Best rod and reel combo for 250?

[Jessed]

Any help or suggestions ?

 

[ROVERT]

My vote would go for an Aetos and a Liquid.

 

[shakey]

are you looking for an 8 1/2 to 9 ft 5 weight for general PA fishing?

my suggestion would be to spend as much as possible on the line and the rod,and as little as possible on the reel.

do you want a fast rod,or a slow rod? are you primarily a dry fly guy? small stream? etc.

 

[Jessed]

What about the encounter or Clearwater? Im thinking somewhere in the 3-4 wt range. I had recently broke my 4wt am with no back up so I've been fishing a 2wt or a 6wt

 

[shakey]

So , you already have a reel , and need a four weight rod then ????

 

[Jessed]

Yes but I'd like to buy a rod with a little better reel. The reel I bought for that was on sale at cabelas for $25 and used that! It works but it's a little heavy

 

[bikerfish]

for $250, you can have a nice set up. figure 100 for a reel, and 150 for a rod, and you'll have an outfit that will last for years. for reels, I like Orvis. a battenkill 2 will run around 110 bucks, give or take, sometimes they can be found on sale. they've been made for decades, replacement parts are easily available, and it's like the cast iron skillet of reels, in other words, nothing fancy, but it will always be there, and it will always work.
for rods, shop around, tons of rods out there. best to match how you like to cast, and not how marketing says you should cast. Fast, slow, in the middle?? none of them are wrong, it's just how you like to do it.
for 150, cabela's, st Croix, Redington, LL bean, Etc. Lots of choices, best bet is to try and cast everything you can in your price range, and find the rod that feels the best for you!!!

a quality line is important, but deals can be found. I like the hook and hackle lines, it's their version of Cortland line, and are usually on sale, just check their website.

good luck, and good fishing!

 

[pcray1231]

Ok, we're talking a 4 weight. I wouldn't expect your using this on Penn's sized streams or anything bigger, nor planning on fighting 20+ inch fish all that often. As such, don't gotta worry about the reel too much. I think you'd be fine with the reel you have. If you do want a new one, the Cabelas Prestige/Prestige Premier/Wind River, etc. line is gonna be fine. Expect < $50 for the reel. Main thing to look for is weight, and you want it to balance your rod well. So even then I'd buy the rod first, see how your current reel balances it, maybe borrow a few from friends just to see balance and weigh them. Then choose based on weight.

I'd spend all of, or the majority of that cash on the rod. Do you like faster actions or slower actions?

At that price range, your likely priced out of anything named Sage, Loomis, Winston, Scott, etc.

You probably could see some entry level sticks from a few major makers. Including:

St. Croix Rio Santo (moderate action and cheap) or Imperial (faster action and moderate expense)
Orvis Clearwater
Redington Voyant (fast) or Classic Trout (slower action)

Then you'd have your 2nd tiers (TFO, Cabelas or White River branded, a bunch of smaller makers). That's not to say the performance of these is poor. They just usually have slightly lower quality fittings, lack brand appeal, are made in China, etc.

At this price range, my personal favorite of the above is the St. Croix Imperial. It's gonna run you between $200 and $250 depending on the length and line weight you choose. I have one and I love that rod. That said, it's on the faster action end of things, which I like, but YMMV.

 

[Jessed]

I'm actually thinking about getting another reddington vapen and just picking up reel for that. I like that rod

 

[pcray1231]

So you come here asking for a rod and reel combo for $250. Then state you're considering a rod alone that costs $300-350, then pick up a reel on top of it?

 

[Jessed]

Maybe. I wanted to keep in that range but vapen is a great rod

 

[DavidFin]

I agree with pcray, focus mostly on the rod. I'd go with something used from a reputable place like Farmington Used rods, that way you get more bang for your buck. If you're going new get a Clearwater or maybe a tfo

 

[Lackcf]

Check out orvis for deals. A lot of times they'll have good sales on the entire clearwater rig. (Rod,reel,line,backing). I think it's the perfect rod for beginners. Reasonably priced and a very reliable/durable rig.

http://m.orvis.com/p/clearwater-4-weight-9-fly-rod/4y01

 

[moon1284]

Used sage ds /used st croix legend ultra /used st croix avid rod and used sa system 1 456 reel.