I enjoy learning new ways of fishing and I am giving it some thought on learning to use a fly rod ,(maybe for panfish).
My question is.. what is a good starter rod and wt line??
I dont want a cheap one though,but,not an expensive one either!!
Thanks advance
Jeff
I have had great success with a 5-6 wt rod.
I started out with an 8 weight…level line…which helped me learn how to cast…in my back yard when I was around 12 years old…Dad didn’t know about the tapered lines or even to match the line to the rod…so I had some prolems.
I think as the above poster indicated, that a 6 weight rod with a weight forward matching line would be a good starter. I had fiberglass fly rods…graphite is the only way to go…but to keep the price down glass is less expensive. I don’t know how many people over the years have watch Dad and I catch gills and crappies while the bobber fisherman are struggling…go out and buy a fly rod..can’t get the hang of it and it just ends up in the attic.
The problem is..if you go too inexpensive, I don’t believe a person feels how fun it is.
For panfish I would get the least expenive reel I could find as it sole purpose will be to store the line…although if you get into a bass or pike…or carp for that matter a good drag and a palming ring will save the day.
I own one of Fenwicks ill fated Boron X 6 weights with a Scientific Angler reel, I think the line is SA’s Ultra in a double taper.
It’s a blast for panfish, trout, bass and pike…and even a 22 lbs carp that took me 25 minutes to land. I was laughing so hard that I had tears down both cheeks!
If there’s little wind (that never happens in a MN spring) I like my 4 weight. I bought it for trout…but I’ve used it more for panfish again, when there isn’t any wind.
Dad left me a 4 weight St Croix… I need to try that out one of these days soon.
Get yourself a good pair of waders as panfishing with a fly rod out of a boat is a pain in the butt…for me anyway.
The old man was so deadly with a flyrod on panfish…I heard gills 80 miles away rejoyce when they heard he passed away.
The best advice I can give you Trumar is to ask questions here, like you are…then find a fly fishing shop in your area, where someone actually fly fishes. I don’t know how many sales people I’ve heard trying to sell customers equipment that aren’t matched to what they are fishing for.
Rootski and D.A. in the MN Trout forum are good resorces too.
Good luck…it’s the most fun you can have standing up! 
I haven’t fly fished for about 30 yrs but am getting back at it again. I picked up a Scott E2, 2 pc 5 wt rod a while back with the intention of using it for panfishing. Brian is correct saying that “graphite is the only way to go”. I’m using weight forward line and an 8ft leader. I was on Lake Zumbro this afternoon and picked up 10-15 nice sunnies using Bead Head & Prince nymphs. The wind was kind of gusty at times which made the casting a bit difficult but it was as much fun as I remember!
I should have added that my learnings came from the SOHK’s..
bigdawg? Do you think a weight forward is better for the beginner than a double taper?
Maybe so, since the WF will help get the line out into the lake further.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
