I cast my first flies in the late 50's. That was with a Greenheart 2 piece home made wood rod. since then I went thru cheap Bamboo, 2 and 3 piece glass, and about 1980-81 I purchased a Fenwick Graphite I still use.. In fact I still use the glass rods from the 60's . A couple years ago I picked up a TFO 7wt.
Last spring I started getting some new gear, just because I could and I wanted to try something other than the 8 weights I grew up with.
I picked up some Maxcatch graphite rods on Amazon in 4 , 5 and just this week 8wt. These are all matched up with Maxcatch reels and lines.
Can a cheap outfit cast and pick-up line? You bet it can. The under $60.00 4 and 5 wt rods with a $16.00 weight forward lines are nothing to laugh at. The latest 8WT I splurged on ,LOL , $113.00 rod and a $29.00 line,backing and leader package , $103. reel seem to cast #16 down to # 8 flies, to my satisfaction. The line floats high, and the pickup is easy. . But come to think of it the same thing is true with the 4 and 5 wt bargain set up's.
The only thing I am not real happy with is the loop end of the fly lines and factory leaders. These get changed to a nail knot and a hand made tapered leader I make myself mainly because the loops catch weeds more than a nail knot , and I only need to change the tippet every few years if it gets to short.
If you are not good at casting all the money in the world won't make you good . Fly fishing does not need to be expensive, contrary to what the manufacturers want to have you believe.
To get the best out of your gear a couple things will help. Frequently wipe down the line , leader and guides with Armour all on a cloth after fishing. A clean slick line with behave much better than a dirty line.
Todays bargain rods are far better than yesterdays good glass rods . The money you save is better spent on fuel to get to the water.
As soon as you reach the distance where casting is becoming a bit iffy , reel in 3 feet of line and keep fishing.
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