Fly fishing for beginners - how to get started (2024)

Flyfishing is an exiting and giving hobby.

We want to give you best possible start, to your lifetime of adventures with a fly rod.

In Nordic Anglers we are avid flyfishers ourselves, and we gladly share our experiences and entuatiasm, for this exiting way of fishing.

Remember, flyfishing does not have to be hard - it´s all about getting started in the right way.

What you need in order to get started is:

1. A fly rod
2. A fly reel
3. A fly line
4. Backing to your fly reel
5. Tippets and leaders

There´s a lot of great fly fishing combos for beginners, such as theese combos:

• "The ultimate set for beginners"
• "The beginners set for foambeetle and light fly fishing"

Those are sets that we have put together ourselves, using our experience and knowledge of what works well, under certain circ*mstances - We belive we have made the best fly fishing combos for beginners.

We have gathered everything you could ever need for fly fishing, here in our shop.

When looking for your first fly fishing combo, it is important to pick the right items.

Especially two pieces of your equipment, will be essential in your beginners fly fishing gear, and that is your rod and your fly line.

You can find very cheap fly rods, the truth however, is that those very often also are very bad.

There is nothing that will give you as bad a start to flyfishing, as a bad fly line.

If you really want to give it a go, you want to find a line that matches your rod.

We know how to match them, and we gladly respond to an email or a phone call - Find our contact information here

These are the steps to get started with fly fishing:

1. Get familiar with the different lingo, used to describe fly lines, rods and reels.
2. Determine what species you will me targeting the most - this is crucial for picking the right fly fishing equipment
3. Get the right fly rod, reel and flyline(s) - as well as leaders and tippets
4. Practice your casting, and learn the roll cast and the double haul - having solid fundementals, will save you from many frustrations and help you catch more fish
5. Get some flies - a few patterns you trust, is better than having a box full of unused flies
6. Get familiar with the rapala knot and the perfection loop
7. Learn about catch and release

Remember: you do not have to be an expert to catch fish

Many different species are quite easy to catch, also on a fly rod.

Fishing in a pond,stream or small lake, will give you experince with catching and handling fish, right away.

Even though you do not plan on catching roach or small brown trout, for the rest of your life, there´s a lot of good experiences to be made.

It is important to note, that fishing for roach and other small fish, might be the best way of getting better.

You will quite easely get succes in your fishing, but also be "forced", to make a roll cast or double haul, in order to reach a certain spot in the lake or river.

It is way easier to het "hooked", when you actually belive that you will have succes down the line.

Your end goal might be to catch an atlantic salmon on a bomber fly, but that is a tough place to start.

Getting familiar with how to set the hook, how to fish and how to move, allows for you to be more effective.

Succes will come easy, if you allow it.

There is a huge sense of victory, to doing a first of anything, within fishing.

Our best tip reflects that, get out there, and take your pratice with you.

Many fish, such as roach, bass, northern pike and trout, are actually quite easy to catch - you really do not have to be an expert caster, before you can have succes with fly fishing.

There´s a few terms, that you will hear several times when diving into the universe of flyfishing.

Rememeber, this is a guide for people new to fly fishing, a lot of rods, fly lines etc. can be used for several things - this is merely ment as examples.

Lets start with fly lines, as it normally is the most important piece of equiment, besides your rod.

WF fly line

WF means weight forward, this type of line is the most commonly used for most fly fishing and a great choice for beginner.

The weight you use for casting the line, is a the front of the 7-11 meters of the line. This is a complete line, that goes from the head to an shooting line, all in one.

Shooting line

A shooting line or running line, is the part after the "weight". This is used for controlling the line and/or letting it fly as much as possible.

A monofiliment shooting line casts further than a coated line. However the coated version provides a better control of the line.

Shooting head

A shooting head is basically the weighted part of a line, that you use for casting your fly.

Shooting heads are mostly used for spey fishing and longer casts.

Skagit lines

A skagit line is a type of shooting head. This head is shorter than a spey line, and is used for salmon fishing, often with sinking tips. THis allows the fly fisher to "turn over" big flies, quite easely.

Spey lines

Is a longer form of shooting head, used a lot for atlantic salmon. This type of shooting heads allow for long and precise casts.

Line weight on your rod

The line weight on your rod, is extremely important. This tells you what weight the fly rod performs best with, and what types of flies you can cast, as well as what kind of fish you can handle.

Remember that most rods can handle a lot, so one line weight doesn´t exclude you from trying out new forms of fishing, yet some weight might work better for that situation.

#4 is primarely used for nymph fishing

#5 is primarely used for dry fly fishing and smaller lakes and ponds - a great allround choice

#6 is a good all round pick. It is used for streamer fishing and sinking lines in smaller streams. Also a good choice for light saltwater fishing

When you go up a line weight, the lines get heavier, and you can cast bigger flies and handle sinking lines with more ease. Go down, and you get the opposit effect, but more feel and presentation.

Our founder, Daniel, made a large shootout video, testing #5 fly rods.

This is a good place to begin, when you are looking for your first fly rod.

A 5 weight an excellent coice for the beginner, as it has decent power and decent presentation. This weight is probably the most used for allround trout fishing, and pond fishing.

We have made several fly fishing videos beginners.

Find them all on our youtube channel.

Being a beginner in fly fishing, might have yourself wondering: why do I do this?

The answer is simple: because it is amazing!

Having the line in your hand, gives you a very direct line to the fish - litterally.

You feel every bump and nibble, and the fight gets very different from what you know from spin fishing.

You get an amazing bonus hobby in fly tying, that allows for a lot of experimentation.

No, not at all, you can catch fish right away.

You will quickly realize that catching fish on a fly, is way easier than you might have thought.

The tricky part is the fly casting, this will only get easier with experience.

That´s why pratice is important, it simply affects the amount of enjoyment you get out of your time on the water.

Having the right fly fishing gear for beginners will get you a long way.