Yes, don't skimp on the line.Decent rod and a great line is what I’d be looking for
Don't buy the top of the line fly rod until you really understand the types of fly fishing you enjoy and who you are as a caster. Try out a few middle of the road rods and fish them in many scenarios. Later, if you are fully committed to fly fishing as a life long hobby master your casting technique and sample top end rods & fly lines that give you more pleasure on the water.Besides money what benefits are gained when buying a middle of the road rod versus the top of the line rods for someone just starting out but plans to spend lots of time improving?
The benefits gained are highly dependent on the specific rod in question. There are great thousand dollar rods and there are poor thousand dollar rods.Besides money what benefits are gained when buying a middle of the road rod versus the top of the line rods for someone just starting out but plans to spend lots of time improving?
Great advice. I think many just starting out have great intentions but then just get frustrated and move on to something else. Spending the money on lessons is worth every penny. There are also some great starter outfits. I have been fly fishing almost 40 years now and started with a beginner package from Orvis. I still pull it out every now and then when helping a beginner, and casting it still brings a smile to my face. Just a nice, easy rod to cast.Saving on the rod means money to hire guides and to take casting lessons.
It's truly amazing how much stock many people place in the rod and how little they put in casting skills.
I bought a set of golf clubs that only cost a couple hundred bucks, I don't want to be a great golfer. Or bowler for that fact. Now I am pretty serious about my fly fishing so I do have rods that are thousand dollar rods because I have become very good at casting. I have already conducted several casting clinics and been asked by some well known fly fishermen to participate in their clinics also.Fly rods are getting to be like golf clubs. You may, or not, know the old saying in golf about players and their equipment, "he wants to buy success.". Us fly casters are just like golfers in that, we want to improve. Sometimes we want to improve so much we'll buy anything to get better. I've been there myself. But now I realize something else, that can also be found in an old golf saying. "It ain't the club, it's the clubber."