One day I want to start fly fishing. I've fished my whole life, but not with a fly rod. There is a nice Orvis store close with a good staff and free classes and stuff. Is it smart for a beginner to buy their brand? Sometimes they have a sale, and they have a ton of flys.

Why would it not be smart to buy an Orvis rod, especially when you have a good store so close? I don’t have one but the encounter combo seems to be the go to recommendation for a basic beginner setup, but I’m sure the store could help.

JD45: Be careful as it's a disease with only a single cure.

A nearby store with rod building/fly tying classes and materials is a real plus for beginners. If a few purchases can get one in the door for free, I'd be inclined to toss them some business. There are some mid-level Orvis rods and reels that are reasonably priced. That brand though also goes above the stratosphere on some of their high-end gear if you're so inclined.

I have three Orvis rods (2, 4 and 7 wts) and others by Meiser, Sage, Loomis, Fenwick, Cabela's, and Anonymous. All are fine rods, most are personal builds with the exception of a couple steals, and there are none in particular that generate an orgasmic experience. If the shop does offer rod building classes, that might be a slightly less expensive route to pursue if $$ are an issue. There are a few tricks to rod building that are not difficult to master, but they let one do a professional level job and configure things to your specific likings. Build expenses are about 60 to 70% of an off the shelf unit. Not a great savings, but I enjoy the process on a subzero day. Most popular brands also have blanks for sale, and reel seats, cork, guides, thread, epoxies, etc can be scored from numerous suppliers often as kits.

The only down-side to builds is that one will rarely be warranted.

Again, Orvis is a fine brand, they bounce between selling and not selling blanks, but I'd not be inclined to commit to marrying them above any of the other possibilities out there.

Whatever - Good luck, and keep us up on your doings

Thank you. The only reason I didn't start years ago is because it's about a 4 hour round trip to a good trout stream. I may go once a year.
When I was young, I spent a summer in Stanley, ID and got to fish the main Salmon and the Yankee fork with spinning reels with the poor man's fly/float rig. I hated to leave.

I started fly fishing 35 years ago with Orvis stuff for the very reason you mentioned. They had the only fly shop was a in my town and they had people willing to help me get started. A few years later an additional fly shop opened which carried T&T, Scott and Sage so I bought from them, lots of stuff from them.

Are there better rods and reels for the money than Orvis? Maybe but they are fine quality and will get you into the sport with solid equipment. As someone said, be careful it is addicting.

I leased a unit in a building a client of mine owned back from 2003-2009 to an Orvis store. I did get started with them. Bought my first setups from them and took classes. It helped me get started and learn fundamentals before developing bad habits. A buddy of mine started at the same time with the same equipment. He did not choose to take the classes. He lost interest as he struggled to improve because he lacked the knowledge of how a fly rod and fly line work. Ten years later he was still trying to cast the fly not the line.

The Orvis guy got pissed when Bass Pro opened up in our town and started selling orvis fly gear. He didn't renew his lease and took a job as a rep with a fly line company. In think Rio. In thought it was a big loss.

You will hear a lot of different opinions on Orvis. I have had good luck with my rods. I upgraded from my original set ups with higher priced Orvis rods and even bought Sage and GLoomis rods. I fish the salt exclusively so I only ever had one orvis reel. The rest are all Tibors.

The Orvis store and classes really helped me in the begining.

You could do a lot worse. Orvis is not a manufacturer, they are a marketing organization that brands their gear from other sources.

The rod is not as important as how to use it. Myself, I have nothing but high quality rods, but I didn’t start there. After you become proficient with a decent rod, you may then move into better rods that provide better casting once you have the skills to separate the need for a higher quality rod.

I have taught fly fishing and fly casting at Montana State University here in Bozeman and guided on the local rivers. After you have been exposed to most of the people that fly fish, you see how many levels of competence there are out there, and most is poor.

When you talk to the people about their skills and experience, it is amazing that many still keep at it with poor training. The best thing to do is get someone that knows how to teach fly casting, not just someone that can cast. Learning how a rod casts a line vs a spinning rod that casts a weighted lure, are 2 very different actions and it takes a lot more to accomplish what you are trying to do with a fly rod.


Once you have the proper instruction, it is easy to practice in your yard on grass and not asphalt or concrete. You will see how you improve as you practice and once you have the skills to cast a fly where it will catch fish, you will also see how therapeutic it can be.

Be aware the it can also be frustrating and you need to be able to cope with that to progress. Also, it is good to know that the guy that said “the worst day fishing is better than the best day at work” has had neither. You can have some bad days on a river, but the anticipation of the good days keeps you going back…