I fly-fished for wild trout and smallmouth bass (and anything else that bit) for over 10 years, but then lost interest and went back to spin fishing with lures. It has been almost 9 yrs since I seriously fly fished, but now have the itch to return. All of my old rods broke sometime ago so need to buy a new fly rod (maybe a combo). Not sure on the conditions of my reels. I am going practically nuts looking at all the combos out there for sale, so hoping for a little advice and direction. Can anyone recommend a good rod-reel combo that won't break the bank?

I plan on fly fishing for panfish, rainbow trout, black bass and white bass. I primarily fish small ponds, lakes, creeks, and bayous from the bank. Bass will be my primary target, but a lot of the "bass" combos are 9ft long and 7-8 wt, and that seems like way too much rod for me (based on my past experience).

Any suggestions?

TFO PRO II, 8 1/2' four piece 5wt with a Bass Pro Reel.

http://www.basspro.com/TFO-Professional-.../1307090631058/

My wife has the above rod in the purple casting for recovery version, and I have a TFO 9' 5wt Axiom, and a 8' and 10' TFO BVK 3wt. I am not affiliated with TFO in anyway. Just my honest opinion they can't be beat for the price and having broken a few the warranty is great.

Thanks mbarker68x. That is right around the maximum price I am willing to buy. If I would drop down to 7'6" what is the difference between the two sizes in addition to the obvious length?

Not much, the shorter rod will work well on the brushy creeks. but the longer one will be easier to roll cast and mend line. Either one can be worked around so its really personal preference. I use my 3wt for pretty much everything, and the 5wt is pretty much my striper/hybrid rod.

That a good recommendation

I just picked up the reddington combo 4wt at Gander mountain a couple weeks ago. It's not a bad deal at all, and filled a gap in my line up.

Going to put it to work here in a couple weeks and see how it does

Cabelas 3 forks they had them with the prestige reel for 99 bucks. I have the 7'6" 3wt , 8'6" 5 wt and a 9' 8wt. They are hard to beat for the money light weight and balance good. The 8'6" 5wt would be a good all around combo for you.

Right now Cabelas has their RLS+ Combo /Reel at the lowest I have seen it , $139.99 . COmes with everything , rod , reel (prespooled) carry bag . I bought this when it was $199.99 so sad to report it's so low now but my lost for not waiting . However I got 9' 5wt , 4-pc . Not tried it yet but have heard nothing but good about it and I can say the reel is not cast mold , great reel for sure !

Thanks for the tip. Cabelas has it listed as 320 dollars but on sale for $140 as you mentioned. Is it really worth the $320? If so, that is an amazing sale! Would a 4wt rod be able to handle a nice sized largemouth bass (1-3 lb'er) from creek or small lake?

4 wt seems to be the most popular here on the forum for what you want to do . Myself I went with a 5wt cause I like to have that little bit of extra strength just incase I needed it and it's actually the most popular wt size .