I am in the market for a beginner outfit. My father and his father were flymen back on the streams in PA and taught me 15 years ago how to fly fish. I want to get back into it around my house on Richland Chambers. I dont want to spend $500 on an outfit but I want something nice that I can see if this is something I can get into.

I don't know where you live, but this outfit can be had at Backwoods in Ft Worth, Bass Pro, Cabelas, or Tailwaters in Dallas.
http://www.templeforkflyrods.com/outfits/nxt.html
Hard to beat for the price, and carrys a no fault warranty too!

Les

Richland Chambers lake. What about Redington Crosswater???

I got a 20.00 cheapo beginner kit from Wal-Mart lol..its made by shakespeare...I gotta say it works..I have caught my fair shair of Bass and Bluegills on it and even one crappie....but I'm sure its not as good as a 200.00 one..I can cast it pretty far but you can tell..its a cheapo

I don't own one, but I've heard good things about it.
Hmmm... Gander Mountain is closest, and I suppose this is what you have in mind:

http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/pr...ton%20fly%20rod


Not nearly if the Crossover matches the NXT in quality, and I am unsure if your warranty matches up as well, but for a $100.00 hard to go wrong.

I looked at the Crosswater when I got started, but I really didn't like the fact that the reel was graphite. From what I've seen and heard the graphite reels just aren't that durable over the long term.

I actually started out with that Shakespere outfit and although it isn't bad, the difference between that green fiberglass rod and even an inexpensive graphite will boggle your mind, not to mention what a decent weight forward line will do for feeling the rod load etcetera.

My balance point between quality and price at the moment is met pretty well by the Three Forks Combos at Cabelas . You get a good rod, a nice reel, fly line and backing at a pretty affordable price. I'm a cheapskate, so the place where my diminishing returns graph begins to flatten is a bit cheaper than a lot of folks who fly fish, but it allows me to have a couple of outfits for the cost of one of the more expensive variety.

I think Basspro has a similar line of combos that seem to work well, but I don't have any experience with them. Welcome to the forum and enjoy your time on the water.

TXRaider,
Go back to Gander Mountain- he's at Richland Chambers- those others stores aren't as close.

My apologies, I didn't realize that distance was a factor. I usually let the nice man in the big brown truck do the driving.

The drive is no problem I'm all over DFW

The NXT rods from TFO that were mentioned earlier are nice setups. I bought my wife one of them for her first rod and I have been impressed with how well it casts.

Rex

I bought an 8wt Crosswater rod last year. I like it. I did not like the reel that comes in a combo package with it. I bought instead a Ross reel from Cabelas that had preloaded line on it. I like that reel too, it is my favorite. Back then the reel was about 60 bucks. The rod was about 80. I have no idea what this stuff runs now. I also have a Dogwood Canyon 5wt that is a good combo for a beginner. I dropped the reel and broke it. I then upgraded to a Hobbs Creek reel, and things have been smooth since then. I cannot speak for the other stuff, cause this is all I have. I like what I have of course. I think they are about as good as you can get for the money's worth. The Dogwood Canyon combo was about 90 dollars back when I got it a few years ago. I hope this helps.

TxJole,
I'll keep this short. If you stop by Bass Pro Garland our Fly Fishing staff will SHOW you good stuff anf if you're ready, FIT you with what goes best in your hand and hip pocket. period.

The TFO Lefty Krey signature series are a good combo deal too. I own two of them.

What about Bass Pros White River stuff? Any good? Who makes their blanks?

Well I think i'm down to these 2, what do you think?
http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores...5001000_175-1-3

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores...5001000_175-1-3