# 45 Fly Fishing Gift Ideas

Fly Fishing Gift Ideas: Because “Just Get Me Anything” Is a Trap.

I thought I would help out the new fisherman, Spouse, or significant other, and give you a little things to consider as to “fly fishing Gift ideas.”

If you are new to the world of fly fishing and are still discovering all of the amazing gadgets and gizmos available to the fly fisherperson, congratulations—you have entered the department store of confusion. Every time you walk into a fly shop or click on a fly fishing website, your eyes may begin to roll back into your head like a shark right before it takes a bite. There are rods, reels, leaders, tippets, floatant, nippers, forceps, fly boxes, and enough tiny feathers to make you wonder if someone mugged a chicken.

As you will soon find out fishing gear is a very personal item, and it can be very frustrating to pick the “correct” gift.

This past Christmas, my wife wanted to get me something I actually wanted, so I told her I would love a new fly-tying vise from Santa. Even with the exact name and model in hand, she was overwhelmed by the flood of questions that came with what should have been a simple purchase.

I can only imagine if you wanted to get a gift and were not given exact specification as to the amount of questions and self-doubt that could easily overwhelm a person and just cause you to bail out and go the way of the “Gift Certificate.”

Be careful:

I think with most people who are not that familiar with the world of fly fishing their first instinct would be to go to the local Walmart and buy something that has the words “Fly Fishing” on the label. Beware this could lead to one of the quiet moments when the other person says, “thanks” in that sheepish voice.

Let us help:

If you have read this and still want to give the gift of fly fishing paraphernalia to a fisherman/woman, let us see if we can help you out.

Most fisherman will be creatures of habit and will fish the local waters, and frequent the local shops, so this will give you a leg up on the gift. As you know the first word in fly fishing is “FLY.” So, the first choice would be, you guessed it, “FLIES.” How do you know which one to get? Well, this is where the local fly shop comes in handy. You could go to the fly shop and ask, “which flies are working at this time, on the local waters”? If you have a good shop they should be able to suggest at least a few patterns that your friend or other might find useful.

Consumables:

Fishing of any type whether fly fishing or spin fishing, all use consumable supplies. These will be things like, tippet material, fly floatant, split shot. If buying flies for your angler is not what you had in mind, then the forementioned items is something that every fisherman will use up during the course of a season. So, you really cannot go too far wrong with any of these items.

Easy fly fishing gift ideas:

• Flies selected by the local fly shop for the waters your angler fishes most.

• Tippet material in common trout sizes, because somehow it disappears faster than snacks on a road trip.

• Fly floatant for dry flies, which is basically tiny magic goo in a bottle.

• Nippers or forceps, since every fly fisher needs tools and will eventually misplace at least three of them.

• A small fly box, preferably one that closes securely, because nobody enjoys loose hooks in a vest pocket.

• A local fly shop gift card, also known as “I love you, but I refuse to guess your exact leader preference.”

• Things like shirts, hats or other types of apparel are a very personal thing and everyone has their special needs and wants. Sunglasses are also in this category.

These are the type of things most fly anglers actually use, lose, drop in the river, leave on the bank of the river, or loan to a friend, or swear they “just had it a second ago.” In other words, they are not glamorous, but they will not end up in the mysterious drawer of rejected outdoor presents.

High wire shopping

If you are reel (get it, reel)  adventurous person and budget is not an issue, then you can always go out and spring for a new reel to go along with the newest fly rod. Do yourself a favor if you are planning to buy a reel, is to do a little recon and find out which size reel your angler needs. Nothing worse than buying a reel only to find out that they already have that one!!!

I am sure you were hoping for the holy grail of shopping items, but hopefully this will give you a few morsels of information before you begin your shopping.

Happy shopping

As always any questions or comments feel free to hit me up

Gary,