The Fly Fishing Starter Kit, Explained

A fly fishing starter kit should contain a rod, a reel, backing, a weight-forward floating line, a tapered leader and a small assortment of flies. Most kits sold as “complete” include the first four and stop, which is why people get to the water and cannot fish: a fly cannot be tied to a fly line without a leader. The short answer for most beginners is the Maxcatch Extreme combo plus about $25 of leader, tippet and flies — and if you want one box that needs almost nothing added, the Redington Crosswater outfit.

What belongs in a starter kit

Six items, in the order the line runs from the reel to the fish.

That is the whole functional list. A kit that covers the first four leaves you about $25 short of fishing, which is worth knowing before you compare prices: a $60 kit plus leader, tippet and flies costs the same as an $85 kit with all of it in the box. The full budget breakdown across every item is in how much fly fishing costs.

What the cheap sets leave out

A tapered leader. Fly line is thick and opaque. You cannot tie a size 16 fly to it and expect a trout to eat. A 9-foot tapered leader in 4X or 5X is the clear, gradually thinning link that makes the whole thing work, and it costs a few dollars.

Tippet. The spool of fine line you tie onto the leader's end, so that changing flies shortens the tippet rather than the expensive leader. Buy 4X and 5X to start. How to join the two is the most common beginner snag, and it has its own page: how to tie tippet to leader.

Flies. A small boxed assortment is enough for a first season — a few beadhead nymphs, a couple of dry flies and two Wooly Buggers will catch fish almost anywhere there are trout. Our beginner fly assortment guide covers what to look for.

Nippers and forceps. Not glamorous, needed constantly. Nail clippers work on day one; a tools kit is $10.

Kit or separate pieces?

Buy the kit. For a first setup, a matched outfit is cheaper than the same three pieces bought separately, and it removes the one mistake a beginner cannot easily diagnose: a line that does not match the rod weight. A 5-weight line on a 5-weight rod loads the rod correctly and the cast works; the same rod with a 7-weight line feels dead and the caster blames themselves.

Buy separately when you know what you want. Anglers who already fish, or who have a specific creek in mind, do better choosing a rod first and then matching line to it — our rod roundup and fly line guide cover that route, and the complete outfits comparison does the cost math between the two approaches.

Which weight and length to ask for

Weight is the mass of line the rod is built to cast, not how heavy the rod is. For trout in creeks and small streams, you live between 3 and 5. A 5-weight is the famous do-everything trout size and the right call if you will also fish bigger water. A 3-weight is a pleasure on small streams and protects fine tippet, and it makes a nine-inch wild brook trout feel like an event.

Length: shorter than the default if your water is tight.Kits are almost all 9 feet because 9 feet is the river standard. On a creek roofed over with alders, a 7′6" to 8′6" rod fits where a 9-footer does not. No budget kit is sold in those lengths, which is a real argument for buying the rod separately once you know your water — see the weight comparison for where that fork leads.

Four-piece beats two-piece. Every kit here is 4-piece, which matters more than it sounds: a 4-piece rod fits in a car, on a plane and on a pack, so it comes with you instead of staying home. If travel is the point, the travel rod guide goes further.

The kits worth buying

Four kits, ranked below, from the cheapest sensible entry to the outfit you will not outgrow. We compared what is in each box, the rod weight options, the quality of the included line and whether the reel comes pre-loaded. We have not cast every one of them on a stream and do not claim to: our method is on the how we research and pick page, and the prices on this page are live and dated.

What to do with it first

Spend an hour on grass before you go near water. Tie a bit of wool to the leader instead of a fly and cast in a park. Fly casting is a timing skill, and grass lets you watch the line do what your arm just told it to. An hour there is worth more than a day of frustration on a creek where you are also managing current, branches and footing.

Then fish one small creek, close to home, repeatedly. Small water teaches faster than big water because everything is visible: you can see the fish, the current seams and your own mistakes. Stay low, move upstream, and give each likely pocket two or three casts before moving on. The complete beginner gear guide sets out the whole kit in buying order with a running total, and what gear to use for trout covers the spinning alternative if the fly route turns out not to be for you.

Buying the kit is the first half of the job. Putting it together — rod sections, reel, backing, line the right way round, leader, tippet, fly — is the second, and it is laid out in seven steps in how to set up a fly rod.

What no starter kit includes is the handful of small items you will want on the first trip: nippers, forceps, spare leaders and tippet. They are listed in buying order, with what to skip, in the fly fishing accessories guide.

The cheapest thing in a starter kit is the one most people skip. A $15 book will do more for your catch rate than a rod upgrade — the best fly fishing books for beginners has the six worth owning. If you are still choosing the rod itself, see how to choose a fly rod.