Mr. Castwell has a great column this week on ones the first flyrod. I can relate. My first flyrod was a Wright McGill “Trailmaster pack rod” The reel a Pflueger 1494. I had the good sense to invest in Air Cell WF line. I gave the rod to #2 son who backpacks in Oregon about 15 years ago, he still uses it. I still have the reel and works as good as the day I bought it over 35 years ago. Yes Jim, I broke my 2nd rod, thats another story. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST ROD/REEL?
I learn more about the world while talking to myself when fishing alone
Still have my first rod, which is a phleugar 8 foot three peice 5/6 weight. My first reel was a Phluegar 1494. Right after i got it, the drag broke, so now I have a cabelas prestige disc drag. It was only 30 buck marked down from 50, but I really like it. THe drag is very smooth and it is an atractive reel
In Portland, Oregon where I grew up, there was a Monkie Wards, huge store, 8 stories high, the 5th floor was all sporting goods on one side, paint and tools on the other. I loved that store! It was paradise for a 10 year old boy.
I watched Gaddabout Gaddis Fly Fishing and I just had to do it! Begged my parents for months for a Fly Rod and Reel.
Finally got a brand new Roddy Fly Rod and Automatic Fly Reel. I learned how to cast it well enough to catch me some Bluegill. I was pobably about 11 or 12 at the time.
PanFisher, that is good story. My new son-in-law came to meet me at our cabin at Sisters Oregon several years ago. I had never met him (this was courtship years with our daughter) and I told him to bring a fly rod if he had one. He showed up, we met and of course he was very fine fellow. He pulled out an old glass rod with an old Pflueger auto reel on it. He said it was hid dads and was given to him a couple of years ago. It would no retreive line, so I took it apart, cleaned out the old gunk grease, re-lubed it and said it was ready to go. I imagine he was one of the only fellows fly fishing on the Metolius that day with a auto wind reel. He caught fish. Ignorance is bliss. Jonezee
I learn more about the world while talking to myself when fishing alone
My first fly rod was a Japanese cane. I could be wrong, but as I remember it, it was $3.00 new.
The reel was a Japanese pflueger knock-off that I still have. I still have most of the pieces to the rod too
My first decent rod was a Lamiglass 7 1/2’ 4wt.
that my dad built for me close to 35 years ago.
fishing will do a lot for a man, but it won’t make him truthful
Shakespeare Wonder rod and Japanese copy of a Pfluger mMedalist reel. That was 35 yrs ago. Took them out last summer and had a blast. That Wonder rod can be a real noodle!
An Eagle Claw-8 1/2 foot “Champion” for line 7. I still have the rod and it hangs on the wall of my studio. The reel was a Shakespere automatic. It was terrible. I soon purchased South Bend single action, which again, I still have.
A Cortland combo bought early 1980’s. Consisted of a Cortland Crown II 7.5’ 5/6 weight 2 piece rod, Cortland Rimfly reel, and 333 DT 6wt line. I recall paying less than $40 for it. Still have it and fish it regularly.
I was also inspired by Gadabout Gaddis, American Sportsman, etc., at a young age and wanted to try fly fishing. Unfortunately living in Brooklyn, it was hard to come by any fly tackle. When I was about 13 or 14 I managed to find a tackle shop on the outskirts of my neighborhood that actually had a fly rod. It was a 6 1/2’ Roddy fiberglass rod. I bought the rod along with a Daiwa reel. Selecting a fly line was easy since my local shop had only a single line. It was level “C” line and that’s what I bought. I never really was able to learn to cast this outfit, due to the mismatched line and no place to really practice casting, so it just sat in the back of my closet.
When I was in my early twenties, I decided to get into fly fishing for real. I grew up reading and admiring the stuff in the Orvis catalogs even though I couldn’t afford to buy any of it. I decided to buy an Orvis fiberglass rod knowing that the quality would be there and that the $75 price was within my budget. I wanted to get a taste of quality for a change. I ordered the rod and matching line. I knew enough to know that the reel didn’t really matter and chose to use my old Daiwa reel.
When that Fullflex A 7-weight arrived I was ecstatic. I just couldn’t stop admiring it. No gaudy wraps covering silver foil, just simple understated beauty.
