Help me choose a fly rod

I am a long-time angler. That is to say, I've been fishing since I was in diapers. I have recently delved into the wonders of fly fishing and the "fishing" thread has me inspired. The last couple years I have been fly fishing with some buddies and borrowing their equipment. Its time I bought my own.

90% of my fishing will be PA streams for trout, but I can imagine that I will use it for Bass and panfish occasionally. My buddies recommend a 4# and I have no problem with that since I do prefer lighter-duty rods but I'm also told that lighter weights tend to challenge amateur fly-casters.

So, I'm thinking I should have a 4-6# rod. 8'6" would be a good length. I was looking at some Orvis setups, but I haven't recently robbed any banks. I found a killer deal on some Cabela's combos but I'm unsure of their quality.

Can you guys help me pick a good combo? I'm looking to spend $200-300 for rod, reel, line, and possibly case (but I can make a case with some PVC if I wish).

You're on the right track in terms of the size of the gear you want. I have an 8' St. Croix 5/6 that's worked well on trout and bass.

Cabela's stuff is hit or miss. I had two of their spinning rods break while fighting fish with the properly rated line (12 pound test on a medium rod) but others swear by them. It may have been a bad batch.

As for price, you might be starting high. In my opinion, the technique you use when fly fishing is way more important than your gear vs. other fishing types. Get a "decent" setup to start, and spend the remaining money on flies and fly tying equipment and some fly tying seminars.

Catching a fish on a lure you made yourself is so awesome it will rock your face off the first few times you do it.

Hit Craigslist or a local fishing forum classifies hard. Anything made of graphite should be alright as long as there are no obvious signs of damage, but avoid any wood or cane fly rod unless you have an expert with you.

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/spo/3780403412.html

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/spo/3710104274.html (has a case)

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/spo/3755889426.html (has a case)

I hear lots of good things about these guys

http://www.templeforkflyrods.com/

this is badass tempting...

http://www.flyshack.com/DisplayItem3.aspx?ItemID=102438

Temple is pretty good for the money and so are Okuma. Unlike other kinds of fishing I think the most important part of the puzzle is the line itself. Buy the best weight forward floating in a 5 or 6 weight that you can afford. You can find good stuff in the $50 range. Backing, leader, and tippet are not as important. Reels are a good place to store your line(in other words dont spend over$20-$75). For example I have a lot of different rods and reels, but the ones I use the most are a cheap$20 Orvis green mountain in 5 wt with an equally cheap sage106. But it is loaded with $100 line.

A lot of guys try fly fishing and give up. A result of this is that there is a lot of used gear out there in mint condition, so I wouldn't hesitate to buy used.