to check out the casting courses.

For more info see here:

http://forum.nlft.org/index.php?showforum=27

RangerBob · April 5, 2008

My honest advise to you on a starter rod would be 6wt, 9 foot 6, with a WF-6 (Weight Forward #6 Floating Line). In fact, I will even recommend a brand... TFO (Temple Fork Outfitter) which is an inexpensive rod.. of high quality (compared to what I started out with and most other starter rods) that will serve you well for most species and conditions. Pick one up and bring it out for casting lessons as well. It's not the first time I've helped crack the shrink wrap on someones rod cork there to teach them how to cast. You can find these at The Fishin' Hole.. and OBTW.. membership in our club has it's advantages.

We're a friendly bunch.. and you couldn't have hooked up with a better place to learn the ropes. Poo that took me 10 years to learn on my own.. you will easily pick up here in 2 or 3 years. No word of a lie! Just ask Scratch.

Catchya,

Lance (Ranger Bob) Taylor

PS - As for buying a second rod, you can get a backup later. But.. honestly.. before you know it.. you'll loose track of how many rods you own after time.

marty · April 5, 2008

My honest advise to you on a starter rod would be 6wt, 8 foot 6, with a WF-6 (Weight Forward #6 Floating Line). In fact, I will even recommend a brand... TFO (Temple Fork Outfitter) which is an inexpensive rod.. of high quality (compared to what I started out with and most other starter rods) that will serve you well for most species and conditions. Pick one up and bring it out for casting lessons as well. It's not the first time I've helped crack the shrink wrap on someones rod cork there to teach them how to cast. You can find these at The Fishin' Hole.. and OBTW.. membership in our club has it's advantages.

We're a friendly bunch.. and you couldn't have hooked up with a better place to learn the ropes. Poo that took me 10 years to learn on my own.. you will easily pick up here in 2 or 3 years. No word of a lie! Just ask Scratch.

Catchya,

Lance (Ranger Bob) Taylor

PS - As for buying a second rod, you can get a backup later. But.. honestly.. before you know it.. you'll loose track of how many rods you own after time.

thanks for the advice. i've actually already bought a 9' 4wt before i even did any research on rods. (it seemed like a great deal at the time) but since then i've asked alot of peaple what size rod i should get and so far 60% say get a 4 & 6 w and 40% say 5 & 7w. i want to spend alot of time around nordegg area as well as the hinton region & red deer river and from time to time the crows nest.

i did come out to your meeting this past wednesday and enjoyed it. i'll be by next wednesday to sign up and learn as much as i can and hopefully make a few new fishing buddies as well.

RangerBob · April 5, 2008

The 4wt was my second rod purchase actually. It's great for the small stocked ponds (or 'plastic trout') as Barry Mitchell calls them. Also great for grayling streams.. and Stauffer. You'll find if you fish a lot of small creeks though, you'll want to eventually look to get a 2wt.

A 6wt is an-all purpose rod. For Pike and chucking large streamers, the 7wt and 8wts are where you wanna be then. My other advise would be, before you buy your next rod, to try and cast as many other rods as you can before you buy so you can learn about the actions of each to see which matches your casting style.

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/ldy/ldy010801.php

http://www.interpatagonia.com/pesca/equipos_i.html

http://www.schmidtoutfitters.com/index.cfm...p;feature_id=71

PS - Bring $10 to the raffle at next weeks meeting, you never know you might win a Sage XPL.

http://forum.nlft.org/index.php?act=calend...amp;event_id=81