BEGINNER FLY FISHING GEAR CHECKLIST Fly fishing can be a great way to decompress outdoors during the holiday season. If you aren't sure about the fly fishing gear you need to get started, just use this beginner fly fishing gear checklist as a resource.
1. FLY ROD Aside from your fishing license, a fly rod should be the first item on your beginner fly fishing gear list. While there are different weights of fly rods you can use depending on the fish species you plan to target, two of the most versatile fly rod weights are a 6-weight fly rod or a 7-weight fly rod.
2. FLY REEL Your fly reel should be paired with your fly rod based on the weight. In other words, if you have a 7-weight fly rod, you would get a 7-weight fly reel to use with your rod.
3. FLY LINE BACKING Be sure to add about 100-yards of Dacron fly line backing to your reel arbor before adding fly line to your reel. Backing serves two primary purposes. First, it serves as "back-up" to your fly line if a fish takes a long run. Second, the backing prevents your fly line from becoming wrapped too tightly around the arbor, which can create memory coils or kinks.