I just got the latest Cabela's Fly Fishing catalog. In the catalog there are 11 pages with rods from $500 - $1000+.

My question is.....how many here would spend that kind of money for a rod????? It's not that I couldn't afford to buy one.....I just question if I would enjoy using a $1000.00 rod.

I have a GLX 1141, paid $415.00 for it......haven't used it in 7-8 years. My fishing style has changed......I have plenty of rods, Lamiglas, Loomis, etc., just find "cheaper rods" get the job done.

Your comments????????

DrifterWA,

Generally, the high end rods are not worth the extra money to me. I don't find that a $400 rod casts twice as well as a $200 rod. In fact, the $400 rod doesn't even cast or otherwise fish even 10% better than the $200 rod. And that doesn't change as prices climb to $800 or more IMO.

That said, I have a few high end rods, mainly Spey rods and some rods that I bought either used or at a discount. The reason for that is because Spey rods were initially offered by a few companies that made really good - and therefore expensive - rods. That has now changed, and there are really good rods, Spey rods, single-hand fly rods, spinning and casting rods, at virtually every price point. A lot of the good quality lower end rods are the result of off-shore production. That turns some buyers off, and others simply take advantage of the benefits the marketplace offers.

I check out a lot of fly rods, mainly out of curiousity since I can't rationally justify a need for yet another fishing rod. Unlike years ago when rods were made of fiberglass or the first decade or more of graphite rod production, there are very few bad fly rods offered at any price these days. These are truly the golden years in terms of fly rod quality and value for price. Fair warning however, the few bad rods that are offered are among the low end offerings, typically less than $100.

Just to make a point a few years ago, I bought 3 Cabela's lowest priced fly rods, the Three Forks model, in 4-piece in 6, 8, and 10 wt for travel use. They cost $60. (Actually I got the 6 wt in 5-piece at closeout for $35.) I am flat amazed at the overall quality for the money. They're on the fast action side, as are the vast majority of contemporary fly rods, and the finish is as good as I've seen on many far more expensive rods. Same with the cork. The reel seats are satisfactory, but are the one component that clearly suggests these are low end rods. As for performance, the 10 wt did break while casting when I was in Belize due to a defect, but I have to say I've seen $700 Sage rods break under similar circumstances. Hopefully defects are less common among high end rods, but I have no data one way or the other. I was able to make an exchange on the broken rod when I returned home, so no problem in that regard. And when it comes to travel, I always take extra gear anyway.

As something of a gear junky, I save my money that might have bought high end graphite rods for hand made bamboo fly rods. I can't see spending $800 on a plastic high end graphite that I know won't perform measurably better than one costing $200 or less. Instead I'd rather buy a $1,200 or more on a bamboo rod from a custom one-man shope and own a piece of real craftsmanship and have that in my collection. Obviously personal values vary with regard to what different fishing rods are worth. I get a kick out of how much I enjoy fishing river coho with a $30 Daiwa spinning rod I've had for over a decade.

That's the Salmo report. Want to talk about reels?

Sg

Damn, Salmo......are you conflicted?

Sg:

I have lot's of rods also.........I bought 4 Cabelas Fish Eagle rods, 2 10' casting and 1 10' & 1 9.5' spinning, when they were on sale for less than $40.00.......they just flat get the job done.

Thanks for your comments.....as always...

Would I buy a $500.00 rod, yes I have and still would if I felt it was something I really wanted.
Is it better then the less expensive rods, I think that is up to the end user to decide. Since they are the one that purchased and are using it, their opinion is really the only one that matters.

I'm a self admitted gear whore, especxially when it comes to fly rods.
I'm now at a point in my life where I actually have more gear then I really need. Having six 6 wts might tell you a bit about my gear addiction.

I still find high end stuff I want, but I rarely buy anything new at retail.
I either buy it used for half the price or less or wait till it is discontinued and on close out. I'll also generally sell something to help fund the next purchase.
My last purchase was a rod that retailed for close to $700.00. I bought a very lightly one used for $300.00. I sold a rod I rhardly ever used for $200.00, so my net out of pocket was $100.00.
There is a glut of great high end used rods out there if you know where to look for them.
SF

Yes , and in fact have spent a lot more than that. I starting out like most with moderate priced fly rods before I moved up. The same with gear rods and reels.There is a world of difference between a $300 rod and an $800 rod. Would you choose a Berkley over a Loomis or Lami?
My only frustration is that today the rod is priced at $700. After you have made the purchase a few years go by and and they decide to drop the rod from their inventory and the price drops to half. My $700 rod is now a $300 rod. Not a good investment and Sage for one does this all the time. Remember the Z xis and the XP's?

