After you've been using your fly fishing rod for awhile, you'll need to learn how to clean it properly.

It's a fairly simple job to clean a fly rod, so don't procrastinate.

You'll probably want to clean your fly fishing rod at the same time that you clean your fly line and clean your fly reel.

Fly fishing rods are fairly expensive, so you'll want to keep yours in top-notch shape. Here's how to do it...

The oldest form of fly fishing is wet fly casting.

The wet fly has been traced back hundreds of years by historians. Check out the history of fly fishing, which is especially interesting during the era between 1800 and 1850.

Beginners to fly fishing are often more successful when using a wet fly, but the technique can't be learned in a day. No matter how much you use your wet fly technique over time, there will still be much to learn.

Can you picture yourself standing on the bank of a stream and casting a fly into a quiet eddy? You do this a few times, then suddenly a fish strikes. It’s a good size and the fight is on!

To experience this scenario, you'll need to find a good fly fishing rod. It isn’t difficult to select a fly fishing rod, but there are a few things you need to know first like:

length of the rod

weight of the rod

action of the rod

This make it yourself fly rod rack is very simple, very effective and very inexpensive. Check it out.

I was out on the back deck, stringing up a new rod for a client when I heard that familiar sound of a fly rod sliding down the wall that it had been leaned up against. I turned around just in time to see it fall to the ground as the cringing owner was making a lunge for it. Too late.

Didn't appear to hurt the rod any this time, but if it had fallen on the edge of a rock or caught the corner of a window frame, it could easily have been damaged to the point of needing repair before using again.

I once saw a graphite rod slide down a wall like that and then get stepped on by it's owner as he was trying to catch it during the fall. I decided I needed to come up with some kind of a rod rack that would keep assembled flyrods out of harm's way out on the back deck. I know there are a huge number of fishing rod racks available out there but I couldn't find one to suit me.

I didn't want a free standing rack because that would take up too much room on the deck. I didn't have a good place for a wall mounted rack, too many windows and doors. I started looking at the deck rail.

Yeah, I needed something that I could put on the rail, out of the way, that would keep the rods standing up. Several ideas came and went before I settled on a concept. I could use the deck railing to hold the reel end of each rod, but still needed something to put the tips into up higher.

A fly reel attaches to the handle end of the fly rod. Fly reels are used to hold the backing and fly line and sometimes to help you play the fish back to your hand or net.

Again, I heeded the collective advice of those same fly shop experts. They helped me choose a modestly priced reel with an adequate drag system that would easily handle the average size fish in my local streams and rivers.

I have seen fly reels priced in the thousands of dollars. I am sure they are very fine pieces of machined metal and feats of engineering, but I've never gotten to use one in that category. I think my second one cost less than $100. It's fine for most situations I find myself in. By the same token, I have a bigger reel or two laying around just in case I get the opportunity to go fishing for some of the big boys that reside in some of the waters I have access to fish.

Decide on your budget and then go shopping.

It was a long time ago when the guy behind the counter at the White's Auto Store asked me if I wanted a fast one or a slow one. A really long time ago. I was totally confounded and confused and didn't have an answer for him. I had no idea there were fast ones and slow ones and half fast ones. I was a young bundle of nerves, anxiety and clueless all rolled into one. I just wanted to buy a fly rod and catch a fish.

Let's see if I can spare you some of that anxiety in preparation of your quest to purchase a fly rod.