I bought a few flies and headed for a river that I’d read about which was about an hour away from my home. In spite of my limited casting skills, on that trip I managed to hook a trout an a dry fly. The whole world changed after that. As I browsed through my 27 years worth of fishing logs last night, I realized that that was my most memorable fishing trip ever.
I used that Fullflex A constantly for my first two seasons of fly fishing before I moved on to other rods. I still have it and still use it a couple of times a season. I know that I was more proud of that rod than of any others I have ever owned.
[This message has been edited by gadabout (edited 01 March 2006).]
I got my first rod when I was about 12. It was a Master 8’ 6wt. fiberglass rod with a
click and Pawl no name reel and WF line. I could cast it pretty well for my age and immediately caught lots of Bluegill and Redear with it. Not being to sentimental about things like that I sold it a couple of eyars ago to someone on this board. Don’t even remember for sure who. I havn’t missed it and probably won’t.
These are the idle thoughts that posses a man’s mind when he’s not able to fish.
My first rod was a Pfluger Medalist 8’ 6wt with a Diawa reel. I think I bought it through Gander Mountain mail order. It was a nice rod and I still have it. My son’s first rod was a Scott Alpha 7’6" 4wt with an Orvis rocky mountain reel. That is a sweet rod. I wanted him to have something nice to start out with and thats a great rod. He was 8 when I gave it to him.
I am fairly new to FlyFishing (started back in 2002) so my first rod won’t be anything ‘ancient’.
My first Fly Fishing trip back then was to Bozeman to fish the ‘big western rivers’ in Montana, so I bought a travel rod. It was the only one I had found, in my LL Bean Fly Fishing catalog, making my first rod an LL Bean Travel Series 9’ 6-piece 6wt rod combo with an LLBean Meridan reel.
Both have served me well over the years, although I’ve found I prefer the action of a 5 Wt a little better on the waters I fish more regularly, so I dont fish that travel rod as much as I used to.
Its small size is great though, and I take it with me on every trip!
I only began two years ago this January past. My first outfit was one of those awful Walmart cheapo outfits. After a few casts I put it up, eventually sold it. I should have thrown it away. I bought an Okuma Sierra reel (wise decision). THen I got a Mitchell rod from ebay. The improvement amazed me. I could cast! The Mitchell is an oddball I guess. They do not make much for the USA market. It is also made in China. I guess I lucked out and got one from a good lot. THe rod is beautiful and cast fine, not as well as my Fly Logic or St Croix of the same wt., but just fine for a $30.00 rod. I hope all beginners stay away from those ghastly big box store prepackaged fly sets. I think I will keep the Mitchell rod forever. It represents a change for the better in my life.
I began flyfishing about three years ago. My wife bought me a Redington Red Fly combo, 9’ 6 weight for our anniversary. I still use that rod when I go farm pond fishing for largemouth bass.
I am afraid this will date me but a $9
Herters 5wt fiberglass. I have many fond memories of that rod and it was responsable for my first brook trout on a fly
I was going on fourteen and Eisenhower was still just a General the year my dad installed indoor plumbing in our house.
When he offered to pay me ten dollars if I’d dig the hole for the septic tank, I jumped at the opportunity. For a kid to whom a quarter was a windfall, ten dollars was unimaginable wealth!
I was a scrawny kid and it took some doing, but I finally got that hole dug, and when we made our monthly trip to town the following Saturday I had a crisp ten dollar bill in my pocket.
I made a bee line to the Montgomery Wards store, and When I left I was the proud owner of a 3 piece nine ft. cane fly rod, a size D level line, two leaders and a shiny little nickel plated fly reel. If memory serves me, I even had enough left for a comic book.
I caught an awful lot of fish with that outfit. The rod has been gone for years, but I still have that reel.
Dick
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Time spent FLY fishing is not deducted from one’s life
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You learn something new every single day of your life. If you don’t, you weren’t paying attention.
From the looks of things, Montgomery Ward was the first stop for many on the road to fly fishing. I suppose the box stores of today are the replacement? 40 years from now it may be “The old Cabela’s was where I got my first Sage combo, too bad they folded up in the 30’s.”