$500+ Rods, are they worth the money??????

Not to me. My fishing style is on anchor or trolling in a boat. Rods in the holders.

My cheap rods seem to land as many fish as higher priced rods.

While I understand a $5 dollar rod will land just as many rods as a $500 rod saying they perform only slightly better is a little off. That's kind of like saying that a $10 shimano IX reel will perform just the same as a Stella. While the IX reel will land probably just as many fish the drag is horrendous and it might just completely fall apart without warning.

I think the technique and style can be important to what kind of rod or how expensive of rod is used. For float fishing longer rods I think its very important to have a very light weight rod. You won't be fishing very effective if your shoulders are sore from holding up a tip heavy rod all day trying to get a good float. Same goes for centerpin rods. I used a cheaper model a few times and it was so tip heavy I don't know how someone could fish it for even a few hours! To get a very light weight rod you need to spend some money. I can see the same reason to spend a lot for a spey rod.

I think in the end it comes down to personal enjoyment. Is it fun to fight steelhead on a $30 rod? It sure is. Would I rather fight steelhead on a high end rod. Duh. I work hard so I can go fishing. On those days I might only hook a few fish and I want to feel the most out of those fish using the best reel and rod I can afford. Can I drive to work in a pinto? Sure, but I would much rather get there in a Ferrari going the same speed.

[quote=stonefish] Having six 6 wts might tell you a bit about my gear addiction."

[quote=Banned User] I have too many rods, more than I need, less than I want."

BOTH classic quotes that made me laugh! I can relate.

They are targeting a different clientele. Some of the guide on the lower Quinualt spent considerable time this summer in Montana at Fly lodges, to learn the craft, and now they are fly only guides, seen afew on the nooch lately, and they charge abit more. Different crowd

I would never buy a rod for $500. My driftboat with a motorcycle cost me $850 (sold the bike for $600)! Most of what I fish is in the $200 range.

I think that braid has leveled the playing field as far as rods go when it comes to drift fishing.

I had a friend with me last year who was running 12# mono on some kind of Berkely rod. I handed him an older 1141 Rainshadow with 20# braid to a slinky and he was in shock as to what he was feeling.

i've owned all kinds of rods over the years in different price brackets. higher end rods usually get you higher end components, which does make a nicer rod to fish with.

since i took up building my own blanks about 7 years ago, i've found that i prefer a middle modulus(and therefore middle price range) blank spun up with nice cork and alconite guides to just about anything. most of them are lamiglas G1000 blanks, which i find combine a good combination of durability and sensitivity.

as far as a rod making one successful, i think you get good quality starting at about the 80 dollar mark for a finished rod, and after you get past the $150 mark you start to see diminishing returns.

Left out of previous post, another reason I won't pay retail for a high end graphite rod is because of evidence regarding how cheap they are, or can be, made. The ads may tell you a quality graphite rod is rocket science, but how many of you believe ads about any products? It ain't rocket science. Almost all, if not all, good rods are the result of trial and error. Jimmy Green was rod designer for Fenwick and a consultant to Sage before he died. I had the opportunity to roll graphite rod blanks in his basement and see first hand how graphite rods are made, basically the same as fiberglass, but graphite pre-preg fabric is more expensive. Even with the highest end, most expensive pre-preg, a graphite blank is cheap. I think that is why there are so many quality rods rolled off shore these days. I also had the opportunity to spend some time in the Thomas and Thomas rod factory a few years back, and while it was a couple steps up from Jimmy's basement, it still wasn't rocket science.

Another reason was the chance I had to buy a then top of the line Sage rod that retailed for $315. I got it for $129 tax and shipping to my door, and the person who sold it to me assured me that both he and Sage made a profit on the transaction. While I understand that profit is the lifeblood of business, I decided that I don't need to help Sage live that much better than I myself do. Even so, I do have a few Sage rods, and am building one from one of their discontinued discounted blanks at the moment. Z-axis at the right price can be a very good rod.

