[peregrines]

WOW Chlebel, you really are a catch!!! Do you have a sister?

For a budget like that, you can buy a rockin' rod, reel AND line.

For an all around trout set up, i would look to spend a little less on the reel, and put more towards a rod, with a very good fly line from Scientific Anglers, Rio, or Wulff (about $60).

You have a ton of choices for quality rods and reels to consider, and a good fly shop can walk you through all the choices and let you and your bf try out different rod actions. Hopefully they will also throw in casting lessons and give you a discount if you buy everything in one place.

Just an example of stuff to consider might be:

4 piece 9' 5 or 6 weight rods and reels at some different price points:

around $300-ish ($150 TFO Pro or Echo Classic rod and $60-75 Orvis Battenkill Disc Drag, Okuma SLV-56 reel, and $60 fly line)

around $400-ish ($200-225 TFO TiCr, Winston Ascent, or Sage Launch rod, $130 Lamson Konic reel and $60 fly line)

around $500 ( $250-300 G. Loomis Xperience, Winston Vapor, Scott A2, Sage FLi, TFO Axiom, or TFO TiCr-X rod, $130-150 Lamson Konic, Teton Tioga, or Ross Cimarron reel and $60 fly line.)

Around $600-ish, same $300 rods as above, $200 Teton, Teton Specialist, Ross Rhythm, Galvin Standard, or Galvin Rush fly reel and $60 line.

This isn’t meant to be an all inclusive list, lot’s of other good choices too. When shopping around, look for lifetime guarantees on rods (or replacement for a small $20-30 fee) and reels. For reels over $70, you would be looking for a sturdy all metal construction, smooth dual drag, and salt water corrosion proof. For reels over $100, you would want them ideally to be CNC machined (not die cast) out of barstock, and type 3 anodized. Don’t consider any reels in this category unless they are saltwater proof with smooth dual drags. Most of these rods should come with a protective PVC or aluminum tube, but some don’t. Figure in another $30 or so if it doesn’t.

For a saltwater set up (and also steelhead/salmon/pike) it would be hard to beat a 9 weight TFO rod, and Teton Tioga reel combination for about $350-450 depending on the rod including $60 line.. Lot’s of bang for the buck. And it’s a very popular combination here in the NE salt. But I would think it’s probably best to learn on a medium fast action trout rod first. For saltwater, you or your boyfriend might want a faster action for casting longer distances and dealing with wind, but it’s a tad less forgiving for new casters...

Hope this helps.

peregrines

PS I hope you're leaving some $$$'s aside for YOUR fly fishing outfit.

[chlebel]

hahahaha, no, no sister! But I do have a young mother who is single lol! She's also a big fishing lady!

Thanks a lot for the advice guys! I am going to print these pages out and bring it in with me to a fly shop. He hasn't gone fly fishing before but he wants to get started, so he is a beginner when it comes to fly fishing and experienced with regular fishing.

We are making plans to buy a big boat together, which will make him a very happy guy!

I think come spring we'll pretty much be living on the lakes here lol

~c

[peregrines]

Chlebel

Good luck, keep us posted. I'm sure you'll have a ton of questions as you get deeper and deeper into all this stuff. A good fly shop will help you narrow down the choices based on where/what you and your bf will be fishing. And they'll help match up a fly line to the rod to get a great match. There are a ton of different fly line tapers and all kinds of things to consider which can make your head explode, but they can rig up some different rods and lines and let you have at it to see what works best. Try a few out to get a feel for different rod actions-- a lot of it comes down to personal choice and casting style, there is no "best".

Is this a surprise gift? If not, it would be best to take him along of course. If it is, you could get him a couple of flies or something as a present, along with a hand written card from you about the fly gear (rather than committing your self to spending x $'s on a gift certificate from a particular fly shop). That way you're not locked into that specific fly shop in the event you want to shop around at a few others to look stuff over.

Good luck, and let us know when you want to get cranking on the fly tying....

peregrines

P.S. Say "hey" to your mom for me.

peregrines