so, Kets, Im not sure what you are asking here... you have crap rod.. got it.. you have no money... got it ..... you want us to tell you a forty doller combo is good to learn on..... no, its blank is the same blank crapola company uses on every other rod... just changed the reel seat. so, I will say this and be finished with this thread, if you are realy gonna use the rod, buy a nice high qaulity flyline.. shooting taper will work fine, since that seems to be the trend, go buy a bunch of maxima leader and tippet material and look up on line how to build your own leaders ( this will save you a lot of money ) now go on cabellas and buy their cheapest set of fly tying tools and start building your own flys, wooly bugger, black ant, stimulaters, caddis and mabey some soft hackle flys, you won't believe how many flies you can tie for $50 bucks. you mentioned how many flies are required, and Im not sure what you mean, there are 10 or 15 core flies... the rest are really not important at the stage you are in.. I suggest a parachute adams, orange and yellow stimulater, black ant, green woolybugger black woolybugger and an orange bead melted on to a hook. one box of misc colored yarn and mabey a handful of caddis and midge patterns and your on your way. and if ya want to learn the $7.50 worth of flyfishing knowledge I have, we can meet some saturday on the river and Ill let you borrow a sage flyrod and you can see what Im talking about. good fishin-