And Berkley Buzz Ramsey rods on sale at $20 (got 2 on closeout a while back) and $40 are a great value IMO. If a $200 or $400 rod performed even 15% better, I might be able to justify it to myself, but it hasn't happened yet. Another thing that set me off against high end rods once was inspecting some $700 G. Loomis rods that had cork quality no better than the $60 Cabela's rods I mentioned above. Sheesh! Value for dollar is one thing, but rip offs turn me off.

Sg

It's funny, but I think the more casting experience a guy has, the less money he needs to spend to be happy with a rod. Like others, the few premium rods I have we're bought on Craigslist, eBay, and on consignment, for much less than retail. Most of what I buy these days is under $100 (for single hand casting). I appreciated high end rods a lot more when I was a weaker caster. I still appreciate them, and if money were no object, I'd bite on a few more.

I have found it's better to invest more in reels and lines, with emphasis on the lines for fly fishing. I don't go very high on reels either, but I think mid-priced ones are my sweet spot. The right balance of quality and affordability....

Waders are the one gear type that I spend a little more on. A $400 set of Simms or Dan Baileys will last 4x as long as something that costs $200 or less, so that's a smart investment, in my mind. I'm trying some Redington boots this time around. I can tell to look at them they will only last half as long as my previous pair of Simms boots, but they're also half the cost, and they look like they will be more comfortable (sometimes, a softer boot is nice). We'll see.

Interesting. Been recently reorganizing my tackle storage, consolidating boxes, making more room for storage. Found some stuff I had and forgot I had. Good stuff I should be using? Really, are'nt all fishermen "Gear Junkies" in one respect or another? Their is always a rod, reel , or something new that a fisherman "has to have" or "wants to have". Especially if no one else has it? My wife has shoes, I have rods, reels, and gear.

I've spent 500 bucks on a rod before. I've done a lot of stupid stuff for that matter.

I'd rather build a $500 rod for 250 bucks, and make it with better components.

I'd have to say I'm really surprised at how lousy the components are on many of the off the shelf high end $500+ rods. Sometimes the reel seat is what I'd consider "mid-grade" by my own building standards. Often the guide set is mid to low-grade, even on hardware most would consider top of the line. For the most part, paying that kind of money for a new rod off the shelf is no longer worth it to me. If I really want that blank, I'll buy the blank, and then make a rod that's twice as good for a little over half as much.

I guess that's just a plug to build your own. You can do it cheap, you can do it high quality, you can do it both ways, and it's always satisfying to fail and succeed using your own stuff,

fb

My favorite rod is a Sage 3113MB. Paid about $160 for the blank and God knows how many $ in my time wrapping it up, it had to be perfect. Now i have a rod that will royally piss me of if I break it. When that happens I will slap together some thing i don't really give a crap about but will get the job done. That's all I really need.

Cork quality has gone WAY down in ALL modern rods.

I have paid top dollar for two 4-pc SAGE sticks.... old school RPL+ flyrods that were the premier rod of their day, a 7 wt and a 9 wt.

I foolishly drowned the 9 wt in the ocean along with a comparably priced Abel reel.

The replacement XP casts beautifully but quickly runs out of butt for fighting fish. It's been broken in the butt section 3 times... twice by yours truly... while line was leaving the reel.

The original RPL+ 7 is still my workhorse single hander and easily outguns the XP 9 in a fish fight. The RPL+ 7 has never been broken, even when aggressively put into lockdown mode.

+1


I've done it all cost-wise and have settled on mid-level blanks if for no other reason than they are often more durable in hard use conditions. I like lightweight material but find the upper-end stuff is too brittle for the style of fishing I do. The exception to this would be the 2 Sage Gear rods (now dis-continued) I built for my winter and summer fishing. Extremely well crafted blanks!!! The blanks weren't cheap but as in the quote above I used high end components and built exactly what I wanted for about $150 less than I would have paid off the shelf.

I have not, and will not, buy a $500 factory built rod. it's a scam some are willing to buy into but I ain't one of em'.

a person would have to have major insecurity issues about detecting bites if you're considering sinking $500 on a rod.

every rod on the rack at $70 to $300 will detect a bite.

