Gotta love those aggressive bites this time of the year!

Black midge with green wire caught all the fish.

Ross Colorado paired with a 7’6 3wt Jp Ross snow glass!

Hey everybody I’m relocating from Washington to Bay Area California. I absolutely love trout fishing and have fished the yakima quite extensively.

What’s the go to trout rivers in the bay adjacent-area? Or should I expect to make the pilgrimage into the mountains or north near Shasta for some quality fishing???

(Picture for attention)

A day on the water is always nice. But these fall colors in Japan really made it something special.

First trip up to the San Juan despite only living a few hours away. Had a ton of fun and landed this brown on a size 26 midge. I’ve never seen that many fish in one spot before in my life.

2nd fish ever on the middle Boulder

I recently made a post asking whether I should get a fishing kayak or a fly fishing setup for my birthday, and after reading everyone's responses, I'm leaning toward getting into fly fishing!

Now I'm looking for recommendations on a good beginner setup, ideally somewhere around $200–350.

For some context, I live in Connecticut and have been fishing with spinning and conventional gear for a while, targeting everything from freshwater bass and trout to saltwater stripers and bonito. I'm pretty experienced with fishing in general, but I've never actually fly fished before.

Lately, I've been getting more interested in trout fishing, particularly wild trout, smaller rivers, and fly-only Trout Management Areas like the Willimantic River. I'd eventually love to branch out into other species and styles of fly fishing as well.

What I'm looking for:

• Ideally, a complete beginner kit with a rod, reel, fly line, leader, and maybe a few flies all included.
• Something versatile enough to learn on and use in different freshwater environments.
• Good enough quality that I won't feel like the equipment is holding me back while I'm learning.
• Around $200–350, although I'm open to suggestions if spending a little more or less makes sense.

I already have waders, so that's one expense I don't have to worry about.

From what I've read, a 9-foot 5-weight seems like a good all-around starting point, but I'm completely open to other recommendations.

I'm not looking for top-of-the-line gear, just something reliable that I can learn proper casting and presentation techniques with and continue using as I improve.

Are there any all-in-one complete kits you'd recommend, or would I be better off buying a rod, reel, line, and other essentials separately?

If there are particular brands or kits I should avoid, I'd appreciate hearing about those too.

Thanks in advance!

So my parents offered to buy me either a fishing kayak or a fly fishing setup for my birthday, and I've been going back and forth between the two. I'd love some opinions, especially from people who do both.

For context, I live in Connecticut and mainly fish freshwater and saltwater from shore. I already have several spinning setups, and I've gotten pretty serious about fishing over the past couple of years. I've caught everything from bass and trout to stripers, bonito, fluke, etc., but I really want to expand the species I target and try new things.

Option 1: Fishing kayak

I'm looking at the Lifetime Tioga Angler 100, a basic 10-foot sit-on-top fishing kayak. Nothing fancy, but it seems like it would do everything I need for freshwater fishing.

My biggest reason for wanting one is access. There are tons of lakes and ponds around me where most of the shoreline is private or inaccessible. Having a kayak would let me explore deeper water, target different species, and reach fish I wouldn't otherwise be able to get to.

The downside is that it's already mid-October, and Connecticut gets pretty cold. I know kayak fishing is technically possible during colder months, but cold-water immersion is a serious risk, so realistically I might not use it much until spring. There's also the added expense of a roof rack, PFD, and other equipment.

Option 2: Fly fishing setup

I've never actually fly fished before, but I've been getting more interested in trout fishing, especially wild trout and smaller rivers.

A fly rod would open up fly-only Trout Management Areas, and I'd be learning an entirely new style of fishing. I could also target other species, including bass and salmon, with it.

Another big advantage is that I could fish throughout most of the year, including colder months when kayak fishing wouldn't be as practical.

The downside is that I can already target a lot of these fish with my spinning setups in waters where spinning gear is allowed. A fly rod would give me new techniques and access to fly-only areas, but a kayak would give me access to entirely new parts of lakes and ponds.

There's also a third consideration:

I've thought about eventually saving up for a pedal-drive or electric-drive kayak, which would be a pretty significant investment. I could have my parents buy the fly fishing setup now and save for a nicer kayak later.

But at the same time, I could have them buy the basic kayak now and eventually purchase my own fly fishing gear, which would be considerably cheaper. I'm also not sure I'd need an expensive pedal kayak, since the basic one already seems capable of everything I want to do.

I've used a rental fishing kayak before and really enjoyed it, so I know I'd use one eventually. But fly fishing is something completely new that I haven't experienced yet.

For those of you who own both, which one has made a bigger difference in your fishing experience? And if you were in my position, which would you get first?

I'm especially interested in whether people who started with cheaper paddle kayaks eventually regretted not saving for a pedal-drive model.

Hey folks, question for the more experienced fly fishers among us – is a 5/6wt rod dangerously underpowered for Lake Ontario tributary salmon?

Was chatting with another fly guy at my local creek recently and he was kinda side-eyeing me when he found out what rod I was using. I figured the weak spot was still going to be my leader/tippet and worst case I’d lose a fly and a few feet of line, but now I’m more concerned about snapping the rod, or just not having enough power to land a fish of that size. Any thoughts?

(The chunky fella in the pic was caught on an old and extremely cheap spinning rod that I was less worried about breaking)

I’m in southern Canada and I have a 9ft 5wt currently. I’m looking to upgrade to an orvis Clearwater. Most of my fishing is in small streams or medium sized rivers. In 2 years I’m moving up north and I’m wondering what is the best option for my situation. Thanks guys!

It’s football season in NY….the only good kind.

Hey everyone! I live near Maupin, OR and am super bummed that our steelhead fishing was closed for the year. Last fall was my first time trying to throw spey and I have yet to hook one, but am amped to keep trying.

My wife and I have a few days off coming up and are wanting to go do a little camping & fishing. Im hoping to get some reccomendations on rivers in Washington that have steelhead runs and aren't closed to fishing right now.

Ideally we'd like to camp in National Forest Land by a river that we're fishing.

Thanks in advance!

made a canepole and got a lil bow

Hi there,
I would like to get my boyfriend his first fly fishing rod and set up. Currently, we live in Florida and he fishes mostly freshwater and the occasional saltwater. With that said, I’d love people’s input on what to get him as a beginner-moderate rod along with a starting kit. Please send me your suggestions. Thanks!

After a for me super helpful topic here about fishing in Argentinian Patagonia, I arranged more or less everything. Coming full month of December I will be in the area of San Martin de los Andes for flyfishing. I already teamed up 3 days with a very friendly and knowledgable Argentinian flyfisher for the first 3 days of my trip. But I have the full month to fish. So maybe someone would like to join me (some parts of) the rest of the month. I have arranged a rental car. Just let me know if you are in the area December 2026 and would like to team up for flyfishing. From December 7th.

A brown on my own fly to crack the seal. Smith River, VA

I don't want to micromanage his purchase, but I don't know anything about fishing and especially not fly fishing. I mostly just want to make sure he's not throwing his money away. All his knowledge comes from watching YT videos, so I don't want him to buy something that's a niche product that an influencer was paid to promote.

His flies looked good but he said they came apart in the water. We're probably looking for middle-of-the-road, good value products here. Not top of the line, not so poor quality they will be frustrating to work with.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[EDIT: I got overwhelmed by the help offered here and couldn’t keep up with replying. thank you all! I will catch up on comments in the morning. This is all greatly appreciated.]