The Redington Original 590-4: The Fly Kit Worth Starting On
Most people who want to try fly fishing quit before they cast a line, because the gear-shopping alone talks them out of it — a rod here, a reel there, backing and line and leader as separate line items, an afternoon spent guessing whether any of it actually matches. The Redington Original Freshwater Kit — 590-4 skips that entirely. One box, everything in it, nothing to mismatch.
What’s Actually In the Box
Rod: 5-weight, 9 feet, 4-piece, medium-fast action — the standard trout-rod spec, not a compromise size. Reel: Redington’s own Crosswater, composite frame with a carbon disc drag, already spooled with RIO Mainstream WF5F floating line and a RIO Powerflex 0X tapered leader. Case: a nylon rod-and-reel tube with a handle strap, so the whole kit travels as one object instead of four. Current price direct from Redington: $279.99. One-year warranty.
Why the Spec Sheet Actually Matters Here
A medium-fast 9-foot 5-weight is the rod nearly every fly shop hands a first-timer, for a real reason — it’s forgiving enough to not punish a bad cast, and stiff enough to actually turn over a dry fly, a dry-dropper rig, or a beadhead nymph without feeling like a different rod each time. This isn’t a kit built down to a price with a rod that can only do one thing. It’s the same core spec Redington sells across its whole freshwater line, just bundled with a reel and line that already work with it — nothing here is a downgrade for being a “starter” kit, it’s just already decided for you.
The Take
The honest failure mode with fly fishing gear isn’t buying the wrong rod — it’s buying five separate wrong things that don’t talk to each other, and never finding out because you never got to the water. This kit removes that failure mode entirely for $279.99. It’s not the cheapest way into fly fishing, but it’s the way most likely to actually get you fishing instead of returning mismatched line to an online reel retailer.
Note on the listing: this exact configuration (590-4, 5-weight, 9-foot, 4-piece, Crosswater reel) shows up on Amazon under an older retailer name, “Path II Outfit” — same kit, Redington renamed the line since that listing was created.