No they are not worth the money, unless you think they are. I admit, I own a few high end rods, Loomis, Lamiglass, sold the Sage. But when I was just out of high school in 81, I worked at at a wholesale sporting goods supplier called Pacific Marine Shwabaucher, in downtown Seattle. I worked in the returns dept. and we would see every sporting good item you could imagine. Well, Eagle Claw came out with a new rod called the Blue Diamond, needless to say, we had many returns. Eagle Claws policy was to destroy the rods. I received permission to keep all the rods. The summer that I worked there, I made enough money to buy a Corvette. I was 18 years old. I would mix and match the rods, and sell for $15. It was better than selling drugs, totally legal with repeat HAPPY customers.

LOL, I still have a Blue Diamond spinning rod in my rod stash. The reel seat came unglued after a few years of use.
SF

Still got my Yellow Eagle Claw trout rod. Reel seat is just fine. The guides on the other hand, GONE! A project to wrap new guides on it,... some day.

Caught lots of cutthroat with that rod.

The Blue Diamond was Eagle Claws attempt at an affordable graphite rod. It was a failure for them, and a gold mine for me.

My 1st high dollar(?) rod was a Loomis GL3, several years ago, for a whopping $285. I bought it for the sensitivity, as I was just getting into steelhead drift fishing, and learning the feel of a steelhead bite was difficult. What I did was 'buy' bite lessons from a good sensitive rod. Since then, I have not paid more that $200 for any rod. The last one I bought was around $170 or so, it was the total price for the components of a rod that Eric built for me. Lightweight, durable, very sensitive.
Now I can feel the fish open their mouth before they take the bait!
Not to mention, I can cast my gear much farther into the trees on the opposite shore.........Life is Good

There is some truth to this.

When I was cutting my teeth on summer run fishing a long time ago(light line fishing eggs), I began with a loaner rod from a friend that had been through it's paces and was beat to hell…..an 8 1/2' Lamiglas S-Glass fiberglass noodle rod with broken ferrule glued together, 1" missing from tip, a couple guides re-wrapped in a hurry and out of alignment……..and I could detect bites as well as any rod I use today!

One of the best Cowlitz fishermen I know (and a member of this board) does VERY well with rods that are not $500 efforts.

I remember the Blue Diamond, my spinning rod broke very soon after I bought it.

I has a Loomis G3 (?) several years ago that a friend gave me, he had a relationship with Lamiglas, anyway it was a nice float rod and it performed well until the day a fish ran under a log jam and I was tangled up. In the process of trying to break off, the tip section of the two piece rod snapped and slid down the line and into the river and was lost.

I replaced it with a $75 Shimano and found I liked it better than the Loomis for float fishing. It is a little heavy to fish all day, but than is the only downside I have found with it.

I have several 30 year old plus Fenwick glass rods in spinning and casting that I took as partial payment for photographing Jimmy Green for the Fenwick Catalog cover back then. I am still using them.

I wish I still had the four piece Fenwick Spinning rod that I had personally made with my Father-in-laws name. He died before I had a chance to give it to him.

I used it so hard that I worn it out after about 25 years and lost the tip while hiking with the four loose pieces in my day pack on a trip to Ontario.

Had I known that I probably could have has Gregg's in Lake Stevens, build me a replacement tip I probably would still be using it.

Now I have so many rods I have at least one set up for any kind of fishing I do.

I wonder what my daughters and son-in-laws will do when I kick the bucket since they have almost as many rods as I do?

my 5 year old shimano convergence is as sensitive as a gloomis, shimano rods are made of loomis blanks they are the same company all you are paying is for the loomis name.

NO, they are not worth the extra money, period!

A $500 rod is not worth it. However, buying a $35,000 to $40,000 truck to trailer a $20,000 boat all to haul around a fishing rod worth $69.95 makes more since.

about 30 years ago somebody showed me something that was very amazing. this was shown to me on graphite that was not at all anything special.

he had me hold the rod as if I was actually fishing it, minus a reel. he then put the tip of the rod up to his neck where his throat was. he put a small bend to the tip, then says "can you feel that?" I could feel his vocal cords through the blank into my hand. I was blown away by the sensitivity of the graphite rod. I believe I paid $69 for that rod.

the graphite rods these days are very superior to the graphite of 30 years ago.

every rod on a rod rack will detect vocal chord vibrations, if it can do that it will detect a steelhead bite.

it cracks me up these days cause our grandfathers had heavy stiff fiberglass rods and caught many steelhead with out dropping even $50 on a rod. somewhere along the line steelhead fishers has fallen into buying elite brands to feel as though that's the secret. i'd suggest a guy try fishing with a heavy metal ferruled fiberglass rod for an entire day. then fish his average rod of today he will be truly amazed!

