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After 45 years of spinners, bait casters, and conventional setups, I tried fly fishing for the first time a few years ago on a trip to Yellowstone. Summer 2019, I got a guide to take me and my wife in Sequoia NP. She had a blast (and so did I). Now we are pretty much hooked but don't really know jack. I was going to take a class in March at the LBCC, recommended by Tigermidge but it cancelled due to COVID. We ended up taking a casting class on the Kern River. We also took a pack train trip to the Kern River right before the SQF fire. A blast but man was I sore from the horses. We have been to many creeks this year with some success mostly tiny fish in the 5 to 7 inch range. In October we took a guided trip on the Lower Owens, I caught between 20 and 25 browns and rainbows between 9 and 16 inches. All on a half day trip. My wife caught about 10 but lost another 10. She had an absolute blast. We went back this past weekend and fished the lower for about 4 hours Saturday and explored looking for other access further south on Sunday. I got 4 browns Saturday 10 to 12 inches. Shut out Sunday. The weather was fantastic, which is why we went Saturday.
My wife found and purchased a used Reddington crosswater 5wt, Rod and Reel for $40.00, didn't even ask me. Before I even had my own fly rod. I found an ECHO Base 5wt on Offer Up for $40 in Pasadena and bought that. I have a ancient Cortland clicker fly reel that someone gave to me 40 years ago. I put line on it and have caught 40 to 50 fish on it. Nothing big but good enough for the type of fishing I am doing. I am going to upgrade to a new reel this Christmas. I know less than zero about fly rods but for what I am doing the gear we have is fine.
I got back yesterday at 5PM and I am already thinking about going back, I got it bad. I think my ideal trip will be 4 to 5 days. Fishing a day on the lower, a day on the upper (never fished there), and a day at hot creek (been there but did not fish). I am really interested in trying a drift trip on the lower too. I am also considering taking a Jeep trip on the south fork of the Kern (more expensive than the pack train). Good thing my wife is hooked too. I have started thinking about trying to complete the heritage trout challenge. I have three of the six needed already, although my picture of my Golden sucks, so I will need to go do that again.
So far I used guides 4 times, Montana, Pack Train, Sequoia NP, and Lower Owens. I have been really happy because I have learned a lot about techniques, things I would never figure out on my own. One really nice thing is with my background, I pick up things quick. I can have the guide set me up and point me in the right direction and then spent 90% of his time showing my wife what to do. Works perfect, I always tell them in advance, "If she has fun I will get to fish more".
Good luck with gear and limiting expenses.
Tom
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