Hey everyone, I know we've got a few fly fishing guys on here so I thought I'd ask for some advice.

I'm a life long fisherman, everything from serious bass fishing, to pike and walleye, or just bobber fishing for some pan fish. But one thing I've never done is fly fishing.

I think I'd like to give it a try. I've got an old rod with what looks like a pretty crappy plastic reel that I picked up at garage sale a few years back, but never really gave it a shot.

What sort of good starter kits are there out there? Or is it better just to piece something together? In terms of flies, are there any good starter kits for those either?

Finally, any sites/forums I should check out for good info?
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Spence, here are some web pages for some organizations potentially in your area to contact:

http://northernillinoisflytyers.blogspot.com/

http://www.askaboutflyfishing.com/stpr_clubs.cfm?st=IL

They may be able to give you some help and point you in the right direction for a good up to date rod/reel, lessons, and flies to use in your area...
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I would piece it together, you will get better quality for your buck, may pay a bit more but it will last longer so cheaper in the long run. Lots of blogs and info on the best rods and reels, in my opinion there are a few companies that you just can't go wrong even with their entry level stuff, usually great quality and warranties.
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Which companies might those be? I sometimes worry about buying top level companies lowest products because they sometimes just farm them out and slap their name on them.
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I have always loved St. Croix for their rods, I also have Sage, if you wanna look at Allen Flyfishing, they have both rods and reels that I have fished, nice quality and great customer service, I have Lamson reels that are awesome, along with Okuma that are actually very nice quality.

Cabela's lots of times has decent packages with various rods and reels, are you looking at steelhead or trout?
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Awesome, thanks so much Remo. I love me some St. Croix rods for bass fishing, didn't even think about them for fly fishing.
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The Rio Santo will run you about $110 and it is a nice rod :-) The Avid and Imperial rods are nice also, if you are going top of the line Legend Elite is what I have, but your gonna pay for it :-)
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Great info. I need to get some fly gear too.
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