Mike wrote:
Again thanks for all the imput and info. It is well appreceated. The latest
video I picked up was Fly Fishing Made Easy from Scientific Anglers, Brian
& Judith O'Keefe are the instructors. The local hunting/fishing store over
in Mo. (just a few miles away) have an assortement of fly equipment but
since they mainly deal with bass fishermen they are not up on fly fishing.
The have some Flueger fly rods in the $40-$50 range in 8-9 ft. lengths but
the reels are the cheap $10. martins. Also was looking at the complete
outfits in Bass Pro and Cabela's catalogs. They have complete outfits in the
80-100 dollare range. Might be better off going that way since the WF line
is included.

There are good reasons to go with a Bass Pro or Cabela's outfit
but the fly line is not one of them. You will almost always want
to replace the fly line included with the entry priced outfits
with a decent fly line.

The second most important piece of equipment in fly fishing after
the fly rod is the fly line. Trying to learn to cast with a bad
fly line is a beginner's worst nightmare.

The fly reel, on the other hand, is just a place to store the
fly line in a bluegill-sized outfit. The cheap Martins will work
just fine as will a Pflueger Medalist. When I built bluegill
fly fishing outfits for my nieces I put Pflueger Medalist 1492's
on them for about $20 apiece as I recall.

Others here have first-hand experience with the Cabela's outfits
and are better able to give you recommendations on them. Good luck.

--
Ken Fortenberry