Tips for frugal angler,

and beginners who wish to become fully-equipped without having to pawn anything.

by Dirk Mewes.

I personally think a good way to learn fly fishing is to hire Andy as a guide on the San Juan. However, most of us don't have that kind of money as we start out in this sport. So, to get started, read this. See if you can get all the equipment you need for a high-quality fishing experience, and keep the total under $200.00! Best known value for the money.

Andy Kim researched this!

• Pflueger Summit. Less than thirty dollars last I checked. This rod is built on an IM6 graphite blank, the same blank as many top-rate graphite rods.
• Platinum II rod I bought at Walmart for $28.00. This rod is light, and has a nice action. Andy fishes this more often than anything else.
• Cabela's 3 mm neoprene waders are $59.00. They keep you warm. Don't bother with cheap waders, unless you want to be wet.
• Gary Boger boots for the waders are around $79.00. Also, old tennis shoes work. Order a replacement felt sole with studs and glue them to the bottom of your old shoes or new boots. The studs may save your life, so please do this. These are about $21.00 from Cabela's. If you don't have studs, at least carry a staff for wading. (use an old ski pole as a staff.)
• Cortland Vista fly reel are $59.00. This is a good disc drag reel. (Or any other disc drag system works best.) If you can't afford a disc drag, just get an inexpensive Pflueger click drag reel.
• I prefer a small canvas creel to a vest. If you must have a vest, shop around, and get one with lots of pockets and a place in back to stow a raincoat.
• Fishing line. Any cheap fly line is okay for nymphing. For delicate spring creek presentations, it really helps to have a Scientific Anglers Ultra 3 line. If you buy a double taper line, you can turn it around when one side is worn, and get twice the life.
• Fly box. Buy a cheap plastic clear tool box. I cut up some magnet cloth (found in the paint area in some hardware stores, or self-adhesive magnet strips at a craft store. Cut up little pieces to fit in each compartment of your fly box, and tape it with double-stick tape. With the magnets, flies will stay in the box on windy days.
• Use inexpensive petroleum jelly such as Vaseline instead of typical floatant greases sold in fly shops.
• Buy a rifle case from Walmart instead of a rod case. You can store multiple rods in it, and even leave them set up for fishing. They cost about thirty dollars.
• Walmart has wood nets for less than ten dollars.
• Read books to learn some techniques and philosophies of fly fishing. Don't forget the public library. I recently checked out a great book on aquatic entomology (the study of the trout's food.)
• Use small nail clippers for cutting tippet material. Two dollars. Try clipping them to a shirt pocket button hole with a key ring. I find that works much better than an expensive retractor spring doohicky.
• Use two inches of vaseline-soaked yarn as a strike indicator. Tie it to your line using a slip-knot
• Wear a baseball cap or long-brim hat to cover your eyes and face with direct sunlight.
• I always wear 30 SPF sunblock in the Rockies, and still get a tan. Use at least 15 up here. The sun reflects more off the water too.
• Here is what I have in my chest pack for fishing:
  • Flies
  • Four spools of tippet materials (4x 5x 6x and 7x.)
  • Assorted split shot for nymphing.
  • An extra 7 1/2 5x leader
  • Vaseleine for dry flies and strike indicator.
  • Polypropeline yarn for strike indicator (50% black 50%white mix)
  • Nail clippers.
  • Magnet patch for drying flies.
  • You don't really need anything else, but I like to carry hemostats.
• Here is other essential stuff I carry for myself:
  • Water bottle
  • Sunblock
  • Snack food
  • Rain coat
• Optional vest stuffers and junk:
  • Camera for bragging proof
  • Measuring tape (same reason)
  • Extra roll of film, just in case I'm taking photos of Andy with large fish.
  • Discarded fishing line, flies, and garbage that I find on the river, in the trees, and stuck to fish.
  • Something I can never find.
  • There's too much junk in this old vest.
• Polarized sunglasses allow you to see the fish by cutting out reflected glare. They also help you see the bottom as you wade. (When unpolarized sunlight reflects off of water, the reflected light is completely polarized, partially polarized, or unpolarized depending on the angle of the rays. The glasses filter out the horizontally polarized rays with vertically-oriented transmission axes. The light from the fish reaches the eyes, but the glare does not.)
• My best tip: Find somebody like Andy to teach you how to fish. Since it took me over ten years of fumbling with fly fishing before I found him, I suggest you just bite the bullet and hire him. This is the single best investment you can make to improve your fly fishing. A good instructor like Andy can teach you much more in a much shorter time than learning yourself.

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