^^^
We do this exact test so customers can feel the difference between different rods! You take a $100 rod and do it they think wow that's cool. Then we do it with a rod we build using high end components and blanks and every time they proceed to place an order. There is a very big difference especially doing what you described above when comparing higher end rod blanks.

since 85% of steelhead fisherman these days can't catch a fish without a bobber. a $40 dollar pile of crap rod will detect the bite as well as 13' sturgeon rod.

i'm making this point because guys are buying super elite rods only to watch a bobber that delivers no bite detection to the rod what so ever.

it's only a matter time till the most elite bobbers cost $90.

When using longer rods for float fishing having a light weight rod makes for a much better experience and in some cases allows you to fish more effectively over the course of a long day. Try holding up an 11" rod that feels like it has 4 lbs attached to the tip all day. I use high end rods for float fishing not because it will detect a bite but because it feels weightless when I'm holding the rod up high all day.

Also, if you float fish long enough you can detect not only fish grabbing your presentation and letting go by sight you can also feel subtle ticks that are fish biting. 95% of float fisherman don't even know they have missed either of these fish.

A lot of vibration coming though the blank are absorbed by fore grip. Unfortunately most off the shelf rods, high end and cheap, have some sort of fore grip.

So catching fish without a float makes someone a better fisherman? Drift fishing is how I learned to steelhead fish and still do it in the right conditions. Is it any harder to catch fish drift fishing than float fishing? Nope. Half the time drift fishing or side drifting the fish hook themselves so most people don't even have to feel or see the bite. Pulling plugs, casting spinners and spoons, pretty easy to catch fish with all these techniques. Swinging flies, that must be how real fisherman catch steelhead.

watching your line and float for suttle movement . the high viz /line will slightly twich befor your rod will even detect anything and i dont even care if its nfc hm blanks for float fishing .....use the force ... rod has nothing to do with it float fishing period.

Now I agree with this....completely........I do have a two - 13' rods that I use for float fishing, both are set up the same....Stradic 2500 or 3000 reels, PP Hi Vis 40#.......length of the rod, allows me to "mend" the line.....I also have been using floats that are 6 - 6.5", and not very thick. I dress the line, at least every few days.....helps keep the line from getting "water logged"......

Back to what this thread is about..........both my 13' rods, cost me less than $500.00....1 is a Lamiglas and the other a Rain shadow, both 3 piece, both just "fat get the job done".

If it feels good. Do it. Im over it. I don t spend the big bucks on rods anymore. They are nice to hold on too, but not necessary to catch fish. I need more nice guns. I have the rods.

+1

I max out @ $495 lol.

Spent that years ago on my factory Sage CT 290, I was going to have a custom 290 made up but when I crunched all the numbers it worked better for me to buy a factory stick. The Sage no questions repair was the big factor for me.

Just found myself a like new CT 296 up in BC thats mine now, only fished twice w/ tube & unmarked card $450. I look at these as investment rods, when I'm done w/ them the factory rods will always have a better market value.


c/22

I have dozens of Carbon Fiber rods and am a composite-aerospace guy!
But I still find myself picking up an old quartz/glass rod I built back in the 70's and has just as good a feel as any of my high end graphite rods!
It really comes down to what feels good to you! Any rod will catch fish.

Seriously? Luke Skywalker
If you have any amount of line on the water behind a float you ain't feelin shiit. I don't care what rod your fishin. Ive watched summerruns in gin clear water eat my jig and spit it out I didn't feel anything...... but impressed
Sure sounds good though.
I think if if it comes down to spending big bucks I choose reel over rod,heck we that grew up fishing in the 70s didn't have choice there was no highend....Os

a thought that I learned while being impressed with the ability for a rod to detect vocal chord vibrations. The rod never has contact with the fish or it's mouth. the part the softens or dulls the bite has always been the line that telegraphs the bite. meaning a $500 rod will always be handicapped be the line running through it.

learning the bite is still a ongoing self taught practice to detect. this is where rod manufacture's make their money selling expensive rods. they will have you believe that their rod takes all the learning curve away. instant fishing success will now be given to you. cue in cash register sound here!

