I recently bough a 40$ beginners kit fly combo, and at first the click drag seemed to work good. But now, all of a sudden, the clicks are fainter, the drag is more loose, and its not even like it used to be. Ive only had it for about 2 weeks, and iv only caught 5 bluegill on it. Not to sound rude, but I would rather not hear about how I “got what I paid for” and the my reel is cheap.
How about taking it to the store you bought it from and negotiating a refund? I have a reel I will send to you for free and it will not fall apart. It isn’t pretty but it is stout.
Anthony, there is no other way to really put it. Sorry but when you spend $40 on a flyrod outfit you kinda have to expect to get what you pay for. Take it back to where you got it and spend a little more money.
You can get a very good quality outfit for less then $200, and with the exception of the fly line it will be something that should give you years and years of good performance if it is taken care of.
Check out Temple Fork rods, the pro series cannot be beat for $89.00.
There are a number quality of inexpensive reels out there for less then $50.00. A good flyline can be found for less then $40.00.
In the long run you will be glad you did. Rob
My local W**mart still had Pflugler Medalist reels at the closeout price of $19 when I was there yesterday.
This inexpensive reel will last you many, many years.
“Although prequalifed by virtue of their brain size, trout have no politics.”
J.A.Kassane
Cabela’s has their Prestige Reels going for 29.99 now (since they introduced the Prestige Plus) and the one I have on my 3wt works quite well. Caught me lots of gills, Bass and Crappie last year. I am thinking of getting a second one to replace the reel on my 5wt and a couple of extra spools. 
Don
Thanks for the offer on the reel, but I cant give away my adress. I understand that it was cheap, but I have fished once. The spring and pawl is so simple, how could anything go wrong short of it breaking completly? I looked inside it, and everything looked the same. I oiled it, but that didnt chage it. I cant afford any expensive reel, but I do plan on getting a better one later, but this one is sorta for practice.
Good news! I Just got it to work. I cant belive I missed it. The spring wasnt on all the way.
Anthony,
That’s very good news. Once you can afford it, … get a “better” reel. A difficult reel willgive you hours of misery (like when the spool falls off in the middle of a run (personal experience) ).
As for not giving out your adress, … very wise.
I’ll often have concerns contacting folks on the I*Net.
Many kind offers come from this board. Do what I do and have YOUR parents contact the person (I use my office number) to get ANY information exchange. … You just never know 
p.s. … A Very warm welcome to the board.
Christopher Chin, Jonquiere Quebec
[url=http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/Forum1/HTML/015738.html:62804]2006 FishIn Ste-Marguerite River[/url:62804]
[url=http://pages.videotron.com/fcch/:62804]Fishing the Ste-Marguerite[/url:62804]
[This message has been edited by fcch (edited 29 January 2006).]
I am a little confused about drag. I have heard some places that you are mostly playing the fish by stripping the line with your hand, so why is reel drag so imprtant?
Anthony For much fly fishing including all panfish and most trout you only need enough drag to keep the line from overunning and making a tangled mess when stripping it out. You can play the fish by stripping in line by hand. For most saltwater fishing as well as steelhead,salmon and some larger trout you should get the fish on the reel and use the drag to control line going out. That is when a better drag becomes important.
all leaders tangle; mine are just better at it than most. Jim