The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

Just looking to the future, once I learn the basics of casting and fly fishing, and want to start fishing, can anyone recommend a good location in Nevada & Placer Counties for a complete newbie to test the waters? Something where waders are not needed and can do from dry ground for now until I can afford waders and proper water trounching gear.

tj

Try LL Bean.
You live less than 5 minutes from Nevada City Anglers and 45 minutes from some world class shops in Sacramento. If you insist on buying from the internet and big box stores, consider the consequences of not having access to honest, up-to-the-minute local information when the local shop goes belly up.

Ralph wrote:
Try LL Bean.
You live less than 5 minutes from Nevada City Anglers and 45 minutes from some world class shops in Sacramento. If you insist on buying from the internet and big box stores, consider the consequences of not having access to honest, up-to-the-minute local information when the local shop goes belly up.

thanks for the help Ralph.

Ralph, guess where I do 95% of my shopping??? Local. Probably more than most folks. Guess where I buy lots of food? Local farmers markets. Guess where I buy most of my car parts for my old VWs? Local where I pay TONS more than I can buy better parts on the Internet.

So, you have no clue what I am about and I probably support locally more than you. I visited many stores before buying my rod. Even went to Nevada City. Guess what? They did not have the setup that I really liked . If they had it, guess what? I would have purchased it even if it was more $$. So, I buy local almost all the time but there are times you can't and get what you really want.

Ralph, guess where I am and will be buying all the rest of my gear? My local Nevada City store. Guess where I will be paying to take classes. Local also.

So, get over yourself.

Thanks for the help again.

Tom

Points all well taken.

I take it from your previous post that you are very new at this game and are likely not aware of the tenuous state of affairs when it comes to fly fishing retailers. Local fly shops are a dying breed. It takes more than all the fingers on both of my hands to count the number of shops that have gone out of business in Northern California in the last year. Your local shop provides exactly the information you are requesting. They are the guys who will show you how to spool up your line, suggest the right fly selection, and provide guidance when it comes to connecting with the right place at the right time. Quite simply they have a vested interest in your success and your relationship is a two way street. You don't know what you've got until it's gone.

I can get virtually all of my gear at cost, on pro-form, or sometimes free - yet I rarely do. Maybe I'm stupid or old fashioned, but I feel the extra bucks I spend at Tony's or Kiene's or FF Specialties are an investment in the future of our sport. When was the last time LL Bean, Cabela's, or Bass pro sponsored a Yuba River clean up, or hosted a local kid's fly tying theatre, or gave you a loaner rod because yours was back at the factory getting a replacement tip?

You really should develop a relationship w/ your local shop(s). The value of picking their brains, especially for someone new to the sport, is priceless. It's been my experience that the local shop's staff enjoys nothing more than helping a new fly fisher get the most out of our sport in the shortest amount of time. Additionally, if you have your heart set on a certain item they do not carry, it's been my experience that the local shop is more than happy to get that item for you or even suggest a superior alternative that you might not know exists.

Ralph wrote:
Points all well taken.

I take it from your previous post that you are very new at this game and are likely not aware of the tenuous state of affairs when it comes to fly fishing retailers. Local fly shops are a dying breed. It takes more than all the fingers on both of my hands to count the number of shops that have gone out of business in Northern California in the last year. Your local shop provides exactly the information you are requesting. They are the guys who will show you how to spool up your line, suggest the right fly selection, and provide guidance when it comes to connecting with the right place at the right time. Quite simply they have a vested interest in your success and your relationship is a two way street. You don't know what you've got until it's gone.

I can get virtually all of my gear at cost, on pro-form, or sometimes free - yet I rarely do. Maybe I'm stupid or old fashioned, but I feel the extra bucks I spend at Tony's or Kiene's or FF Specialties are an investment in the future of our sport. When was the last time LL Bean, Cabela's, or Bass pro sponsored a Yuba River clean up, or hosted a local kid's fly tying theatre, or gave you a loaner rod because yours was back at the factory getting a replacement tip?

I am only 43, but still old fashioned too. <grin>

I paid this summer $5.99 at B&C Hardware for a 5 gallon plastic bucket to put in my dogs pen for water even tough I could get the same thing at the new Home Depot in Auburn for $2.19. So yes, buying local for me is rather important also and believe you me, I willbe buying many things at Nevada City store. And, my Christmas list to my wife will have their business card stapled to it. hehehe.

I already plan on attending the classes the Nevada City shop offers and have no plans on venturing out on my own now. I want to meet them and many folks here. My question for this thread was "future" related as I noted and just doing some thinking outside the box is all.

In fact, I am going to start saving up for your classes also as they look rather good. Being Self Employed myself, it will take a while of saving for those classes but I will get there.

So, yes, I plan on buying many goods at the local shops and also taking classes and asking them tons of questions.

BTW, I went to all those shops you mentioned above. If they offered this LL Bean rod, I would of purchased from them, but, I don't think they can get that one for me <grin>. Whether it was a good choice is to be seen, but it was my choice and if worse comes to worse, I will have a real compact rod for packing and it will still get used. In time, I may get a better setup locally when I know what is going on in the world of Flyfishing.

tj

When you go into NV City Anglers, ask them about the local club, the Gold Country Fly Fishers. Unlike gear which costs$$, you can learn a tremendous amount from the local talent for free. Next time you need a 5 gallon bucket, give me a call. Over years of making biodiesel I have have amassed many spare buckets!
~R~

Ralph wrote:
When you go into NV City Anglers, ask them about the local club, the Gold Country Fly Fishers. Unlike gear which costs$$, you can learn a tremendous amount from the local talent for free. Next time you need a 5 gallon bucket, give me a call. Over years of making biodiesel I have have amassed many spare buckets!
~R~

Yup, I have that bookmarked also and plan on attending future classes. I have been staying up in the wee hours of the night scoping things out and saw the web site for the local club. Looks like a great place to learn also.

Thanks for the advice.

As for Biodiesel, I had come close to making my own for my VW TDI Beetle but ended up not. At the time, they had passes some new law "I think" about having to get X amount of insurance coverage, like 1 or 2 million dollar coverage, for transport waste veggie oil. It has been awhile and not sure if that is the case but it appeared then the laws being put in place made it rather difficult to collect the used oil legally without having possible transport issues. I took a class on making biodiesel down in Sac and still have my small bottle I made myself in the class. I picked up the 5 gallon bucket of the golden brown used oil at the Alta Sierra Golf Course and was getting close to making my own. I was even going to veggie power an old 1982 diesel westfalia camper with the stuff.

tj