A fly fishing outfit has to be balanced......rod, reel, line, and leader should work together in harmonious fashion to make the cast as simple and effortless as possible. A good quality fly line is critical to this equation as an experienced fly caster like Shooter has pointed out. His experience has taught him to balance a cheap rod with an over sized high quality line and modify that outfit to fit certain specific casting needs. Unfortunately for beginners they are often victims of packaging where corners are cut to value price an outfit and fly lines are usually the item sacrificed. Great pioneers in the industry like Orvis and Cortland are guilty of producing and promoting these products to keep up with a rapidly growing and completive market. For any beginners reading this thread that want to try their hand at fly casting this is my suggestion: Having been a fly fishing guide and casting instructor I will suggest that you spend the extra money and buy a good value priced rod from a high profile company like Sage. The older Sage Discovery Series rods had wonderful balance and tapers for beginners and have continued that line with their Launch series. Bass Pro carries these rods now along with alot of other good mid priced rods. Ebay would be a good place to look for one of the older Discovery Series. A good rule of thumb is to take the rod and lay it on your index finger above the handle and move it until it reaches a balance point. If that point is close to the first guide then changes are that rod will cast smoothly and load well (balance). Also a good rod should have 10-11 guides on a 9 ft model. The more the guides the better....they keep the line from slapping the rod during the cast and let the line "shoot." Buy a simple large arbor fly reel that is low in weight and cost. And buy a good quality WF line that matches the weight of your rod. I hope this helps and above all have patience when learning to cast....Rome wasn't built in a day.