Headed to the Santa Fe National Forest and I'm looking to get a 8' 4wt rod and reel.

I've looked around some but I'm not sure what I should get. I don't want to spend $500 since I'm hopefully going to be moving back to Central Texas in the next year.

For small rivers and creeks, would the TFO and White River outfits from BPS be OK or do I need to look into something like the St. Croix Imperial rods?

There ought to be no problem with the TFO or White River outfits. More important than spending money is spending time becoming proficient with the rig that is chosen.

I have an 8' 4wt TFO Pro II paired with a Lamson Liquid reel loaded with SA GPX and I absolutely love it. Got it a couple months ago and it has absolutely been my go to setup since.

Cabelas Three Forks combo is cheap but good, look into that as well.

Second TFO. All rods are in my house are TFO, but I do not own a 4wt. I Seem to pick up my 3wt BVK 90% of the time. Other 10% my 5wt Axiom. Wife has a 5wt Casting for Recovery that she used up in Colorado, but yet to use it back here in Central Tx.

Honestly I'd just look for something on sale. Any of the higher quality Brands are good, reddington, tfo, sage, I like the cabelas l tech rod myself and I have one in that very size. Awesome rod. Bought it on sale for $45. If you're looking for the best bargain at normal retail price I'd go with the tfo, but just shop around there are several good Brands.

I have the Cabela's Three Forks in that config and it's really a surprisingly good taper, better even than the 3wt. The Prestige Plus combo is on sale right now. I looked for a reasonable 8' 4wt and didn't really like most of what I found in a 4pc. I use that rod more than any other. I have premium rods as well, just none in that config.

I have a 7'6" 3wt Cabela's Three Forks and I have to say that the quality of the rod didn't hold up. The reel seat has come unconnected twice. The first time I had only had the rod for a couple months. Took it back, they gave me a new one. That was about 6 months ago, haven't used it a lot since then and it has been in a rod tube in my closet. Gave it to a friend to use in the creek this weekend and the reel seat came disconnected again. I'm just going to glue it back on myself this time.

I have a brand new St Croix 8 foot 4 piece 4 weight I bought 4-5 years ago as a spare kayak rod. I never needed it. I'd sell it for $85 plus cost of shipping-p-

Agreed on the reel seat on the 3Forks. My 3wt came apart and I re-glued it. The 4wt loosened a little so I replaced the seat and cork with something nicer. It's now almost as nice as my other rods.

Pearow, what model is that St Croix?

Yep, the 3forks rods that I have had in the past did the same thing once. I used 5 min epoxy to put it back together again and used them hard for several months before they went to a new home. 2 1/2 years later they are still going strong.

its called "premier"-p-

I've never cast a St. Croix fly rod, but have been very impressed with their ultralight spinning rods and have several (including two they replaced after my son stepped on them). I'd giv them high marks for both quality and customer service.

Hard to measure differences in rods of this weight (IMO). Love my BVK though, and is my Oklahoma rod of choice.

So right now I'm deciding between getting a Fenwick HMG and going with just a White River Hobbs Creek Reel and the Scientific Angler Mastery MPX fly line or going with the Cabelas Three Forks outfit.

The biggest thing I'm worried about is getting to a spot and the Cabelas breaks ruining the day of fishing. I'll take 5 minute epoxy with me though just in case.

My in-laws aren't too far from Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake and that's a sunfish lake so I could possibly use it for catching some sunnies in the Austin area. So it might be worth it to get something a little better like the Fenwick.