Since this is my first post, I'll introduce myself a little bit. My name is Chris and I live in central Virginia, in sight of the Blue Ridge mountains, but still in the piedmont. I have a small warmwater creek in my backyard full of smallmouth, redbreast, bullheads, suckers, and white catfish. There are other species too, but none of the fish are terribly large. I also enjoy fishing the public ponds, streams, and rivers nearby, including Smith Mountain Lake and the James River around Lynchburg. I have a canoe, but most of the time I fish from shore or by wading.

I've been flyfishing since late September, when I bought an inexpensive fly fishing kit to see if I liked it. I did like it, of course, and have been practicing regularly through the winter, mostly on the lawn, but occasionally on water. This brings me to my question for the group. I have improved my casting dramatically since last Fall, but I think my rod is holding me back. I have been thinking of getting a new rod/reel package in the $200 range and want to see what opinions people have. For the purpose of simplicity, I'd prefer to see comments limited to the 5 I've selected, although if I've overlooked something that is very compelling, bringing that up would be OK too.

Here are the combos I'm considering:
-Temple Fork Outfitters / NXT 5/6 weight
-St. Croix / Rio Santo 6 weight
-Redington / Pursuit 6 weight
-Orvis / Streamline 6 weight
-LL Bean / Streamlight 6 weight

Since my existing rod is a 5/6 weight and smallmouth are going to be one of my top species, I've been thinking about getting a 7 weight. That would give me a light rod and a heavy rod, but I may just buy a replacement to my old rod. Unfortunately, it appears only the LL Bean also comes in a 7 weight, the others jump straight to the 8 weight.

Is there any compelling reason, other than price, why I should choose one over the other? My thought is that I would probably do well with any of these outfits, but I wanted to see if anyone has a good reason why one is better or another is sub-par.