Pacemaker Fishing Forum

Is Rod Manufacturers Only Trying to Make Fly Fishing a Rich Man’s Sport?

I just got in the mail today a fly-fishing catalog. I was shocked at the prices of fly gear.

I owned the Fisherman’s Edge Fly Shop in Catonsville, MD for fifteen years before I decided to close and fish more. I can’t believe where the industry has gone.

Can the average fisherman afford $1200 fly rods, $600 reels, and $100 to $130 fly lines, and $7 or more for a leader?  Have the fish change that much to need these expensive items? NO! Not even a little bit.

I had many customers come into my shop looking to get into fly fishing and their starting statement was I can’t afford the best equipment. My comment was always the same, “The fish don’t care what kind of fly rod you are throwing at them.”

I would work around their budget and spend time out back helping them learn to cast.

On other occasions I had folks come into my shop and ask. “What is your most expensive outfit. This was such a turn-off to me I had to hold my tongue to explain that good casting techniques outweigh the cost of the most expensive gear. A $100 fly rod today will cast better than rods twenty to thirty years ago with the right casting techniques.

I came from a humble beginning. My first fly outfit was from Western Auto. Leaders were a straight piece of mono and flies I bought at a department store were twelve flies for a dollar, you can imagine the quality. But with this tackle, I learned to be a fly fisherman.

Better equipment can make a difference, the more expensive rods are lighter and after an entire day is less fatiguing. But not $1000 less. I upgraded to a Shakespeare Wonder Rod after my auto-store rod bit the dust. I know why they called it a wonder rod; it was a wonder I could cast that heavy thing all day.

Where a newcomer should invest in a better product is the fly line. Better line cast better and will hold up longer.

Unless the fisherman is planning to bonefish or go after bigger fish, he doesn’t need to invest in a reel with a big drag system. The reel in most cases just holds the line. I read an advertisement for a drag system that has a twenty-five-pound pull. If the drag was turned all the way down, you couldn’t hold the rod with one hand or even think about turning the handle!

Fly-fishing is a great sport and most fisherman progress to it from spin and bait casting. It is an intimate sport where the fishermen’s hands control the action.  There is no mechanic advantage to the gear. I have fly fished for six decades and love it as much today as I did when I started. And my hands still fit a spin rod when necessary.

So, if you are thinking about giving it a try, there still is many rods and reels out there that you won’t need to second mortgage the house to get into the sport. It doesn’t ever need to be a rich man’s sport.

For those folks that can afford the high-end product, more power to you, but there is room for the budget-minded fisherman too. Do a little research and ask some questions from fishermen that fly fish on the best-started gear.

The fish don’t care what you are throwing at them! As a former fly shop owner, this is my rant for today.

- Joe Bruce