{Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} New to fly fishing - advice on gearing up a 5/6 wt?

Hey all,

Having stalked this group as a spin fisherman for general DC fishing advice for a while, I've officially been bitten by the fly fishing bug.  Something like 10 years ago, my dad bought us both Cabela's fly fishing starter kits, which were casted a few times on the lawn, and then allowed to gather dust.  My dad was kind enough to dig my rod back out and get it down here to me, so I plan on using that rod until it breaks, or I get into the sport more and want to replace it.

The plan is to get fully outfitted for Christmas, so now the question is:  What on earth do I need?

At the moment, I have:

 - One cheap three-piece rod (the stamp says 5/6 weight, and I believe it's 8'6")

 - One reel

 - 10-year old fly line of unknown weight and dubious quality

From what I gather, I need:

 - Line (5 weight? Floating vs. sink-tip? Taper?  So much to know here!)

 - Leaders 

 - Tippet (3X?)

 - Some flies (looks like there's some good advice in other posts - clousers, wooly buggers & a popper or two?) 

 - Vest/storage, clippers, other accessories.

I gather that this size setup is mostly going to be good for panfish & small bass, so that's what I plan on targeting.  Recommendations on what specific sorts of gear to get for fishing in the area  (especially Fletcher's, the Tidal Basin and the C&O) would be greatly, greatly appreciated!  (Any tips on extras to modify the setup to be serviceable for trout and for the shad run would also be great!)

I plan on making it out to a few Beer Ties this winter so I can pick up a little first-hand knowledge, and repay kind advice in tasty, tasty beer.

Thanks, y'all!

--
http://www.tpfr.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tidal-potomac-fly-rodders+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to tidal-potomac-fly-rodders@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tidal-potomac-fly-rodders/3fe8ffcf-6db7-40ce-bce4-403c58c1bdef%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.