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A woman in waders and a sun hat wades a broad river and casts, bluffs on the far bank

New to fly fishing?
Start here.

Five steps to your first day on the water.

Photo credit

Fly fishing at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge, Wyoming. Photo: Tom Koerner, US Fish and Wildlife Service, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Two women practise fly casting together on a lakeside beach, one guiding the other
Photo credit

A women's fly-casting class at Claytor Lake State Park, Virginia. Photo: Virginia State Parks, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Step 1

Gear on a budget

A matched rod, reel and line, a few flies and tippet. Essentials from about $168 (est.).

Your first kit, budget prices Ask a local fly shop

How we estimate prices

Ranges are editorial estimates of typical US retail prices by tier (budget, mid-range, premium), rounded and before tax and shipping. They are not pulled from a retailer feed and are not live prices. Prices change; always check the retailer. Not live prices: check the retailer.

Not sure about a 5-weight? The gear words explained.

An angler wades the river below pale bluffs and lays a fly line across the current
Photo credit

Fly fishing at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge, Wyoming. Photo: Tom Koerner, US Fish and Wildlife Service, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Step 2

Get your fishing license

Every state sells its own. Pick yours.

Fishing abroad? Destination pages list license rules.

Where the answers come from

Each state page links that state's wildlife agency, from pages we opened ourselves. Fees, ages and free days show only where we quote them from the agency, with the date. Rules change: the agency's page is the authority.

Step 3

Find water near you

What are you looking for?

Photo credit

Above the South Fork of the Snake River, Idaho. Photo: Bureau of Land Management, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Which water suits a beginner?

Stocked water near town, a lake edge or a small stream with room behind you to cast. Delayed Harvest waters are trout streams the state stocks; for part of the year every fish goes back. A local fly shop knows where fish are biting this week.

A woman rows a drift boat while a man stands in the bow and casts
Photo credit

Fly fishing from a drift boat at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge, Wyoming. Photo: Tom Koerner, US Fish and Wildlife Service, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Step 4

Should you hire a guide?

The fastest way to learn. A guide knows the water and usually brings the flies.

  • Half day is often about four hours; a full day about eight, sometimes with lunch.
  • Ask before you book: Is my license included? Rods, waders and flies? How many anglers per guide? Wade or float? Cancellation and weather?
  • Tipping your guide is common in the U.S.
Typical published prices, 1–2 anglers
AreaHalf dayFull day
Alaska$500 $400–$885 · 3 guides$990 $800–$1,200 · 5 guides
California$463 $375–$600 · 8 guides$625 $400–$800 · 9 guides
Colorado$545 $500–$600 · 7 guides$688 $625–$783 · 7 guides
Gulf & Florida flats$550 $400–$650 · 11 guides$800 $650–$1,200 · 15 guides
Idaho/Wyoming$550 $400–$775 · 9 guides$690 $550–$875 · 13 guides
Montana$625 $550–$650 · 7 guides$750 $620–$770 · 8 guides
Upper Midwest/Driftless$400 $300–$425 · 7 guides$550 $450–$600 · 7 guides
Northeast$425 $290–$525 · 7 guides$500 $380–$800 · 9 guides
Ozarks$400 $350–$500 · 5 guides$550 $550–$600 · 3 guides
Pacific Northwest$450 $400–$500 · 7 guides$650 $525–$700 · 13 guides
Southeast Appalachians$400 $220–$450 · 8 guides$525 $325–$600 · 8 guides
Southwest$420 $350–$675 · 7 guides$620 $490–$725 · 7 guides

The middle price from guides' own websites (each guide counted once), with the range. A sample of guides we list, not a survey: check the guide's current rate. Tips, licenses and a third angler are usually extra.

Every published price (223)

Alaska

California

Colorado

Gulf & Florida flats

Idaho/Wyoming

Montana

Upper Midwest/Driftless

Northeast

Ozarks

Pacific Northwest

Southeast Appalachians

Southwest

Guides who teach beginners All guides

An angler in hip boots wades a clear river and casts, a loop of fly line unrolling behind
Photo credit

Fly fishing the Sava Bohinjka, Slovenia. Photo: Ziga, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Step 5

Learn the basics

One cast and three knots get you fishing.

Your first castPractice on grass first, with a scrap of yarn tied on instead of a fly.
  1. Hold the cork grip with your thumb on top, pointing up the rod.
  2. Strip about 20 to 30 feet of line past the rod tip and lay it straight out in front of you.
  3. Start with the rod tip low. Lift it smoothly, speeding up, and stop sharply with the rod just past upright, around one o'clock.
  4. Pause. Let the line unroll and straighten behind you; turn your head to watch it at first.
  5. Bring the rod forward, speeding up, and stop sharply around ten o'clock. The line rolls out in front of you.
  6. As the line settles on the water, lower the rod tip. Short strokes and firm stops beat power.

Trees behind you? Use a roll cast: no back cast at all.

Three knots

Improved clinch knotTies the fly to your tippet.
  1. Push the end of the tippet through the eye of the hook and pull through about 6 inches.
  2. Wrap the end around the main line five times, working up the line away from the hook.
  3. Bring the end back and push it through the small loop just above the hook eye.
  4. Now tuck the end through the big loop you just made. This tuck is what makes it "improved".
  5. Wet the knot, hold the end and pull the main line so the wraps slide down snug against the eye.
  6. Trim the end close, leaving a tiny tag.

Use fewer wraps on thick line and more on very thin tippet.

Surgeon's knotJoins new tippet to the end of your leader.
  1. Cut a length of tippet, about 2 to 3 feet, from the spool.
  2. Lay it beside the end of your leader so the two overlap by about 6 inches, the ends pointing opposite ways.
  3. Hold the two lines together as one and make a loop.
  4. Pass the leader's end and the whole piece of tippet through the loop together.
  5. Pass them through the same loop a second time.
  6. Wet the knot and pull all four strands at once, two in each hand, until it is tight. Trim both short ends.

Going through three times makes a triple surgeon's knot, a little stronger on very fine tippet.

Perfection loopPuts a small fixed loop on the end of a leader, for loop-to-loop connections.
  1. Make a loop by laying the end of the line behind the main line.
  2. Wrap the end around in front of that first loop to make a second, smaller loop on top of it.
  3. Lay the end between the two loops and pinch it there.
  4. Reach through the first loop, take hold of the second loop and pull it through the first.
  5. Wet it and pull the new loop against the main line to tighten. The loose end should stick out to the side.
  6. Trim the end close.

To join two loops, push one loop through the other, then pass the far end of the second line through the first loop. Pulled tight, they lock together flat, like a square knot.

Two anglers, a man with a landing net and a woman in a sun hat, wade the river and fish side by side
Photo credit

Fly fishing at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge, Wyoming. Photo: Tom Koerner, US Fish and Wildlife Service, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Learn with others

Clubs, classes and groups welcome beginners.