hi ppl, been fly fishing about a year. 1st rod i bought was a 6wt daiwa lochmor x bought the lochmor reel aswell. lost the tip and bought a cheap rod until i had a few extra quid. heading to florida in june and was gonna invest in a new rod and reel. rods ive looked at are sage vantage, orvis access and Ross® Essence FW Series Fly Rods never heard of the ross but alot of good reviews in america. last year most fishing i done was for stocked rainbows however this year ill be fishing rivers for browns. so any advice on make, name, weight, length of kit i should be looking to acquire would be greatly appreciated.

Look up to see if there is a pro bass shop close to where you are staying, if so go in and try them, then go for what feels right.
Have a good day
Mike

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I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,9 bean rows will I have there and a hive for the honey bee.

If you get chance check out the Winston Passport. Looks to be about £125 but got a really good review in Yellowstone Anglers 5 weight shoot out

If you are looking to do stillwater browns then I really wouldn't go above a 6wt. and my next trout rod would probably be a 4wt 10ft just for this purpose. I never go shorter than 10ft as its handy for boat work and vital for the float-tube.

If you are paying top dollar you can expect a rod that will be exceptional and probably not a huge amount to separate them on performance - assuming the action suits your style.

I had one of the early 5wt Powells which was built on a Loomis blank...until it got broken. Loomis blank ....awesome....Powell's customer care ...poor. If you are spending top whack make sure you are covered by warranties and check out how to get replacement sections in the UK - usually you would go to the dealer you bought it from. Trust me....sending back rod sections across the Atlantic for matching is very expensive, especially if they then tell you it will cost you a new rod!!

As for reels, nowadays you can get a perfectly good, attractive large arbour reel with exceptional drag for £60 (Greys / Vision Koma). IMHO, anything above and beyond that for UK trout is about brand rather than catching fish.

I always do a mental calculation of for each additional pound spent on tackle, how many extra fish will I catch....taking it to its logical conclusion most of us would gain more from spending less on tackle and more on guided fishing and casting instruction. Kit wise, decent flylines (check out the Monic Skyline when you are out there), a float tube and even top quality expensive fluorocarbon tippet will possibly catch you more fish....a £350 reel won't.

Buy the best rod you can afford. Look on EBay in the US at last years technology and you can get a really good rod at a reasonable price. Also google Yellowstone Anglers 5 or 8wt shoot out and read both. They will offer good advice on the pros and cons of many rods. I just picked up a beautiful, never fished Sage RPLX for $222. USD. It was a $785 USD rod when it sold new. There are good deals out there if you are patient.