I've witnessed on several occasions a guy float fishing and saw the guy's bobber obviously detect the bite and dip under then rise again. only to see the guy react to it with nothing. I once asked the guy why he didn't set? the guy replied "i thought it was the bottom"....

my point being here is no matter the high expense invested on the very best, it is still limited to the operator!

As the great and powerful Os said, if you wait until you feel the bite through the rod you will never feel the majority of bites. I would have to say almost all the talented fishermen I know watch the float or where the line enters the water for movement.

I agree Jerry
Float fishing is site fishing. I hooked fish on just a wiggle of the float, but you ain't feelin the bite.....Os

LOL, this is like saying " all the talented TV watchers I know watch the TV" well duh.

I have to admit that I love my Beulah Platinum Spey rod an awful lot. It was given to me by my "fishing sensei" when he first started teaching me to cast. Would I pay $675 for a new one? No. But it casts incredibly well!

I met a guy on the river one time who proclaimed to me he was so good he could detect a gill flare from a steelhead as his fly swung through the water. I just walked away shaking my head...

Sub 200$ for me on non fly rods. Sub 600$ for me on fly rods because the cast requires more from the rod and thus rod needs more design by rod makers.



Sounds like the lexicon of fly fishing winter steelhead. Pick the simplest yet least effective method of catching steelhead, over think it to the extreme, and make it exceedingly complex. Which leads to all kinds of strange analysis and myths.

Many of us have caught lots of steelhead, for decades...and I'm sure my catch rates wouldn't go down appreciably if I went into Wal-Mart and bought the first 7'6" combo spinning rod/reel for $29.00...but it is far more enjoyable to fish with nice gear, and you should spend whatever you want on it.

I catch just as many fish on my custom built bare bones rods made from imported blanks as I do on my $400 factory built rods...but those expensive rods are sure a pleasure to fish with, and after steelhead fishing my whole life there are a lot of things I love about it that don't just include landing fish...most things, actually.

Do you need an expensive rod? No, of course not...you don't need a rod at all. A homemade gillnet, or a chunk of dynamite will catch more fish, and a lot more easily...but just because it works doesn't mean it's fun.

Fish on...

Todd

Pretty darn good summary there and I will agree fully.

I've always viewed rods as tools and the better a tool is at its job, the more I enjoy using it and the more I am willing to pay for it.

Sure you can get most fix-it jobs done with a roll of duct tape and a pair of vice grips, but having a more precise tool sure makes a difference in both the quality of the end result and enjoyment of the process. Generally the more we use a tool and the more precise it's application needs to be, the more we appreciate having good tool.

These days price is no indicator of quality in the world of fishin poles. Good ones can come cheap and crap models ca. Come with a hefty price tag.

Are the good ones worth it? Well that depends.

No.

I think this question can also be answered by answering this question...

Would you rather drive whatever rig you are driving now, or a red 1987 Datsun pickup with a blue door, yellow tailgate held on by baling wire, and a cracked windshield?

That car will probably get you to work and back as well as your current rig, and probably with better gas mileage, and insurance that's a damn sight cheaper.

Same as a twenty year old CRT television, ten year old computer, and cheap canned food...they will all do the job just as well as you need them to in order to get by...but something tells me most of you would rather not use any of those if you have a choice.

Fish on...

Todd

todd your reasoning is useless. We're not talking about yard sale rods that have been banged around for ten years.

the OP is based on whether the off the rack $500 is truly a superior rod. over the rack rod that is considerably cheaper.

Then how about buying a $12K Kia to drive to work instead of driving around in a big $40K pickup truck?

The point is that there are always cheaper ways to get it done just as well as the expensive ways...and the fact that it is cheaper does not make it more enjoyable, or better, it just makes it a cheaper way to get it done.

Some folks revel in the idea that they can do something cheaper, no matter what it is...and I can see why they would feel that way.

Some folks don't care what anything costs...they will always buy the most expensive thing they can get, assuming it is better just because it costs more.

I think the answer is more nuanced than that...the answer is to think about why you would or would not buy an expensive rod, and whether or not that reason is worth the extra money to you. If it is, then do it...if it's not, then don't.

Fish on...

Todd

" or a red 1987 Datsun pickup with a blue door, yellow tailgate held on by baling wire, and a cracked windshield?"

no chunk he described a beat up rig.

instead of sucking some todd @ss fume. realize that 90% of all steelheaders buy into the high price brands to show a level status amongst their peers while fishing. a SST / shimano rod is not going to handicap anyone.

