Going to chime in and give my two cents. Im a local guide and i also moonlight in the retail side of things. Depending on what your price range really is, there are many combos that will work from $150 to $450 for rod, line, reel. Best thing to do is figure out what you like to cast. I teach casting classes on occasion, and not to trash cabelas stuff, (i have plenty of it), but most guys would be better off spending the extra $60.00 on a decent reddington outfit. If your going to buy a fly rod make it an investment, but make it something that works. For my single handers, 5 thru 8 wt for the service i run the reddingtion crosswaters there $70 rods but lined up right they can be just as good as anything else on the market in the medium price range for a low end rod. To give you an example of why i am not impressed with cabelas on there combo rods, somebody came in with one and no one could cast it. Reason being was the person in the shop down there that put it together put the fly line on backwards. Even after the error was corrected the guy still had a heck of a time casting that rod oh yeah and when it came time to setting up his leader to flyline the line was so cheap that any knot that was put on it either broke or stripped the fly line clean. If this was a once in a blue moon situation i wouldnt have mentioned it but it happens usually about once a week. I really dont care where you buy your rod but go to a place that will let you test it out somewhere, not every rod is suited for everybody. Also look into your local shops that specialize in fly stuff, were not all that expensive, and pretty much all of us have casted every rod or close to every rod on the market and have a pretty good idea of what works the best for your casting style even if you dont have one yet. It doesnt have to cost you an arm and a leg to get into bug chucking but at least make it enjoyable with a rod that you can cast effectively and you can enjoy your fishing more instead of being frusterated with you casting. One last tidbit if your going to skimp anwhere be it in this order, reel, rod, line. You can make a $60 rod cast like a $300 rod with the right line on it.