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Fishing with a Fly Fishing Rod – A Beginners Guide
When I was a young lad aged ten years old I was given my first fly rod for my birthday. I was so excited I had always wanted to learn to fly fish and now I had the chance. I took out all the pieces and put them together in the back garden very carefully and loaded the reel onto the rod. I made my way to the river that ran within a few hundred meters from our house with my dad.
There he instructed me for the next few hours on how to perform the overhead cast. By the end of the lesson I was able to get out about fifteen yards of line from the end of the rod which to me was a good cast. It was not long before I was able to go fly fishing for trout with my mates and catch brown and sea trout for my mum to cook.
At a young age I could see the potential to having loads of fun with my fly rod and getting out in the great outdoors always appealed to me so from then I was hooked, 🙂
If you have an interest to learn to fly fish then you too can be catching trout within no time as I did as a lad.
Single Handed Fly Fishing Rod
There are many types of fly rod both single handed and double handed. One handed fly fishing rods are normally used to go trout fishing whereas double handed are usually used for salmon fishing or other fishing for other larger predator fish. I say usually as there are always situations where the rule doesn’t apply. For instance Salmon fishing in Alaska would normally be done with a single handed rod and I know a few trout rods which have fighting butts attached to the bottom to make them into double handed.
Also manufacturers are always coming up with new products to tempt anglers into purchasing their gear. For instance the Switch rod which is like a double handed salmon rod but light enough to fish with one hand.
For the sake of the beginner a single handed fly fishing rod is to be used. This would normally be the 9ft-10ft rod rated 5-7 if you are an adult or a 8ft-9ft rod rated size 5-6 if you are a child up to 15-16. I give these sizes as a 10 ft would probably be too heavy for a younger child to master and so the 8-9 ft is more practicable. If the child is very small you can go down another size to the 8ft rod rated 4-5. (These are only a guide as it depends a lot of the style of fly fishing you intend to do)
- Adult 9-10ft 5-7#
- Teen 8-9ft 5-6#
- Child 8ft 4-5#
The fly rod is a lot softer and lighter than a traditional spinning or bait rod but it is supple and strong enough to lift about 15 meters of fly line off the water over your head and behind you then back again onto the water. This in essence is the overhead cast.
How many rod sections do you need?
Single handed fly rods come in a variety of sections. The standard now is a four piece rod which can be easily broken down and packed away to leave in the car or put on a ruck sack to hike to a lake or loch in the mountains which is becoming a very popular way to fish for trout.
There is loads of fishing hiking holidays available on the market today where you can hike your way across a mountain range fishing several lakes as you go.
Other rod types are the frequent flyer rod which comes in 5-7 pieces which can be packed down small enough to fly with. There is also the three piece and two piece with are becoming hard to find.
One thing to bear in mind is the more sections the rod has the more joints it will have which effects the action. Although modern manufacturing techniques are now able to reduce these effects they still remain. As a beginner I would opt for the least amount of sections possible however for the practicalities of travelling a 4 piece is better suited.
The fly fishing rod action – How important is that?
The rod you choose should have a full to middle action not tip or fast action. This means that the rod has a bit of give with it and is not too stiff. If it is tip action then it requires better timing from the caster to perform the cast properly and for a beginner would most likely put them off the sport before they got into it. Learning how to fly fish is mostly about the cast and keeping that aspect as simple as possible is essential until you grow your skills up to advanced level.
A good way to test a rod action is get someone to hold the rod out straight in front of them and you pull the top ring down to the floor. The more the rod bends towards the handle the softer the action. If it is only really bending at the tip then its fast action. A rod that is really stiff when you flick it is fast whereas a sally rod would be full to medium.
So in conclusion for an Adult you want
- a 9-10ft rod rated 5-7 weight.
- With 4 sections and is
- full to middle actioned.
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Need more info on fly fishing check my review on fly fishing unleashed!
Thanks for a very informative and well thought out website. As an avid fisherman I have always wanted but never had the chance to learn how to fly fish. Having moved from Florida where all my fishing was of the saltwater variety, I am now living in the mountains of Western North Carolina which is a great location to fly fish and I feel that because of your website I can now make an informed decision on the type of fly fishing gear I would need. Thank you for helping me to live life a little bit fuller.
No problem Donnie, keep coming back as we we will be adding more fly fishing content.
I never knew fishing with a fly rod was so complicated.
There is so much that goes into fishing with a fly rod. Like double hand grip and a single-hand grip. Fly fishing seems to be a very exciting sport because you have to decide how many sections you want to fit together to complete your Rod. I never knew that the weight of your rod differed with the size and age of the person using it.
I really love this article I’ve gotten a lot of good information just from reading it.
Quinn there are many aspects to the sport that is for sure, a smaller lighter rod makes it easier for a smaller person to cast the fly correctly. They will grow into bigger gear as they get older but to start with a smaller rod is preferred.
