Looking to buy a fly fishing combo and thought about this starter set:

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_103317_175001003_175000000_175001000_175-1-3

any thoughts.

I'm sure it's a fine rod and reel for the price.  It'll be fine to learn on.  Could you get a better rod? Certainly. Could you get better for $50? Probably not.  Try it out and see if you like flyfishig and then spend the money on a better set up.

Like trying out any new thing, be honest with yourself: Are you the type that quickly gets into stuff, only to lose interest? Or do you begin with a "starter kit" for whatever it is and quickly outgrow it, and have to turn around and upgrade? If it's the latter, you might try one of the flyrod/reel combo's a little further up the quality ladder.

Like trying out any new thing, be honest with yourself: Are you the type that quickly gets into stuff, only to lose interest? Or do you begin with a "starter kit" for whatever it is and quickly outgrow it, and have to turn around and upgrade? If it's the latter, you might try one of the flyrod/reel combo's a little further up the quality ladder.

i know exactly what you mean. last summer i found fly tying and i enjoyed it very very much, but doing it everyday for a good amount of time lost my interest. i also jumped right into fly fishing but used my dad's old fly pole. fly fishing is very fun but pretty frustrating at times. my advice: everyone should try it atleast once, both panfishing/bassin' and trout fishin'. also, fly tying is a good time waster and doesnt cost alot of money. just my two cents!

LJ

Didn't look at the rig, but there are lots of good outfits nowadays. I think others advice is good; start easy and find out if your inteerst has the staying power to get you far enough into FF. It isn't easy and this is frustrating. If you really want to give it a fair shake I have two pieces of advice:

-Get some casting instruction from someone who knows how to teach it.

-The fly-line is CRITICAL to minimizing frustration. I am not up on fly-lines of the last few years, but 10 years ago a "beginners" fly-line was garbage IMO. If the line you end up with is soft enough that it sags in the guides, I urge you to get a better one. Better lines have a harder coating that makes them stiffer, and they move (and can shoot) through the guides WAY better. If you cannot, or do not wish to, invest in a good line, then realize the handicap is not all yours. Distance and line handling (a huge part of FF) will be harder to achieve. And learn to "roll cast". Keep in mind though, that FF is mostly a short range game. More like hunting with archery gear than with a rifle.

FF is VERY satisfying, but it takes time and practice to gain the control you need to be really effective. 

Check Cabelas brand also,they have some really decent combos also..

I started out last year with 1 combo and ended up with 3 by the end of the year

My dad taught me how to flyfish when i was 12 and i am still using the old rods he used as a kid and they work fine.  I think the setup looks good just try it out and after you get proficient at casting im sure you'll be hooked for life

IMHO even if you were to buy a very economical starter rig only to find that you quickly "grew out of it", having two rigs never hurts. It's not like you have a lot invested in the first one. Then you have a back-up in case something happens to your "upgraded" rig, you have a spare rig in case one of your fishin' buddies wants to give it a shot, or you just have a different rig that even though it may be "entry level", you may end up preferring it over the other for certain situations.

I'm no "master fly angler by any stretch, but personally, I love it and I've never had any formal instruction and I use cheapie rods and reels It doesn't take long to be proficient enough to have a blast.

Choose your rod length to where you'll be fishing. If you like to fish rivers and streams, you may want a shorter rig. They not only cast more accurately, but will allow greater access in places with heavy shoreline bushes, trees, etc.. I also understand they're easier to learn to cast with, but like I said before, I didn't find it all that difficult. I think my 1st was 8'6". Oh, and be sure to wait on the line.

A little anecdote and one of my favorite fishing stories.. I'll probably never forget it...

I lived near the upper part of a Lake Erie tribuatary (Grand River) and I would access the river where a delapidated bridge had closed the (dirt) road it was on. I guess because of such low thru-traffic, they never bothered to fix it.. Anyway, I would park there and hike upstream about a half mile and fly fish for native smallies. I thought it was my secret hole. Well, I showed up one day, and there's this guy there with a little spinning rig chucking in MY hole!

I say "Oh well", and begin getting settled and my gear together and rigged and I ask him if he's had any luck.. "Nah, been here for a while and not a hit. I don't think there's anything in here". I noticed he was throwing the tiny gold floating Rapala minnow; which is typically a killer bait in my experience.

So I cast to the top of the pool and it doesn't drift more than 2 ft and WHAM! Nice 15 in smallie. The guys' like :-[

I shrug and figured it was luck.. Nope.. Next cast WHAM! And so it went for at least 10 fish over the next 30 to 45 mins. I looked up after unhooking a fish and the guy had packed his stuff and was walking back to wherever he came from. Never said a word. He was undoubtedly feelin' a little bummed. He had tied on in-line spinners, the floating minnows, little spoons, etc, and not a hit. All the while I stood there and slayed them. I'd be willing to bet that guy now owns a fly rod.

Moral of the story: Fly fishing for bass can and will produce when nothing else will! You'll likely also catch some monster gills in the process which are a lot of fun too.

I recently got a fly rod myself, and while I was at BPS the guy steered me away from ordering that one. Don't know why, coulda been he was persuaing me to a house brand. Nonetheless, he knew more than I did, and directed me to this one: http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_98580_175001003_175000000_175001000_175-1-3

I have only taken it out twice so far, and I can say its fairly easy to learn with.