Greetings form the frozen tundra. So very nice to find a forum to help me wander into the abyss of the fishing addiction. I am the Ural Pilot. Or was. I am 66 and retired now from preaching....(never give the mic to an ex preacher!) and had open heart surgery. I will spare you the meat puzzle visions, but suffice to say, they messed up my right arm/hand/neck and chest. SO, I had to give up most all of my musical interests (played 11 instruments) sold them all....medical bills can be SO entertaining...never seen that many "0"s.) and am now trying to sort out how to continue fishing. Before my surgery I had 3 primary rods. A Winston 8' 4wt. A St Croix bait caster and a med St Croix spinning rod. Sold all 3 as I was unable to really pick them up, let alone use them, SO, I am here to figure out "budget friendly" 2, or maybe 3 wt LIGHT fly rods, and a super ultralight spinning rod/reel. Any suggestions beyond a stick and string would be very welcome. Thank you for the add, and I promise to pick up my socks.

Hello.

The high was 85 here today, so spring's making its way north.

I can't be much help with inexpensive rods. I picked up a Shakespeare Micro Series outfit at Walmart a year or so back, but I have yet to fish it... It looks like fun, though. It was under 20 bucks.

I would spring for a short 3 wt, so you have some line mass to cast a decent fly but still very little weight in the rod - I have a couple 9 and 10 foot ultra lights that are heavier than a couple of my shorter 3-4-5 weights, so keep that in mind. The CGR 363 from Cabelas is a neat little rod for 70 bucks that nicely fits any inexpensive little reel you can find. A 2wt also isn't a bad idea. The problem with 0 and 1wt lines is that they are SO light they have trouble casting bigger flies or bucking the wind if the need arises. But they're out there. RDP has a few nice little rods available for reasonable prices too.