Met up with a guy at a small neighborhood pond the other day, and he was having a blast with the panfish and small bass on a light weight fly rod. We talked for a while. And I know his rig was a couple hundred bucks, but he mentioned that cabelas had a starter set for a little over $100. Anybody have experience with this quality level of equipment? I don't want to waste my money, but I only hit the ponds for a couple hours once or twice a month, so I also don't wanna get in over my head.

Any advice?

Yes. Get the Cabelas rig. Get the Cabelas box of flies called Panfish Assortment or something like that. Get some extra leaders. Or just tie your own from 8-10# stren like me. Then go fish. Bring some forceps too.

Wind river outfit from Cabelas should be in your price range. Its a decent outfit to get started with. Spend some extra money and get a decent fly line and you'll be good to go . Oh don't forget some poppers and foam spiders

If I was to start all over again, and fish small ponds for panfish and bass, I would go with the Cabela's Three Forks 3wt combo. It runs $79.99, add some flies and a spool of Tippett and you can be out the door right around $100. I have had both the three forks 3wt and a wind river 5 wt. the wind river was purchased and broke while assembling it to fish the first time. Took it back and got the three forks. Fished it for a little over a year with no issues. Was a blast, landing everything from 3" panfish, 1# bass, stocker trout, carp, and channel cats up to 24". If I hadn't gotten hooked on TFO for there warranty, I would probably still be fishing the three forks series.

In a word, yes.

OK, more words. Basically what they said. The Cabelas starter and budget stuff are actually excellent equipment to learn on.

I've had my Cabelas Three Forks 3wt setup for a few years now. I bought it the first year I started fly flinging and have been happy with it since. It's a great little stick, the reel works fine, and the original fly line that came with it was OK. I reached my current level of happiness with it when I upgraded to better line.

If you're really lucky, they put those outfits on sale from time to time for around twenty bucks off. They're a steal at that price.

Good luck and let us know what you get into!

my sentiments exactly; I have several three weights but I will pull out my little three forks 3 weight most often; its a nice little rod regardless of price; the older ones were a tad better than the newer ones but the differences are minimal. I also have a little bass pro 3 weight and its nice; just look for a sale-p-

the cabelas combo and keep an eye online for their ads, they go on sale regularly. But be warned its not something you're going to casually get into. It is an addicting and can be a rather expensive hobby. It always starts with a cheap starter combo, then a rod/reel upgrade, then tying supplies, then different weight gear.........

Oh yea, I'm used to hobbies that snowball. They all start small. I'm hoping I can get one pretty soon, and get the casting down by July. We're taking a trout trip to Utah. We usually fish light spinning gear and power bait, but this would be way more fun.

be sure to go by cabelas or bps if you can they have free casting clinics regularly and even just popping in to chat with the staff can be really helpful. If you're in dallas the guys at Tailwaters are great and super friendly but I think they charge for casting help. From what I've heard the backwoods staff in fort worth is good too just never been there personally

bringing both on the Utah trip would be a blast, what river are you gonna be on?

We fish several small lakes near park city. And a larger one called Strawberry lake. When the conditions are right, it's all sight fishing.

And thanks for the tips on the clinics, ill be doing that for sure.

The three forks combo is $89. Get some panfish poppers and wooly buggers. I've had the 8wt for three years now.

i was looking at the 3 forks with the prestige reel. Comes with backing, line, and leader. or would i be better off going with one that didnt come with line, and buy my own?

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Fishing/Fly-Fishing/Fly-Fishing-Rod-Reel-Combos%7C/pc/104793480/c/104721480/sc/105571980/Cabelas-Three-ForksPrestige-Plus-Fly-Combo-with-Fly-Line/711520.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Ffly-fishing-rod-reel-combos%2F_%2FN-1102570%2FNs-MIN_SALE_PRICE%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104793480%253Bcat104721480%26WTz_stype%3DGNU&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104793480%3Bcat104721480%3Bcat105571980

this one looks to be the same combo minus the line.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Fishing/Fly-Fishing/Fly-Fishing-Rod-Reel-Combos%7C/pc/104793480/c/104721480/sc/105571980/Cabelas-Three-ForksPrestige-Plus-Fly-Combo/1545673.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Ffly-fishing-rod-reel-combos%2F_%2FN-1102570%2FNs-MIN_SALE_PRICE%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104793480%253Bcat104721480%26WTz_stype%3DGNU&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104793480%3Bcat104721480%3Bcat105571980