"I'm just getting into fly-fishing. Can I buy one outfit that will work for everything?"

Sure! Ask yourself a series of questions. This will help you determine whether you can make a “one outfit do all” purchase.

Question1: Where am I going to do most of my fishing?

Question 2: What kind of budget do I have? (a good rig should hurt your wallet just a little!)

Question 3: If I don’t like it can I sell it?

If your interests are only in fly fishing for trout in lakes, a 5 or 6 wt. rod with a floating line will do nicely. An additional line, a sink-tip to get wet flies down if the trout aren't rising is very appropriate.

It is also helpful to purchase a reel with inexpensive spools. That way you can change spools of line in changing water conditions.

Want to fish large saltwater fish off the beaches too?

Sorry, the "trout" outfit won't do the job. The reason here is the size and weight of the flies used to fish saltwater. Bigger flies require a heavier fly line to cast the fly. Small flies can "theoretically" be cast with a bigger rod, say an 8 or 9 weight; but not big flies with a small rod. Yes, of course it is more work to cast a bigger rod, but we are talking real economy here.

Will you enjoy it? Those of us who have fished a number of years all fished with rods that were considerably heavier and more physically demanding than today's rods. It's a matter of frame of reference.