I have never fly fished, but I am looking to get into it this fall. My main application will be brookies in small/ shallow mountain streams, although I may use it for river smallies from time to time. I'm hoping to stay at or below $200 on this rig, although I can be persuaded to spend a little more if there really is a benefit that is noticeable for a beginner.
The guy in the BPS fly shop said I should go with an 8'6" rod with 5 line weight and pointed me to a White River combo for $75. Is the White River worth anything, or can I get something noticeably better within my price range? How does the St. Croix Premier and the entry level Orvis stack up to others in their price range?
I've been reading up on tackle, and I have learned that reels aren't very important when fishing for small fish. The native brookies I will be fishing for tend to be pretty small (9-12"), so I plan to get a Pflueger Medalist or something similar, based on how much I spend on the rod and line.
As for line, I know absolutely nothing. Being used to spending $5.99 for a spool of Trilene mono for my baitcast and spinning rigs, I was pretty shocked to see the price of fly line. If you have any advice to offer in this regard, I'm all ears.
Thanks for any and all advice you can pass along.
The guy in the BPS fly shop said I should go with an 8'6" rod with 5 line weight and pointed me to a White River combo for $75. Is the White River worth anything, or can I get something noticeably better within my price range? How does the St. Croix Premier and the entry level Orvis stack up to others in their price range?
I've been reading up on tackle, and I have learned that reels aren't very important when fishing for small fish. The native brookies I will be fishing for tend to be pretty small (9-12"), so I plan to get a Pflueger Medalist or something similar, based on how much I spend on the rod and line.
As for line, I know absolutely nothing. Being used to spending $5.99 for a spool of Trilene mono for my baitcast and spinning rigs, I was pretty shocked to see the price of fly line. If you have any advice to offer in this regard, I'm all ears.
Thanks for any and all advice you can pass along.