I've been reading you guys forum lately and everyone here seems pretty helpful. Never fly fished before and am thoroughly confused regarding equipment. I hope you can offer some advice.

I'm not in a position to buy more than 1 set up and am wondering what a good "all purpose" #wt rod would be for a beginner, fishing from the bank of a community pond filled with BG's, LMB's, Cats, and is stocked w/Rainbows in winter. So, ideally, I'm looking for something that won't be overkill or underkill AND would be good to learn on. Does that exist, LOL?

Thanks in advance!

alright first thing you need to cast any rod you look at regardless of the weight and I am told that over weighting it helps, meaning if you get a 4wt rod putting 5wt line on it. so with that said I suggest a 4 to 5 wt. In a comm pond you arent going to be fighting anything giant and probably wont need to wrry about fighting too much wind. TFO offers several and you can get them at the bass pro. I hear they are great about repairs and the warranty is awesome.

I second what wylie said. A good all around setup is a 4 to 5wt. Then when you're "hooked" you will wind up with 10 or 20 different rods in various sizes.

In my opinion, you should go pick up a complete setup from somewhere like academy, cabelas or bp in the 5wt range. I would get the cheapest complete combo (rod, reel, backing, line) you can find. With this, you can try out fly fishing without spending a ton of money. If you like it, great, stick with the combo you got or upgrade. If you don't, you're not out a lot of money.

I don't think you should worry about casting what you are buying because if you've never cast a fly rod, how will you know what you are looking for.

When I got started 16 years ago, I did exactly what I described above. I got a $20 complete setup from WalMart and used it for about a year or two. Once I knew I was going to stick with it, I moved up to some Orvis equipment. By the way, I still used that WalMart rod up until I broke it a couple months ago. Best 20 bucks I've ever spent.

I started with the Walmart setup and later moved up to a Cabelas Three Forks combo. I'm all about getting the best bang for your buck, but the only reason that I kept fishing with the Wally World rig was that I was too stubborn to stop. Because I had never taken any lessons, I didn't know how to feel the rod load and the fact that the Wally World rig came with level fly line made that even more difficult.

man I bet a 3-4# bass is a blast on a fly rod! might have to get me one!

Is there a Bass Pro, Cabela's, LL Bean, or Orvis store in Houston?

All of the above offer free fly fishing classes where a qualified (usually certified) instructor would teach you everything you need to know to get you started without any pressure sales tactics.

If none of the above, head to Wal-Mart and get you a Scientific Anglers Quick Start Combo. It has a DVD, Rod, Reel, Line, Leader, Backing, and I believe a few flies in it. Get the 6wt. It runs about $70 or so. Watch the DVD a time or 2. Find the local Federation of Fly Fishers club closest to you www.fedflyfishers.org , go to a meeting, make a friend who can help you out, and go fishing!

All good advice above.

But I see you are in Houston, so I'll ask if you have any desire to saltwater fish also? If so, you might keep that in mind when purchasing your first outfit.

Attend a class first (basspro, cabelas, etc...). When I worked at BP we used to give the students who took the free class a 10% discount on any combo they bought.

Just an idea

Thanks for the tips folks. This stuff is like a foriegn language to me.

From the info I've picked up on here and other places, I was thinking in the #4-5 wt. range, but just wondered what you guys/gals thought. To the folks who recommended the Wally World or BPS combo, that's pretty much what I had in mind...both are close to the house. Not looking to spend a ton and I've heard pretty good reviews of the BPS branded stuff.

BBrown, or anyone else, I do live in West Houston. While I never really thought of salt fishing with this, who knows..I just may if I like it (It's fishing - I can't imagine I wont, lol). I actually have had more opportunity in the past to salt fish than fresh. What are considerations if I want to fish the salt? No boat here, so would be doing the pier, shore, surf thing. And how does salt figure into my initial desire for "all around" versatility??

Lessons, huh...I'll have to look into that at the BPS. Didn't realize there was such a thing, lol.

Also, How's it work as far as the flies are concerned.. I mean if I wind up with a larger #wt considering the salt fishing (I'm guessing), can you still use the smaller lures, say for freshwater panfishes...or is it the other way around?

Thanks again for all the tips folks!

Just thinking maybe a dual use reel and rod (saltwater proof) might work in both fresh and salt.

Ah, ok. Thanks, I'll have to look into that.

You can cast small flies with a big rod, but no big flies with a small rod...impossible

Not impossible just very impractical.

Well of course, Its close to impossible to throw a big mouse pattern on a 4-5 wt rod though, without unhooking yourself a few times.