Fish On,

I think Preston pretty well captured the essence. It seems like the yuppie boom of the early 80s merged with marketing creativity, and fly fishing equipment prices have never been the same. Good fly gear was never cheap, but that seemed due in large part that fly fishing was a niche market (which it still is compared to spin fishing). But it used to be a lot more affordable for the average working stiff.

I'm not familiar with either of the brand reels you mention, but just from advertising and what other anglers have said it's easy to associate Loomis with quality and high prices and Redington with moderate quality and price. If Redington's reel is actually a better product, well, then that's an excellent example of marketing success by Loomis.

Fortunately, the fish have never cared how much I spent on my gear. I often use cheap plastic reels (recall the Berkley 556?) for trout, since it's just a line storage device. It's not that I don't appreciate quality, either. I use Hardys for steelhead fishing. Since I'm gonna' get ripped off on the good stuff, I might as well get the snob appeal of one of the oldest names in quality fly tackle. Not to mention the notoriety of not having a disc drag reel. Sorry to digress. I could go on and on. When I was a student, and then a father raising kids, the cost of the gear really used to get my ire.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.