I don't know how many of you subscribe to Bass Pro, Gander Mountain or Cabellas but I've been noticing a lot of clearance ads hitting my email box lateley. I can only imagine the economy has been hitting these fishing equipment shops pretty hard. Christmas sales for most stores was way below normal and I'm sure Bass Pro, Orvis and many of the other more popular sporting goods shops had the same problem.
If you aren't an active member of any of these fishing equipment dealers I suggest you atleast sign up for their newsletters and specials. Dont use your regualar email address, I have one that I only use to sign up for free fishing deals and fly fishing shops to get their ads and online deal notifications. Bass Pro is one of my favorites as they dont cater to primarily fly fisherman so often you can find excellent clearance deals on their White Rivers, Sage and Redington fly rods and reels. Cabellas also has regular sales on their house brand Cabellas fly fishing equipment. I'm sure Orvis while usually not as inexpensive has some good deals going on as well since they announched their new Spring 2009 fly fishing equipment.
Dont think just because your buddies all brag about their expensive hand crafted rods and reels that you have to go out and do the same. With today's economy and everyone trying to save a buck take the time to shop around for your fly fishing equipment. The online vendors like Bass Pro, Cabellas and Gander all have clearance outlets and sections on their sites where they list their discontiued and marked down fly gear.
Fly Fishing Equipment Stores Holding Sales
Fly Fishing Gadgets The Dirty Secret
I'm going to let you in on a dirty little secret about fly fisherman, they love gadgets. The worst part is no matter what type of dirty blue widgets are being advertised most fly fisherman will end up buying it and they usually dont work. There are just tons of fly fishing gadgets, gizmos and thingamabob that are supposed to help you catch fish by the dozens and few if any will ever actually deliver. I for one am a believer in keeping it simple. A fly rod and reel, waders,flies, and a nice stretch of water is all you need to get the job done. Perhaps I'll throw in a fly vest as they are nice to keep things organized but definitely not a necessity. Christmas time is especially rough on those of us that live in the north and the steams are froze over.
There is nothing worse than not being able to get out in the stream and fish so often we spend our winter months browsing fishing catalogues, fishing equipment websites and reading about all the new types of fly fishing gadgets that will be coming in for the next season. Word of warning dont keep your credit card close to the computer while browsing or you'll find yourself buying lots of those useless fly fishing widgets, trinkets and gadgets just because your bored. That's not to say that you can add some much needed fly fishing gear to your Christmas list for other to buy you, but dont waste your own money :) I always try to advise my kids and family what type of fishing stuff to avoid and give them a list of gear I'll be needing in the spring in case they feel they have to buy me fly fishing equipment for Christmas.
Fly Fishing Equipment Clearance Everywhere
I spent yesterday afternoon running around town doing a bit of shopping to replace some of my older fly fishing equipment. I couldn't believe the amount of fly fishing rods and reels I found already marked down on clearance. I ended up buying two new fly rods, a fly reel and a new pair of wading shoes. I looks like the stores are marking down fly fishing equipment early this year and getting ready for the hunting season. If you are a fly fishing beginner looking for bargins this is a good time of year to snatch up some really cheap fly fishing rods and reels.
In my area the bargins were especailly prevelant as the stores have started stocking more fly fishing gear during the spring. It seems fly fishng in my town has started gaining popularity. The number of fly fishing items on clearance means they were either over priced early in the season or that they overestimated the numbers when they placed their fly fishing equipment orders. Either way it really paid off for me. I'm not much for buying new fly fishing gear every year but I always take advantage of clearance prices to replace fly line, leaders, tippets and other regular fly fishing equipment. Check your local shops you might find some real bargins too.
Dont over look the tying supplies if you think you'd like to get started tying flies over the winter or need to replace existing equipment.
Fly Fishing Gear | Father's Day
Father's Day is another of those wonderful holiday's all beginning fly fisherman should look forward too. Sorry Ladies you had your day already. Now is the time to fill all your fly fishing equipment dreams. Shoot for the moon. Do you want a new top of the line Orvis fly fishing rod and reel? Perhaps your in need of a new pair of lightweight waders for the summer fishing. For me its a time to upgrade my fly tying vice and get a few more fly fishing and tying tools I don't have. Next to Christmas, Father's day is the second best day of the year for Dads. Take advantage of the opportunity to ask for a fly fishing combo, wading shoe, or fillet knife, no gift is too large or small. :)
Now in return for this day of gratitude from your kids you must return the favor and pass on your love and knowledge of the timeless sport of fly fishing. If you haven't already taken the time to teach your children how to fly fish, Father's Day is the perfect time to introduce them to the wonderful pastime. Heck if the wife or girl friend hasn't learned the art of fly fishing take them along too. Fly fishing isn't just about conquering that huge brown trout with your high tech fly fishing equipment, It's about sharing and enjoying the experience that fly fishing brings.
