re: Getting into Fly Fishing...

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I grew up fly fishing Bham. They recommended a 10ft 8wt? I cant name a single fish in Alabama... salt or fresh, that you need a 10ft 8wt except maybe a tarpon. 10ft pretty much limits you to big open water via boat/yak/canoe. I caught several 10lb bass on a 5wt without a problem.

I would recommend your first setup being a 5-6wt 7-9ft long. For lakes and ponds, be sure to use poppers. For creeks and rivers, use floating and sinking flies. My favorite places were bass and panfish in Black Warrior and Turkey Creek. I never liked Cahaba or anything south of Bham. Guntersville is my fav big body.

Whatever you do, plan on flyfishing the mayfly hatch early summer. It is still the greatest fishing I have ever experienced and it THE fly fishing event of Alabama.

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Great info, thanks!

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Mine is a 4 or 5 weight and it's a pretty good fight with a bass

I usually use it for bream though with the poppers I use

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Thanks, but off thread topic I see you're in Daphne. I'll be down in Fairhope this weekend and I wanted to go shoot at Oak Hollow. How is the place? Good time?

I guess one main thing to consider in selecting a rod is what type of flies you will be using. There are probably more flies that you will be fine with using a lighter rod. The only flies that you would need a 7 or 8 wt rod with are deer hair poppers. They are very big and wind resistant.

Any type of wooly buggers, streamers, small poppers, etc you would be fine with a 5 or 6.

I will warn you, you will most likely end up with several rods if you enjoy it. I currently have around 18, I believe. One for most scenario. I only have one that is longer than 9 ft and its a two handed rod.

Styx River (sp) at Wilcox exit has a decent range and skeet shooting. Call them first to verify they still do skeet shooting. It's North of Loxley

Pheasant hunting? No clue

I picked it up when I moved to Georgia. Very different than fly fishing for reds back home in Nola. It was a lot easier catching reds on a fly rod.

Self teaching is one way, I found for me personally taking lessons from a certified IFF instructor paid off in a big way. No matter what you do, practice practice practice. Fly fishing more than any other style of fishing is muscle memory specific.

Here in Central Florida I used Capt Jon Cave

LINK

Also, consider joining a local club if you have one. The Atlanta club offers casting lessons before meetings, and you can easily find someone who will take you out and spend a few hours helping.

Orvis, FWIW, will help you in the parking lot if they're not busy. Their fly fishing managers are usually pretty excited to help, especially in markets where there probably isn't a ton of fly fishing stimulation.

I would get a 5/6 weight. Also, make some trips over to Atlanta and fish the cold water of the Hooch. There are several outfits this way who will guide and provide instruction for pretty reasonable costs. Check out deal websites too, as I've seen a number of half price fly trips come up on GroupOn and the like.

As for what makes it better, I don't really know. It is more difficult, but also more rewarding, IMO. The fly fishing community is also somewhat different from the southern bass fishing community, so it may or may not fit you better. It does for me, but I don't want to sound like I'm disparaging bait fishermen.

It's a rich mans sport for sure.

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Yeah.. not looking to drop a grand before I even buy any equipment

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The Bass Pro Shop in Bham has free casting lessons every other Saturday morning and also free flying tying lessons each Monday in the store at 6pm.

Ok, they're running specials..75 for a 4 hour class, or $220 for the class and gear which is:

(includes your very own New Redington Topo 4-piece fly rod with rod/reel case, Redington Crosswater fly reel, spooled with Redington Mainstream line, backing and leader, a 5x tippet spool, lanyard with nipper and a fly box with 5 popular trout flies (includes rental equipment for the class).

So you get the class and basic gear. Any idea how much that would be to buy new and if it's decent equipment?