Z
Zarick
I am on the SE side near Gresham in Portland.
My preference would be to stay away from resin reels. Cheap reels never seem to be worth it.
Also the reason I say 5wt is because I want to feel the fish. My worry with a 6 is that you get one of those farm trout on it and hardly be able to tell.
But I am not opposed to considering a 6wt.
Have you guys seen those Wright & McGill s curve fly rods at Dicks? are they any good?
Also.. where do I find Echos as I have not seen them.
I played around at the Orvis shop for a while. I felt like I was getting poorer just picking rods up.
Feeling the fish won't be a problem. you want to get a tool that will cover a wide range of methods for your first rod (you can and will specialize later). Casting a deer hair popper for bass on a 5 wt is tough. Keep in mind it isn't just about the size of the fish, but the type of rig you are casting. a 2 fly rig with split shot and an indicator (standard on the deschutes) casts better with a 6 wt than a 5. there really is no easy solution. I started with a 5 living in MT (only trout basically) but here in OR I would go bigger. a 7 lets a guy chase steelhead, carp, coho, bass, and just about anything else that swims out here...but would be a little bigger than you want for small streams etc. i guess you just need to figure out what you are going to spend the most time doing and match accordingly. tough one!
Listen to spidy though...go to a fly shop (river city is a good one). try a bunch of rods. don't buy without casting.
Usually for spinning rods the retrieve is on the left you are right handed. Is that not the same for fly?