Hello. I've never owned or fished with a fly rod in my life, but have always wanted to. I'm thinking of going with a 3wt. Does anyone know of a 3wt or 4wt combo for sale that's not over 125. Don't want to spend a lot with it being my first one. I don't care if it's used. Thanks for the help.

Even a 2wt would be great for panfish also if snyone knows of any.

Bass Pro and Cabelas both can hook you up.
Personally, I'd start with the four just because most do better learning on a geavier rod. But that's just the overall picture.

I love my reddington 3wt 7'6" classic trout with cabelas $30 reel. You can probably find the rod for $100 on cabelas website right now.

What are your goals? If you get a 3 wt, you can always uplink with WF4 line, but casting the line especially UL lines is important. I'd get with a local fly fishing clue and get help with a casting instructor. In fact RexW of this board is certified casting instructor.


Les

I would not recommend any beginner starting off with a 2 or 3 weight fly rod. Learning to cast is much better in my opinion with a 5 or 6 weight and learning to fly fish will be much easier with a rod that can handle brim, bass, white bass, catfish, etc. With the lighter rod you are limiting yourself while the learning curve is the greatest. I would enjoy seeing what Rex has to say about this. As a casting instructor he probably has an opinion based upon experience-p-
(I have lots of used fly rods for sale and some cheap newly built ones)

In my case I started with the 50.00 5wt combo from Academy and struggled with it. I knew it just didn't feel right and I could do better. Then before we went to LMF to trout fish I took casting lessons from Backwoods in Ft. Worth and wow what a difference. There is no way I could have done as well starting out with a 2-3wt. I now have upgraded to a TFO 5wt with Rio Gold WF line and I feel I could catch anything with this setup but after more casting experience with this I will be adding a UL to the arsenal. I guess what I'm saying is I agree with above to start with a good 5wt. you will be happier.

In my opinion the 2 weight is the best all round Ultra Light for Panfish, BUT as those above have stated a 5 weight is probably the best to learn to cast with, as a light rod it is more difficult to "feel" the weight of the line and therefore get your timing right.
I too would recommend an experienced casting instructor.
I am self taught and battled for a long time to get it right maybe still have not.
A flyfisher who is experienced can help but a qualified instructor is the way to a short learning curve.

I'm no authority like some of the posters here, but another issue with inexpensive "starter combos" is that they always come with a cheap line that won't perform as it should. Tends to lengthen the learning curve. It's always funny to swap reels with a guy who's struggling, and when he gets a decent line on that same rod his performance improves immediately. Once you have the basics down you need a decent line.

Is there any way you can make it to Fly Fish Texas next Saturday at the Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, TX?

TFO Rods will be there with their Demo rods. You'd have a chance to cast and compare the different size rods. So, you could cast a 2 wt, a 3 wt, a 4 wt, and any other size you are interested in. Then you can decide for yourself which rod best fits your needs. You will also be able to take a casting class. And I'll be explaining fly lines at a 1:00 presentation. If you can make it over there next Saturday, it will shorten you learning curve and can help save money in the long run.

Personally, I recommend beginning fly fishers start in the mid-range sizes, from 4 wt's to 8 wt's depending on how you plan to use it. The very light weight rods and the heavier weight rods can frustrating to learn to cast. With poor casting technique, the heavy rods can be exhausting to cast.

The challenge with the ultra-light rods is that to get any real distance with them, the good timing and casting technique is critical. You are also limited to smaller fly sizes. But the biggest challenge with ultra-light rods is the wind. It can be very challenging to cast light lines in the wind.

If at all possible, I recommend casting different size rods before buying to decide what is best for you.

Good luck!

Rex makes good point about coming to fly fish Texas.

Here's another point I feel should make- I rarely recommend UL rods for a novice trying to learn casting. Everyone here knows I'm a UL guy, but I think that feeling the rod load -which is the center point to casting -is best learned in heavier rods. Once you've mastered some basic casting, then try lighter lines.

Les

I�m with keebranch on UL

We have use a TFO 3Wt 7�9� 4pc for about 4 year for sunfish and about 18 mo ago we got 2 TFO Finesse 1Wt 6�9� 4pc just for sunfish. It did take sometime to get the feeling of these 1Wt before it became fun to fish with it. Now it the only fly rod we use in April and May when the sunfish are on the beds.

I just picked up a 4wt Cabelas CGR for my wife and I think it's going to be a really fun little rod. Fiberglass, full flex, and cheap at $79 currently. They have a few different sizes but that 4wt would make a great beginner's panfish rod.

for a beginner a 4 weight glass is about like a 1 weight graphite; big learning curve-p-

That ain't a lie. Sometimes an older glass 6wt is the way to go just to learn the way the rod loads. Fenwicks tended to be faster and easier for graphite users to learn the feel.

Les