Always happy to help with bringing the newly converted over to the Dark Side Mike. If there is a Mrs K it'll be your responsibility to stick-handle that end of the equation whenever a planned fishing trip with the guys coincidentally collides with her birthday or an anniversary .
Lots to consider, including first and foremost whether your preference is salt vs fresh water; sounds like the latter. Ok, river fishing vs lake? Or both?
What species of fish are you aiming for - salmon, trout, or steelhead (the Holy Grail of west coast fish, basically a sea going variety of rainbow trout that acts like a salmon and re-enters freshwater environments from the marine in order to spawn. Confused? Good! Having one of these babies hit your fly or lure is an experience you won't forget....). Or do they all sound good?
Fly fishing is a very technical type of fishing that literally takes years to become really good at. When starting out its more frustration than anything and its highly likely you'll catch more riverside shrubs and tree branches than fish. Anyone who fly fishes and remembers their formative years knows what I am talking about.
Probably easiest for you to start off with spin or bait casting. Not only is it a more intuitive and less technical style of fishing but the gear tends to be more affordable especially as your skill level improves. As you get better at fly fishing for example you can (and will be inclined to...trust me!) easily drop $1000 on a high end reel and $600-1000 on a rod. For a good intermediate 'rod and reel' of the spin cast variety you can get into that game for $400 all in, or less.
Other considerations boil down to how seriously you want to get into the sport, i.e. just casually cast off a shore - or a certain breakwater we're all familiar with on VV - or do you want to get into the waders and boots thing which our group does? Just for price point examples my last pair of waders were $350, my boots over $300 - but you can get into the sport with an entry level combination of the two from Canadian Tire for $100....
Alternatively there is belly boating which we also do (imagine an over sized inner tube with webbing you literally sit down in and flippers on your feet that fit through the harness and which you use to propel yourself around a lake or river). What about drift fishing, where you typically hire a guide to row you down the best spots of a river in a guide boat - the Cowichan for example - and all you have to do is focus on is casting and retrieving and hopefully catching fish?
Before that awful fire that clobbered the business I would have recommended you speak to the fine folks at Island Outfitters who are excellent at providing sound advice for novice up to the expert level. Until they get back on their feet there are lots of online resources you can review to get up to speed, not to mention a boatload (pun intended) of YouTube videos that illustrate everything from how to tie a lure or fly, to the various styles of fishing - all filmed here in BC and many here on VI.
Also feel free to fire away with questions I'm sure between Langford Rat and me and few others we can steer you in a generally good direction. Also with some notice I'm always happy to meet over a beer Mike.
Here is but one example of an instructional "how to" video using a bait casting rod and reel setup. You'll need patience as its long (17 minutes) - but you'll get a rough idea of how many different fishing possibilities and styles and setups are available, maybe most critically notice how technical his set is: this is a long long way from a wooden pole and a worm on a hook but its typical of things you need to consider if you are going to get into serious river fishing, and be successful at it:
https://www.youtube....h?v=R8jUoyCiNZ4