Getting Started

For those new to fly fishing, we discuss the basics of how to get started. There are many resources available to you, either from within the club or outside. The intent of this section is not to provide detailed help but provide initial guidance to point you in the right direction

Any questions? Ask experienced club members and fly fishing shops who will only be delighted to help. They really a great bunch of people who are very giving of their time and advice

Your First Rod, Reel and Line

First decide where you are going to primarily fish - lake (or big river, such as the Tongariro) or medium/small rivers.

• Big, powerful rivers, a 7 or 8 weight rod with matching reel and line - floating line, weight forward taper
• Lakes, wedium/small rivers, a 5 or 6 weight rod and matching reel and line - floating line, weight forward taper

You will no doubt purchase more than one rod, reel and line over your fishing lifetime but the above will get you started and meet your needs for some considerable time. If you buy a rod marked for instance 6 weight, it is designed for a 6 weight line with a weight forward taper. If however you come across a rod marked 6/7, then it is designed for a 6 weight (double taper or level) or a 7 weight (weight forward).

A few more key questions still remain relating to the rod -manufacturer, price, action and how many pieces the rod breaks down into. There are no easy answers here, but some thoughts are;

• Manufacturer - Your choice, and most well known brands will be fine. Different manufacturers will offer different warranties on breakage so check it out
• Price - Very much depends on your personal circumstances. A rod alone can range from circa $100 through to many thousands. Be realistic. A first rod of sound quality and moderate cost is a sound approach. There are a number of package deals around with rod, reel and line for a couple of hundred dollars
• Rod Action - You will hear all about fast action rods and how this will improve your casting. No doubt this is so for an experienced caster. As a beginner, go for a medium action rod which is easier to handle and is going to be less expensive
• Number of Pieces - The usual range is from 2 piece to a 4 piece and sometimes more. Think here about ease of transport. A 2 piece rod is quite hard to fit into an average sedan car sideways, so must be angled which may or may not be an issue for you. A 3 or 4 piece rod can pretty much fit anywhere. Length is nominally 9 feet (much fishing terminology and equipment is driven from the USA so a certain amount of the older feet, yards, and pounds units are still used)

And before leaving this subject, do ensure you have backing line loaded correctly on your reel which is connected to the fly line, and a loop on the end of your fly line. Buy at a general sports store or over the Internet and you may find some unexpected surprises when you use your new set-up. Buy at a shop specialising in fly fishing and you will have no problems as their experienced staff will set everything up properly for you and give you heaps of great advice as well.

Bits and Pieces

 You will need the following to round out your basic kit (not exhaustive)

• A tapered leader to use with dry flies
• A selection of nylon and fluorocarbon for tippets (the bit that goes between the leader and the fly)
• A fast sinking "Polyleader" of 5 feet to sink to tip of your line so you can present streamers down the bottom in a strong flow
• Line clippers
• An indicator
• Pliers to flatten barbs, crimp down lead shot and remove hooks from fish or yourself
• Sun protection - hat and sun block
• Polaroid sunglasses (also keeps hooks out of eyes when casting)
• Insect repellent - unfortunately the best ones contain DEET which can attack some plastics (including flylines). There are non-DEET ones around

Flies

For your first times out fishing, just accept the fact that you will catch nearly everything that is out of the water - grass, gorse, blackberry, trees and the list goes on. Occasionally the fly will actually get into the water. Get a basic selection of flies and expect to loose a lot. Don't get unduly upset about it as you will get used to losing them. A starter selection is;

Licences

Licences are available for a day through to a season but a whole season licence ends up the best deal if you fish more than a few times.

Waders and Boots

Expensive but necessary. Basically two choices of neoprene waders with in-built boots (gumboots) or breathable waders with stocking feet where you buy the boots separately. For most of us the breathable waders are best as they are light and comfortable which means you buy seperate boots as well

Where to Go

Go on club trips to find out where to go and then you can branch out on your own. Fish & Game have an excellent set of free brochures available which are also available from their web site.

Books and DVDs

If you want to research fly fishing, there a number of sources;

• The AFAC library
• Your public library - Look in the sports section. It will soon become clear which libraries have a good selection of books and sometimes DVDs
• Fishing shops (the ones specialising in fly fishing, not a general sports store)
• Book stores such as Whitcouls, Borders, Dymocks, Bell Techbooks, Bennetts, Paper Plus have supplies to varying degrees. TradeMe has a large number of new and second-hand books. Look for some well known New Zealand names such as John Kent, Keith Draper, Norman Marsh, Ron Giles, Les Hill, Graeme Marshall, Chappie Chapman, Mike Weddell
• Some international names to look for are Joan Wulff, Lefty Krey and Mel Krieger
• Amazon.com is a good source of books and DVDs
• The Internet - a fantastic resource with a wealth of information and an equal amount of rubbish, but no surprises there!