Public Lands Journal<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nIt’s impressive what’s included in the Wildwater Starter Package, for the price. You’ll receive a rod, reel, fly line, leader, rod case, fly box, 9 flies, line nippers, and a retractable leash for under $100 (at the time of purchase). If you want to make one order and start fishing as soon as the package arrives, then this option is for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The performance of the Wildwater rod doesn’t match up to the Cabela’s Bighorn. It is a slow action rod and leaves something to be desired when casting big streamer and heavy nymph rigs, or casting into the wind. The rod does seem well built and the slow action will be forgiving for beginners. Due to the rod’s slow action, it can be difficult to make the appropriate mends in complex currents, especially with a moderate to long cast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wildwater has done a good job with their reel. Like the Cabela’s Prestige II it is a large arbor aluminum reel with a disc drag and large arbor. The drag does not click as positively as the Prestige, but it is much better than I was expecting. The fly line is adequate but lacks a welded loop requiring a knot to connect to the leader (it does come attached). Like the Bighorn outfit, the fly line had a hard time staying afloat at times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bottom Line: <\/strong>I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this kit to a beginner that was itching to get started fly fishing. It is a quality setup that offers a ton of great extras for an impressive price.<\/p>\n\n\n\nNot Recommended: Shakespeare Cedar Canyon Rod\/Reel Combo<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
To be frank, the Shakespeare setup doesn’t even hold a candle to the previous two mentioned in this article. The rod might perform as well as the Wildwater, but the reel is plastic and feels cheap. The drag doesn’t have a positive click and the pre-spooled fly line came with kinks. The rod doesn’t even have a fly keeper. A small detail that speaks to the overall thought that I feel went into the product. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The only potentially saving grace for this product is the price. It comes in at less than $70 (at the time of purchase). But if you want to buy a fly box, some flies, and a rod case that will bring you up to $100 and you might as well just buy the Wildwater, which gives you all those things plus a better rod, better reel, and better fly line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bottom line:<\/strong> I’m not even including a link because you shouldn’t buy this setup.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFinal Thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Overall, I was impressed and a little surprised by the quality of the Cabela’s Bighorn setup. Over 20 years ago I started fly fishing with the Cabela’s Prestige setup. I fished that rod and reel for over 15 years before passing it on to my roommate who wanted to get started fly fishing. It seems you’ll get the same kind of longevity out of the Bighorn. It’s quite impressive how much value Wildwater has put into their offering. You can make one order and go fishing as soon as it arrives (make sure you have a license). These two outfits show that you can get started fly fishing for a very affordable price and that the gear you buy as a beginner can stay with you for years as your skills increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Win One of These Fly Fishing Combos!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
We want more people to experience the joy of fly fishing. To that end, we are giving away all three of the combos we tested for this article, with fish slime still on the handles! To enter, fill out the form below, subscribe to Public Lands Journal on YouTube<\/a>, and leave a comment on this video.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThis giveaway has ended, but you can subscribe on YouTube to learn about upcoming giveaways!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Top Choice: Cabela’s Bighorn Outfit Runner Up: Wildwater Fly Fishing Package Not Recommended: Shakespeare Cedar Canyon Fly fishing is an extremely fun and rewarding activity, but to get set up<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":732,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[114],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/publiclandsjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/publiclandsjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/publiclandsjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publiclandsjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publiclandsjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=715"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/publiclandsjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":829,"href":"https:\/\/publiclandsjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715\/revisions\/829"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publiclandsjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/publiclandsjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publiclandsjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publiclandsjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}