Here's hoping that on June 15th not only do you dads get all the fly fishing gear you have been lacking, but also that you pass along your love for the sport. If fly fishing isn't your Father's thing you can't go wrong buying something for the grill. The Grill Daddy For a unique Fathers Day gift seems to be a hot item.
Fly Fishing Gear | Best Time To Buy
If you are looking to add more to your fly fishing gear collection. Now is a great time to start thinking about it. Anytime the economy is taking a down turn, retail outlets start trying to drive business by having sales, marking down prices on less popular items, and adding high margin items to clearance.
In addition to retail companies marking down prices on fly fishing gear, this is a great time to start shopping garage sales and auctions. Anytime the gas prices sky rocket and economy gets weak there are people stuck in a position to sell off their unnecessary hobby items. I know its terrible that someone should get in this type of position but it happens everyday. Take this opportunity to help them out and buy their used fly fishing gear or fly tying equipment from eBay, local auctions or garage sales. I'm not telling you to go in and haggle with the guy to the point your ripping him off but if you can get a good piece of fly fishing equipment at a nice discount take the opportunity and buy it.
With spring weather slowly starting to show up, garage sales will become more and more common. Check out your local newspaper for any listing fishing or fly fishing equipment. I've bought plenty of fly rods and reel not to mention complete fly tying kits at garage sales that were like brand new. Many people take up fly tying and fly fishing and realize it's not for them and eventually sell off their equipment. Higher dollar items like fishing boats are often easy to find at huge discounts anytime the economy gets weak like this, so keep your eyes peeled for those bargains.
Used Compound Bows
Fly Fishing Gear For Beginners| Fly Fishing Gear Overlooked
In several of my previous post I have mentioned various types of fly fishing gear that are a must for the beginner. In my haste to create a valuable list of this gear, I overlooked two very important pieces of gear that are essential for all fly fisherman.
1. The fly-fishing vest- Why is this so important do you ask?
Answer: fly fishing in a stream often requires wading from hole to another in search of that trophy trout. You can’t very well do this if you keep running back to
shore to grab your tackle box. Having a fly vest allows you the ability to carry all the necessities on your person to keep you mobile. Extra leader, tippets, net, fly box stocked with the appropriate assortment of flies, pliers, etc.... You get the picture.
2. A wading belt - Why do I need a belt if I have shoulder straps?
Answer: Have you ever tried to fetch your pliers from the foot of your waders after you carelessly dropped them inside your waders? I know this sounds crazy but anyone who has been fly fishing for long has dropped something down his or her waders. If you had your wading belt on it would prevent this from happening. In addition to this nice convenience this often overlooked piece of fly fishing gear can save your life. How is that possible you ask? It will help to keep air trapped inside and water out for that occasion where you step without looking and plunge in over your head. It helps keep you floating instead of sinking like a rock. Nothing ruins a good day of fishing like drowning!!!
Like many of the different types of fly fishing gear I have discussed on this site, these too can be purchased second hand via eBay or garage sales, often on clearance at local shops, or if you feel froggy from a high priced fly fishing shop. In closing let me apologize for not mentioning these often overlooked pieces of fly fishing gear in my earlier fly fishing tips for beginners.
Fly Fishing Gear | Prepare For Spring
If you’re like me you cant wait till the winter weather breaks so you can get back to your fly-fishing. During these colder weather periods is the ideal time to gather up your fly fishing gear and get it ready to go for spring. This is the time your can identify if you need to replace anything or need to buy something extra. Before you go out and buy expensive fly fishing gear from Orvis, Bass Pro Shops or some other high end bait and tackle shop, give eBay a try. In most area's this is the off-season and there are many eBay sellers out there that bought up clearance items and off loading them on eBay. This is the time to get some great bargains on your fly lines, flies, waders etc. I ran across this fly fishing supply site the other day while I was doing my shopping. Its nothing fancy but the guy has several custom eBay searches specifically targeting fly-fishing. Check it out if you like. Don’t forget to check your local sporting goods stores for bargains as well. This is the time of year they are setting up their new selection of fly fishing gear for the up coming season. You can get excellent buys on last years model fly rods and reels. Don’t wait until spring to prepare for the season, that's when you should be on the river not in the store.
