When I first started out fly-fishing I was given all sorts of advice on how to fish, where to fish and what tackle to buy. The best piece of advise I was given was in order to get started do not spend too much money. The cost of rods and reels can be very expensive as in all types of angling. Not all rods will suit the type of fishing you want to do and thus you could end up spending money on kit on suited for your type of fishing. To determine where to start you have to first look at the type of water you will be fishing on and the then the type of fish you hope to catch.
Typically if you are going to be hunting in stillwater (lakes) then a 2 piece 9ft #7 weight rod will be fine. I suggest that you also start with a WF floating line also rate at #7. The type and make of reel at this stage is somewhat irrelevant as it just holds the line.
If however you will be fishing in rivers where overhead snags are more prevalent then you will need to look more closely at the length and weight of rod. A 6ft brook rod weight from #4-#6 would be fine. However now you might end up with two-rod/reel outfits just to start with.
Two manufactures make some very good quality value rods and reels. Leeda and Masterline, both big names in all methods of angling. There are others but these are two that I have had experience of. Most of my fly fishing tackle is at the higher end of the money scale but to be honest it probably doesn?t help me catch any more fish. In fact I actually prefer to go out with my 9ft Masterline#6 which cost me ?32 brand new from a shop a couple of months ago, than my ?500 rod.
One word to the wise, avoid anything from Airtech (used to called Airflow). They are very reasonably priced but with higher ?frustration levels? than others.
The best pieces of advice I can give you are
1. Seek out your tackle with someone who knows what they are looking at ? boot fairs and classified ads in local papers is where I started and did not go wrong at all in order to start without spending a lot of money.
2. Book a couple of casting lessons from an accredited casting/fishing instructor. Beware there are many instructors out there that only know how to cast ? I?ve not seen some of them ever catch a fish.
3. Join a club or the local Fly Dressers Guild. Their principle aim is to tie flies however the bigger FDG?s will have a large pool of members to speak with and also arrange trips to different waters etc.
Hope this is of help and if you have any questions please let me know