beginner fly fishing

Question
Greetings.  I live in Chicago.  I have a two week vacation in June but can not travel because wife will be seven months pregnant.  I have never fly fished, and only have moderate spin cast experience.  But I would like to teach myself the basics of fly fishing in those two weeks (can not afford a guide/lessons right now).  So, does that sound feasible to you?  Can an average angler living in a big city with moderate experience teach oneself?  I will be able to spend 4-5 hours a day practising.  This will entail watching fly videos rented from a library and initial casting practise at a nearby park.  After the first week, if all goes accordingly, I will switch to a nearby lagoon to practise casting on panfish.

Second, any advice on beginner fly reel/rod combos.  Size? Brands?  Price? I have started to look around a little.  I have seen cheap combos on ebay (Martins, Eagle Claw, Shakespeare, etc) for as low as $40 and Cabella's house brand for around $100.  Can't afford much right now.  Hoping to just get the basics down now before I have more time and money to really invest.  Possible?

Thank you for any advice you are able to share.  I promise to keep any further questions less than book length.  

Answer
Joseph,
Thank you for the question, and I hope I'm able to help you out.

You most definitely can teach yourself fly-fishing.  I did this when I was 15 years old, and did quite well on bluegill, crappie, and some bass.

One very important thing to remember is that the same amount of line you desire in front of you, will go the full length behind you.  This is important for two reasons.  One, to have enough clearance, and two, the line should go completely back before starting forward.

You will be reading and hearing about a lot of fancy types of fly line, such as weight forward, middle weight, and tapers.  Go with level line to start.  This is what I did, and still use when I use this style of fishing.

Another thing you can do to practice anywhere, even in the house, is to take a long piece of string, with a piece of yarn tied to the end, and tie it to a shorter stick (maybe about 3 feet long).  You can get the basic idea and feel for bringing the line backwards and forwards, without handling it like a whip.  Whipping the line is the one big mistake made by people first starting to learn.  Pull off short pulls of line as you work out for longer casts.  Don't go for the 搘hole hog?to start.

Don't worry about the other styles of casting, like rolling the line on the surface, until you get more experience.  Stick to the basic cast, and make sure you have plenty of room in all directions, and try to cast with the wind, rather than against it.

As for tackle, the reel is for line storage, so you don't need anything fancy.  In fact, the reel I use is the same one I started with when I was 15.  It is an off brand, automatic line retrieve.  Manual retrieve will work as well, it just requires cranking in the line slowly on a 1:1 gear ratio reel.

Rod length is another consideration.  An 8 feet length is about average.

In recommending brands, I would say to take a look at South Bend and Berkley.  I think these companies still have complete starter packages.  I used to be on the South Bend pro staff, and they had some package deals with rod, reel and line.  There were two brands under South Bend, with the best being Crystal River.  I would suggest you visit the websites for both of these companies, and also Garcia, since they are owned by Pure Fishing, who also owns Berkley.

Brands of line would be Cortland and Berkley.  Of course, if it is one of the aforementioned package outfits, the line will be supplied.

Flies are another consideration.  I would suggest some small poppers, Royal Coachman, Montana, Black Knat, and white and gray streamer.  You can also use some very small 1/80 and 1/100 ounce marabou jigs in white, yellow or chartreuse, black and olive.  These will work for most species, and if you are looking for bass you may want to include some larger poppers.
You mentioned spin casting.  Although not the same type of fly fishing, you can use a water filled casting bubble, with a leader (4 to 7 feet), to fish a fly.  I've done this a lot for trout in the White River and Bull Shoals Lake.

By the way, I too am from Illinois, but on the other side of the state.  One of the magazines, Midwest Outdoors, that carries my Dan's Fish 慛' Tales?is published in the Chicago area.

I hope this will help you out, and if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Have a great fishing vacation, and give your wife my best wishes.

Best of fishing,
Dan