Help me pick out an outfit

[breadboy]

Hello members, I just joined here and am going to start flyfishing more this season. I want to upgrade from my poor $20 walmart 5/6 outift.

I would like to get some advice on what weight of rod I should get so I can upgrade and enjoy flyfishing more. I have a $150 budget, and am fairly set on going with the Hobbs Creek combo from Bass Pro (I have gotten good reviews of it). It goes for $113. I like to fish for just about everything that pulls, so I want it to be versatile. I like catching bream, but I would love to hook up on a carp. I have caught those on UL tackle and they run hard! I would also like to catch bass, and possibly american shad in the future. Like I said I want the outfit to be as versatile as possible.

What weight would you suggest for me to get? I was thinking either a 5 or 6 weight so I could cast flies that are larger than the standard for bluegills. I want to fish for carp and bass, would a 5 or 6 be to light? Or could I even get by with a 4 weight??? I still want to enjoy catching panfish, and want a rod light enough so that the little guys still put up a good fight. I know how to fight large fish properly on UL spinning tackle, if that helps any (I am not a beginner to fishing, just flyfishing). Sorry if this is a dumb question, thank you for your time.

 

[lryansl]

I caught a lot of carp on a St. Croix 5w I think the biggest was just over 10 pounds and it work just fine but I think anything bigger and you would want to go with an 8w.

 

[breadboy]

I dont intend on pursuing fish over 10 lbs with this outift. But I would still like to cast medium sized flies, like 2-3" streamers for things like bass (like a size 4 or 6 clouser for example).

 

[santo]

breadboy,

If you're looking to toss out 2-3" flies then you will want a rod and a line that will be able to load up the line and get it out there. 8wt with a weight forward line.

If you want to just upgrade your outfit. Depending on how much you want to spend, go to a local fly shop and tell them what you want and how much you want to spend. Test out a few different rods with different lines. Don't worry about your reel to much. All the reel does is hold the line so no need to go buck wild on $$$ with that. The line and the rod are more important.

santo

 

[ThePriestmaker]

Santo, thats a very sensible answer, regarding the reel. I see so many anglers on UK waters with $300 reels, when as you say, all it does is hold line.
I use a Scierra WC3, , 3 spare spools, cartridge change,, wide arbour.
I cant comment on what rod to use for fish I know nothingabout, but Id say a 7/8 9ft6 will handle most situatuions/.

 

[BigCliff]

I would go with a 9' 6wt. TFO and ECHO make great ones for the money fly fishing - fly fishing gear

 

[derekw68]

I have a tfo ticrx 5wt that I use for bluegill and smaller bass. I do like my tfo in the 5wt. I noticed on ebay they have a lot of tfo's new in your price range, so since it is new you would get the lifetime warranty. I have caught some nice bass( 8lbs) on the 5 wt and it was a lot of fun.