The Blue Board

Thanks. I'm in the same boat. Love to bass fish and go out in the gulf but I'm not prepared to spend a bunch of cash on something I could end up not using...

Orvis is actually a pretty good company. They have been in the fly fishing game for some time now. They make rods for starters and also have rods that reach up in the $800 range.

The most generic answer would be to get a 5 wt 9ft rod. 5wt/9ft is considered to be the "all-around", it all changes when you start targeting different types of fish in different types of water. There are many companies that make this intro "all around" rod. I can recommend some brands and combos, but that would pretty much be it, without knowing the water in those areas.

Your best bet is to go into the fly shop and ask them what is the best setup for the type of fishing that is done in that river/lake/etc.

Here are some good brands:

http://www.templeforkflyrods.com/
www.echoflyfishing.com/
http://www.rossreels.com/
http://www.winstonrods.com/

Once you get that, then you have to figure out what kind of line you want for the type of fishing you are going to be doing. Things might be complicated at first, but guys at fly shops are usually very nice and helpful.