Fly Fishing Gear For Beginners | Valentines Day
Valentine's Day is quickly approaching. All you fly fishermen out there dont forget to pick up something for that someone special. While your at it dont forget to mention to your loved one a few ideas you would like to get. This is an excellent time for the beginner fly fisherman to fill out their collection of fly fishing equipment. I know it doesnt sound like a very Valentine's Day type thing to ask for, but what would you rather have a chocolate heart or a new fly reel. :) I definately would not suggest buying your mate a new fly reel for Valentine's Day unless they are also an avid fly fisherman. Doing that will probably get you lots of free time for fly fishing, since she'll probably slam the door on way out and never come back. I know this isnt very instructional for the beginner fly fisherman but thought I would break up the posts with something a little different.
Fly Fishing Waders Choosing The Right Kind
Do I need Waders? Simple and direct answer to that is Yes unless you want to get your feet wet. As a beginner at fly fishing, once you get past the stage of practicing at farm ponds and, are ready to tackle a river or stream, waders become a necessity. Most of the time the banks along streams, creeks and rivers are too overgrown with brush to allow for bank casting.
This is another category of fly-fishing equipment that you can start out with something inexpensive from your local retailer. Most of them light weight vinyl waders you can use with an old pair of boots or tennis shoes. These typically cost less than $15.00. They definitely aren’t much to look at and wont do much to keep you warm, but they will keep you dry. My suggestion is if you have the money buy a pair of neoprene fly fishing chest waders, usually can be found for around $50.00. If its off-season most retail stores will have them on clearance.
Most of the time while you are wading you will only be knee deep in water. However, there is the occasional deep area you may need to cross to get to that sweet spot in the stream. Definitely don’t waste your money on hip waders if your fishing in deeper streams. Invest in a quality pair of fishing waders that are chest high.
Make sure when you buy a set of waders to pay special attention to the care and cleaning of them. The manufacture should have full instructions on the proper way to store and care for them. A common mistake many begginer fly fishermen make is to throw them in the back of the storage shed and forget about them until its time to use them again. That's a sure way to guarantee you'll get wet next time you take them out to the stream.
Fly Fishing Gear For Beginners| The Fly
Ok now that you have the basic fly rod and reel for the beginner, you need to find something to fish with. There are two basic types of flies and each has multiple sub categories. I'll leave all the sub categories of flies for you to discover on your own or I'll post about them late. The two basic types are Dry flies and wet flies. The dry fly is designed for top water fishing. Wet flies are flies that sink to the bottom at various different rates. Knowing which fly to use is going to take some trial and error on your part, but careful observation at your fishing hole will make your choice easier. The typical fly fishing beginner will just grab a fly, tie it on and go at it. While this is great for practicing we do want to eventually catch some fish. As I stated in previous articles try starting at your local farm pond fishing for pan fish and small bass. During early morning and late evening these can be easily caught using the dry fly. During warmer parts of the day or during bad weather you might want to try using a dry fly. Your local retail store is a good place to start for finding the right flies for beginners. They will typically have a couple types of dial-a-fly packs to choose from. Grab one with dry flies and one with wet flies. Also grab a few pan fish poppers these can be great fun to fish with as you will get to see some bass and larger gills hit the top water in frenzy. Experiment with all the various types and see what works best in your location. You will find that gills and small bass arent all that picky about what they eat and you should be landing fish in no time. In additon to your local Wal-mart, you can find good prices on bulk quantities of flies through eBay. So you beginners at fly fishing get out there and catch a few. Remember catch and release will provide great fishing for generations to come.
Fly Fishing Combo | Fly Fishing Gear For Beginners
As mentioned in my previous post for the beginner fly fisherman I suggest starting with purchasing a fly rod and reel combo available at most big box retailers.There are several companies that make these and I have used just about all of them. While you can buy expensive combos from Orvis, Basspro.com
There are some disadvantages of using these less expensive fly rods, durability being the biggest. They typically aren’t made as strong or with as high a quality of components as the more expensive brands. So take care to be gentle with your rod when you do get snagged in a tree or weed bed. When your finished flishing with one of these less expensive or used fly rod combos make sure to take the time and clean the rod, reel and line according to the manufactures recommendations. Pay special attention to the reel, as they are the most likely to fail when abused or not kept clean. Don’t just throw your fly rod and reel in the trunk of the car or bed of the truck and forget about it. Inevitability someone will throw something on top of it and crack the rod or damage the eyes.
Well that’s enough about the basic care of your new fly fishing combo for now. I’ll continue posting more little tidbits for the fly fishing beginner as we go on. Next post will focus on the basics of fly-casting to help you avoid making too many bad habits.
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