Hi Mark,
thats great and very informative post. My nephew, just 9 years old, already so pationed about fishing. Will definitely show him this article. Soon his birthday is coming, so I was thinking about giving a gift related to his big hobby. Any recommendation on single handed fly fishing rod? The size, I guess, should be 8ft…
thank you so much
8ft would be a decent fit for him, as he grows and gets stronger in the casting arm he can go for something a bit bigger.
Hi Mark!
Thanks for providing this beginners information about fly fishing. I have been bait cast fishing since I was 5 years old, but have always felt fly fishing was too difficult to learn.
The way you have broken down the details of the rods, lengths and actions makes perfect sense and now doesn’t feel so intimidating. I know many of the great places to attempt fly fishing are the most beautiful anywhere, and now I feel I have the knowledge to take a try at fly fishing and enjoy the outdoors at the same time.
Sincere thanks for your help, I look forward to learning more from you!
Kyle Ann
My husband and I wanted to go stay at this trout farm a few hours away – it looks like a lovely place to stay. I’ve never fished before so I will have to learn if we go there. How easy is it to handle a fishing fly rod? I’m not sure how long it will take me to get the hang of it!
Everyone is different but usually a few hours of practice will get you casting enough to catch some fish.
I’ve never used this kind of rod before, only the regular ones. This seems like a whole different experience from what I’m used to. And honestly, fly rods look difficult to even use. Can you catch any kind of fish with a fly rod or is there like a weight limit?
The line looks thick and stronger than what i use on my normal rod so i guess big fish would reel in just fine.
There are guys using fly fishing rods to bring in shark, tarpon, sailfish and tuna and these as you know can get pretty big, so the answer to your question is yes they can.
Hi Mark,
Very informative post about a ton of things that I never realized about fly fishing. I’ve never had the occasion to go fly fishing, but have regularly gone out with a rod and reel.
I had no clue that there was so much to fly fishing! Single or double handed- what the difference is and what they’re commonly used for, multiple sections, etc…
After checking out all of the details you’ve displayed, I’m thinking that maybe it’s time to give it a shot.
Hey Brian if you have fished its not that big a deal to move over to fly fishing. As a beginner I would recommend going for a combo setup though as it includes everything you will need to get started. No need to learn how to tie the line onto the reel or join the backing to the fly line etc, its all taken care of and means you can be casting within a few minutes.
Wow I never knew there was so much to learn about fishing, is so fascinating! it’s great that’s theres different sizes for different age groups too! This information is going to come in handy when I have a little son of my own to teach , thanks you! I’ll know which rod to pick for them!
If you think about it a larger rod is going to be difficult for a kid to use but easier for an adult so it makes sense to give a range of rods. Fly fishing with the family can be so much fun, getting them out into the outdoors away from x-boxs and into tackle boxes.
Not many chances to fly fish here on Lake Erie. Think it might work here??
Its my opinion if there is a predator fish about it can be teased into a take using the correct fly. I’m sure lake Erie is no different as there are small mouth bass, steelhead and walleye which have all been caught on fly.
I like how you teach with your posts. You do a great job of explaining it in a way that a beginner can understand. Keep up the great work and look forward to more.
Thanks for the complement I do try to keep it simple and cover the questions people would have learning how to trout fish.
Thanks for the great info Mark. Probably with my level of experience a full action would be best. My concern though is how long will I be happy with it. If I were to go for a medium would it be much harder to learn to cast and do some fly fishers stay happy with a medium or would I probably want to upgrade later?
Jim a full action rod is great for learning and for close accurate casting. Even when you become an accomplished caster you can still have a use for the rod as it comes in handy for dry fly fishing from a boat when you don’t need to make big casts. Its a miss conception that you need to cast long lines from a boat but truth be told it close action work is easier to control. A cast of 20-30 ft is ideal and easily accomplished with this rod. An other good use for the rod is roll casting on a small river when you can not perform a full overhead cast due to vegetation. A typical fly fishing angler would have a collection of rods as there isn’t really a rod to cover all situations.
Just love fly fishing, nice site you have got going here, looking forward to more posts.
Glad you like it, I am intending to get more info up soon.
Great article. my one experience of fly fishing was thrashing the water and getting my line tangled with an eel!
Keep meaning to try again sometime.
Hi Roger I feel you, I have been there, I would recommend getting a lesson from a guide. Its amazing how even one lesson can bring about a good feel factor when you can get the fly out more than 10 feet. Will save you weeks of frustration. Its all about the timing!
Not much fly fishing to be done around Los Angeles here, but I sure could go up to Northern CA and fish all I want. Is this your favorite type of fishing to do?
Hi David, yes by far it’s my favorite. You have to be on the move the whole time, keeping your eye on the water. Some other fishing types like course fishing requires sitting in the one spot for long periods of time. I do that long enough in my day job LOL!
Thanks Jane glad you found it useful. Will have more information here soon.
Very good information for beginners like me.