Castwell’s column advising the Alaskan gentleman on purchasing a new rod gave me the courage to put this up here. I normally would not post the same thing that I had posted somewhere else. The other site is a local general fishing site while FAOL is a national site specialized in fly fishing. I am making an exception because I want to see what the reaction would be here.
Though your Snoopy spincasting combo is not in the same league as a Stella/Loomis, it has its place in the development of a young fisherman. Similarly, I think there needs to be an equivalent fly combo. Till recently I thought the $40 Pfluerger combo available in the catalogs was all that was left in that category. Therefore it was a pleasant surprise to find a $20 fly combo (rod, reel, line, leader) at a Walmart in Bloomington, IL.
Though I realize that the price offends some, I will repeat that fly fishing needs outfits like this. Like rental skis that will never make it to the olympics, these are the outfits that get the beginner begun. They will take the beating that a beginner dishes out. If they break, the whole outfit can be replaced for less than the Loomis service and shipping charge. They will serve as the grasshopper learns the basics of casting and catching. Since it will be a year or two before the beginner misses the subtltities in action and design that increase the cost 2500%, why risk the premium priced gear right from the start?
If you need another comparison, consider. How many people give their daughters or sons a Corvette as soon as they get their driver’s licenses?
In case you were wondering how Castwell inspired me, he did it this way. His whole line of thought showed that there are other ways of thinking about the purchase of a fly rod besides the standard. The Standard tells you to buy the best. You get what you pay for. Users testify that they never regreted spending the extra bucks. Etc., etc., etc. …
Bear 742;
I hope we hear more on this. What a great find! I think I want one to just have in case some youngster wants to learn. Heck, I may even fish it first!!
I think I put four of those $20 fly rod kits together yesterday at a fly fishing show in Texas. All four of the kits were brought in by Boy Scouts that were trying to earn the Fly Fishing merit badge. Those boys spent all day at the fishing pond and they caught fish with those rods. The rods may have been inexpensive, but they were surviving some rough treatment from a couple of those boys.
Bear, I agree with you. There is a place for these low cost kits and I think you said best, they “get the beginner begun”. These boys were not from families that fished (their parents were with them). So, if these inexpensive kits had not been available, I doubt if they would have ever had the opportunity to try fly fishing. Who knows, maybe one of them will turn out to be the next generation’s Lefty Kreh? A low cost kit (and the Boy Scouts) gave them a chance to at least try fly fishing.
Those kits are how many of my friends started out. And then I had them cast my Forecast rod and got them started on the next slippery slope of rodbuilding…
One of my patients wanted me to teach him about flyfishing, and he bought one of these outfits. The price was the same, and I believe it was a Shakespeare combo. The line that came with it was a level line, which I replaced with an old WF line I had. The rod surprised me. Although a little heavy, it actually cast pretty well, at least much better than what I expected.
the cheap set are great, low cost to try to see if you even like the out doors. Ensead of spending a lot on something that sell for cheap at a yard sale. Boy I love those Yard Sales.
Ghost.
I am still learning this wonderful sport of fly fishing, but I couldn?t agree with you more. My best day steelhead fishing was a few years ago with exactly that Wal-Mart $20.00 Shakespeare 5/6wt combo. A friend gave it to me because it was collecting dust in his garage. That?s what I began this journey using, and even though I have upgraded a little bit to a Gander Mountain 6wt and a Cabela?s 3wt (I did say a little bit), that rod/reel got me started. I bought one for the kids the next year. I caught my finest smallmouth on that rod. I was using it because it is a 3 pc that packs nicely in the trunk. I would occasionally hit my favorite local river during lunch time.
They should have a bunch of those combos at all the fly fishing shows and when a kid comes with his or her parents raffle or give ?em away. Around here that combo is fine for hitting the local ponds for bass and blue gill. If I had any complaint it would be that they are bit heavy and the grip is a little fat for smaller hands, but hey most kids are going to take a break to chase frogs, turn over rocks or play in the mud anyways.