New Fly Rod

[outdoorsman110]

A Redington will do just as good if not better. Just my opinion.

[Lucky Craft Man]

That is the beauty of this forum. Everyone has a different opinion (for example, I find it hard to believe there is a better fly rod out there than the Sage Z-Axis, but your experience tells you that Redingtons are better). This is just more information for the OP to consider so that he may make an educated purchase.

[outdoorsman110]

That is the beauty of this forum. Everyone has a different opinion (for example, I find it hard to believe there is a better fly rod out there than the Sage Z-Axis, but your experience tells you that Redingtons are better). This is just more information for the OP to consider so that he may make an educated purchase.

I love my TFO Lefty Kreh.

[Jacob34]

My CF Burkheimer is better than a Z-axis Kidding aside, They're are ALOT of good rods out there. I will say that if you plan on fishing for steel head or salmon get a reel with a nice smooth drag.

[Lucky Craft Man]

Hmmm...I never fished with a Burkheimer, but I would love to give one a try. Very nice looking rod.

[outdoorsman110]

This is my baby, aside from my girlfriend. Hahaha. TFO TiCr X, 7 wt, 9'0" and my Orvis Mach lll.

[Lucky Craft Man]

I have the Orvis Mach III reel as well and though it is a great reel, I find myself always having to disassembly the drag and clean it out. One dip in the water and particles get in there and screw up the smoothness. That is why I started going to sealed drag reels.

[outdoorsman110]

I have the Orvis Mach III reel as well and though it is a great reel, I find myself always having to disassembly the drag and clean it out. One dip in the water and particles get in there and screw up the smoothness. That is why I started going to sealed drag reels.

I got the drag sealed

[Lucky Craft Man]

Nice...How did you do it, because I am interested in doing the same thing?

[outdoorsman110]

Nice...How did you do it, because I am interested in doing the same thing?

I sent it in to a local reel repair shop and the guy there has experience with the Saltwater drag systems for the Orvis line and he was able to " Saltwaterize " my Mach lll. It costed me a pretty penny of 40$ but he lowered the price because I'm always in his shop buying stuff. I can get this reel wet and dirty and no drag problems have happened so far. It voids the warrenty though. Not that I need it.

[Lucky Craft Man]

Hey, thanks for the suggestion! I may have to make the same modification, because that $40 would be well worth it if I didn't have to clean it out after every use. Thanks again!

[MichiganFishing1997]

Hey guys sorry! I was up north turkey hunting, which didnt go well, the coyotes got most of the population. And okay something has changed, i snapped my 5 weight while casting, it was a cheaper rod though and just had to get me through the learning process. I now need 2 new setups, im thinking 5wt and 8wt, but i can change my mind with suggestions, but 400 dollar limit, two rods, give me some info haha. Id spend more but i have to save some money for my lady.

[Jacob34]

You'll definitely want to look into the Redington rods then as outdoorsman110 suggested. If you want a fast action rod the Pursuit runs around $100.00-$120.00 and if you want something slower the CT series runs around $150.00. They're both good rods and come with a lifetime warranty. On a side note Redington's customer service is quite nice as well. There's others as well like the Crosswater and the Voyant, but I don't have any experience with those two lines of rods. I would assume they're good rods as well.

[MichiganFishing1997]

Ok great to know, what reel?

[trevor]

Yep, with that limit I would also go with a Reddington. I don't own one, but have heard lots of positive first-hand experiences (besides this board). Another brand, which I do have first hand experience with, is Echo. I own two of their rods, and they are both awesome. Great warranties, and unless you slam them in a door or something, you'll never break them. Some good quality, affordable fly line is Cabela's Airflow Supple. Made by Airflo (arguably the best fly line manufacturer), and now on sale for only $30. But I think the Reddingtons will feel more like a high end rod, while the lower end Echo's, like the Carbon and Ion, will just be incredibly tough and still do anything you ask of them. Reel wise, for freshwater, I would get the Cabela's Prestige PREMIER. It only costs around $80, has a very smooth drag, and has served me well so far as a smallmouth/small carp reel. Another affordable option is the Ion reel from Echo. I've never used it, but I hear good things. Some other options in the under $100 range are the Orvis Clearwater, the Ross Flyrise, and for a wee bit more, Allen reels and Lamson Konics.

[Jacob34]

I'll also vouch for the Allen fly reels. I own a Alpha II and the Trout series reels and in my personal experience with them I think they're on the same playing field as the Ross CLA. Another reel than hasn't been mentioned is the Grey's GX500. I've been using this reel for the last couple steelhead and Salmon trips I have taken (I bought it on an whim.) . The first thing is for around $100.00 you get the reel and two spare spools. The reels itself isn't as refined as say a Ross or Allen, but it has performed well thus far. The drag on GX500 isn't too shabby either. I landed a few Steelhead over 30" with it and never felt overpowered. My cousin even landed a couple nice salmon with it as well and didn't have any problems what so ever. The only problem is that they're from the UK and it would probably be hard to find in the states. Now with fly line I perfer Rio, but in all honesty You probably can't go wrong with any line from the major manufactures like airflo, scientific Angler, or Cortland.