first off, welcome to the BEST fishing forum in the world.
ok, so heres the answers to your question
1) fly fishin for bass can be moderatly succesful. bass in the 2lb. range and higher tend to ignore all wet flies. wet flies mean they sink, and they ussualy look like minnows, but all sizes of bass love a hair bug. a hair bug is a bug lookin critter that is made with the thick side of bucktail. it floats, and is a popper. it is very hard to make these flies as a pro, so you being an amaetur will be extremyl difficult. but, fly fishin must be done with a fly rod and reel. i bought my first one form sports authoriy for 35bucks, and it came with everything i needed to get started, but when you get the hang of it, upgrade to a better one. also, make sure you get an instructional video on how to fly fish, because if u never have, it can be difficult to start with no guidance. you will be amazed at the art of it
2) for any pond new to me i would throw a buzzbait, senko, and spinnerbait. if you have never heard of a senko, you need to learn what these are. all these baits can be purchased at wal-mart. I go to walmart all the time, so here are my suggestions. pick up a bag of kinami flashs in 4" size, get red/black, and green. for buzzbaits, go with the arkie, there skirts look like there made out of tinsel, and for spinnerbiats, get the terminator t-2 in the white and chartreuse colors. if you have questions on how to use these baits or any kind of other bait, post your quest in fishing tackle
3) if you want to get a baitcaster, the best for an ultralight feel would be a bass pro shopd prolite finnesse reel with a bass pros hops bionic blade rod 6'6" medium action. for spinning gear, i would recommend a pfleuger president reel with a st.croix premier model in the 6'-6'6" range, medium action. i hope this helps