Choosing Your First Rod and Line
Nearly every beginner asks the same question: can I buy one rod and one line and fish everywhere? You can fish most places with one, and you cannot fish everywhere. The honest answer is a floating line on a rod that suits the water you will fish most, and a good deal less money than the shop window suggests.
When You Are Choosing
Read this before you buy, and again before you buy a second rod. It matters most for a first outfit, for a new venue type, such as a first reservoir or a first small stream, and when a rod that served you well on one water feels wrong on another. It applies to the fly rod for trout and grayling in rivers and on stillwaters. Salmon, sea trout and pike each need something heavier: see the guides to those.
What to Buy
A first outfit is five things: a rod, a reel, a fly line, backing and a leader. The rod is 9 feet, in a line weight of 5 or 6, with a medium (mid-flex) action, which many instructors advise as forgiving and easy to learn on. The reel is a plain, light one with a smooth drag, and its job is to hold the line. The line is a weight-forward floating line to match the rod, and the backing is enough to fill the reel. The leader is a 9 foot tapered one, to start. Add polarised glasses, a landing net and a pair of nippers. Good rods are made at modest prices by several makers, Shakespeare among them. A complete starter outfit from an entry-level range is fine to begin on, and so is a good second-hand rod.
How to Choose
Start with the water you will fish most. A small stream or brook wants a short, light rod. A river wants a 9 foot rod of 4 or 5 weight. A small stillwater or a commercial fishery wants a 9 to 10 foot rod of 6 or 7 weight. A big reservoir in the wind wants 7 or 8 weight. Match the rod to where you will be on most days, not the rarest trip.
Choose one line weight. The number on the rod, such as #5, is the line weight it is built to cast, and the line should match it. A 5 weight rod takes a 5 weight line. If you buy only one outfit and fish rivers and small stillwaters, a 9 foot rod for a 5 or 6 weight line is the best compromise: light enough for a river and strong enough for a stillwater breeze.
Start with a floating line. A floating line is the easiest to cast, the easiest to pick up off the water, and the most flexible: it fishes dry flies, nymphs near the surface and small wets, and it lets you see what the fly is doing. Most trout fishing starts here. A weight-forward taper is the standard choice, and it casts a line a long way with less effort.
Buy a suitable rod, not an expensive one. A well-matched, inexpensive rod that you can cast is worth more than a costly one that is wrong for the water: too stiff and fast for a beginner, too heavy for a small river, or the wrong weight for the line. Dearer rods are lighter and finer to cast, and you will not feel that difference until your casting is good. Spend what is left on a lesson.
Have a lesson. A day with a qualified casting instructor, such as one accredited by the Game Angling Instructors Association, does more for your fishing than a better rod. Learn to cast on grass before you go to the water.
Add other lines when the water asks. When you fish a deep reservoir, or want the fly down in a river, buy an intermediate or a sinking line, or a spare spool for the same reel: see Sinking & Intermediate Lines. Build leaders to suit the fly: see Leader Formulas.
| Water | Rod length | Line weight | Line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small stream or brook | 7 ft 6 in to 8 ft 6 in | 3 or 4 | Floating |
| River (chalk stream, spate river) | 9 ft | 4 or 5 | Floating |
| One rod for rivers and small stillwaters | 9 ft | 5 or 6 | Floating |
| Small stillwater or commercial fishery | 9 ft to 10 ft | 6 or 7 | Floating, then intermediate |
| Big reservoir or lough, in the wind | 9 ft 6 in to 10 ft | 7 or 8 | Floating, intermediate, then sinking |
| Pike | 9 ft to 10 ft | 9 or 10 | Intermediate or sinking |
| Item | What to get |
|---|---|
| Rod | 9 ft, medium (mid-flex) action |
| Line | Weight-forward floating, matched to the rod |
| Reel | Plain and light, with a smooth drag |
| Backing | Enough to fill the reel |
| Leader | 9 ft tapered, to start |
| Also | Polarised glasses, net, nippers, and a casting lesson |
Where People Go Wrong
Season, Fish and Water
Through the year
Winter fishing for grayling and for pike asks for different tackle: a heavier line and rod for pike, a light rod and a long leader for grayling. For the trout season, a 9 foot 5 or 6 weight and a floating line covers April to September on most rivers and small stillwaters. Add a sinking line or a spare spool in the cold, deep part of the year, when the fish are deeper.
By species
For brown trout and grayling in rivers, a 9 foot rod of 4 or 5 weight is the classic. For rainbow trout in a stillwater, 6 or 7. A 9 or 10 weight is the rod for pike, and a double-handed rod for salmon: these are second rods, not first rods. Small streams and wild trout are a pleasure on a short, light rod of 3 or 4 weight.
By water
A 9 foot, 5 or 6 weight rod suits chalk streams and spate rivers in England, Wales and Scotland, and most small stillwaters. Big reservoirs and Irish loughs reward 7 weight and a longer rod in the wind. Some waters set rules on tackle, such as barbless hooks, so check before you buy flies. See Building a Balanced Fly-Fishing Leader for the leader that goes with the line, and Winter Pike on the Fly for the heavier outfit that pike need. See Basic Fly Casting for how to learn the overhead cast.
Practise with Fly Cast
Fly Cast turns your phone into the rod and scores the movement of your cast, phase by phase: the lift, the pause and the stop. You can practise anywhere, with no water and no line. It cannot see your rod, line or fly, so use it as a warm-up for a lesson and not a replacement for one.
The directory lists certified instructors in the UK, Ireland, the USA and Canada. The overhead cast is free in the app; the other casts need Fly Cast Pro.
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