Hi Annieman,

Does your $500.00 budget cover the rod alone, or the combination of rod, reel and line? For what it's worth, I have a St. Croix Avid 6' 3-weight that I love for really small streams. I over-line it with a 4-weight WF line and it casts well at short distances. The price for the rod alone is now, I believe, around $165.00.

Good luck and have fun!

Karl

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Bach Trout

Wishin' I were fishin' . . . .