Madison River has Sage's on clearance.
You can get an FLi or Launch for less than $200.
http://www.mrfc.com/MadisonRiverShopping/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=4

Both the FLi and Launch are fine American made fly rods.
When I bought my saltwater rod I cast the FLi and the TICRx and chose the Sage hands down. It was just more forgiving (for my casting style), but still had the power I wanted. It also came with a rod case...

As for a reel, you can get a clearanced Lamson Velocity on ebay around $150 and Lamson Radius for around $100.
These are both machined instead of cast.
Orvis also runs their "$25 off" sales all the time so you could pick up a Battenkill Mid Arbor (machined) for around $100.

Thanks. I'll check out that sale. I have a pretty fast rod myself and rather like it. I have fished with a 5wt launch and wasn't particularly impressed. But I'll cast it again when I get out to backwoods to be sure. Thanks for the info!

I love the TFO's I have like 17 of them the cork dose suck but the good news is they will switch it out for you for $25 when it gets to the point it can no longer be used. I have 3 I need to take in right now.

you will not be disappointed with any of TFO products.

on reels I am a big fan of the okuma integrity reel its a tank.

The problem with the Intergrity is that if you put 100' of 8wt fly line you can only get about 80 yds of backing, on the 7/8 at least.

Have the 8/9 size and it holds quite a bit of backing not sure how much though

So I went to backwoods this afternoon and cast a few rods: the TiCr X, a sage launch (on sale), and after I went to a buddy's house and casted his Sage Fli. I was expecting to like the TiCr X the best but I actually like both the sage launch and Fli better. The TFO just didn't seem fast enough for me. I've been fishing with a pretty fast reddington that I love and the Sage just seemed to complement my casting style a little more. I could easily cast out all the line on the Sages and had to fight the TiCr X a little more than I wanted. So, I think I'm either gonna spring for the Launch on sale or pay a little more for the FLi. As usual this board has been awesome for advice so thanks to everyone for their 2 cents. Jury is still out on the reel though!

Both are good rods, but the Fli is a worth the extra money and probably more suited for what you want. Fli should be on sale too--Sage closed them out recently.

That's what I'm going to go with. They still have em on sale on that website but only the 9'6" version. Think I should still go for it given the longer rod?

There is a comment you don't see very often about the TiCr X. Many casters upline the TiCr X's to slow them down a little.

Rex

Sage just has a smooth casting rod.
I'd stick to 9'.
Any longer might get tiring to cast.
If you look around, you can still find 9' FLi's.

You don't hear that very often at all. But then again one of my favorite rods is the Sage TCX.

Yeah I'm definitely going for the Sage FLi 8wt 9' and the lamson konic 3.5 reel. Found a good deal on the konic with $70 rio line for $160. Unfortunately I don't think I'm going to be able to go down to Laguna Madre this weekend. Looks like it's gonna rain anyway.

Orvis Helios with a Mako Reel...

You can get that rig on ebay Frugally...

Just snagged the FLi for under $130! Pretty psyched about that. Now the reel...