Rapid Robert says that the shimano rods are every bit as sensitive to the g loomises. i'll take a very seasoned guides opinion over todd's opinion any day.

Todd's comparison is flawed because he describes an inexpensive vehicle that is a piece of junk because it's old and in poor repair. There are brand new rods in the $100 to $200 range that in a blind casting test he would be hard pressed to differentiate from $700 rods. That is a comparison that is more in line with the spirit of this thread.

Sg

Todd's rational does make sense to me. My wife keeps buying these stupid shoes called Gucci at about $500 a pop. I can't for the life of me, understand someone spending $500 for a pair of, what basically look like sandals, just because they are called Gucci! But then again she say's the same thing about my $700 waders, which we all know is absolutely necessary....

First I want to know why Todd is making fun of my truck!
OK, mine is a Toyota but too many similarities to let it pass.

Truth is I am one of those people who takes satisfaction in not buying Uber stuff and finding value goods that perform - here value is defined as Cost/Performance not absolute price.

Would definitely spend more/purchase higher up the ladder in a relative sense, for a fly rod because its function is a much bigger part of the day and experience.

But for gear rods not so much. I have some GL3's that I bought when they were a new thing - $325 in the mid 90's, so that might have been Uber at the time. Have never felt that I needed something more than those for performance. Recent purchases have been sub $100 - pair of Berkley/buzz ramsey plug rods that I think are fine (not awesome).

For me, high end rods are not very attractive because I have a history of being hard on rods - and not in a good way. I have probably broken 8 or 9 rods over the years and only one was what I considered a warranty issue suffered while actively fishing. Car door, tailgate, anchor, fall.... While I have personal rituals and rules to manage some of these, and have had only one such event in the last 15 years (2 months ago), it would give me pause personally.

In some ways I think Todd has the right of it - does someone who actually bought a $600 rod regret buying it? And that is a little bit different than those of us who have not saying we would not - even if you have fished with someone else's. That is not to say that you might not find a high end rod that performs so badly that you are sure you would never buy it or feel OK with it if you had bought it - but the OP question,to me, was "is incremental performance worth that kind of money?" - Not "would you buy a crappy expensive rod?" although from some of the comments it would seem such an animal does exist.

I think that used to be a lot more true than it is now...but it's still more true than not.

It definitely used to be that lower end rods came with one year, or no warranties, and more expensive rods had a couple of replacements built into the price with lifetime warranties.

When it comes to the Lamiglas rods I've been using for a long, long time...well, let's just say they don't make much money off of me since I am so hard on my gear and they have the best return/replace program in the market, bar none. You guys who buy one and never break it are definitely subsidizing me

That being said, I have a couple of Berkeley rods that I use for jigging for lingcod and for throwing swimbaits for tuna, and they cost about $80 a pop and have lifetime warranties...and if I only had $100 to spend on a steelhead rod I'd probably get another Berkeley rod.

Fish on...

Todd

Here is the thing about the warranties - Every rod I have broken has been a Lamiglas (except for the last one that was a $45 Okuma). Sure they have lifetime warranties, but I feel like it is BS to make my F-ups their problem - especially when back in the day they would provide a new tip section or entire rod for like $30.

I suspect that if we all limited our claims to manufacture defect, you might be able to get a "$500" for $300 or so. But it is not that big a thing to me and I am not hung up on how everyone else deals with warranty claims- I just know myself well enough to appreciate that if F-ups are free I make more of them.

Then again, if a "500" rod is replaced by the manufacturer once on average - turns out it is a $250 rod.... (I have no idea what the average replacement rate is - just an example..)

It is all about marketing and who will fall for the "sales pitch" for an expensive rod.
If you guys knew just how much carbon fiber goes into a high end rod vs a low end rod AND knew what these companies pay for that high modulus Carbon Fiber prepreg, you would not buy them.
The mark up is ridiculous.

The blank is the most important part, of course...but there is a lot more in a fishing rod than just the blank and while the nicer/nicest components might not cost enough to justify a threefold price increase, they do make a rod much nicer to fish with.

I get my centerpin blanks from a guy in Oregon who makes them himself...for about $40 a pop. I'd probably buy a factory centerpin rod if someone would actually listen and stop making Great Lakes noodle rods for PNW steelhead fishermen, but instead I have to buy spey blanks and spin them up in centerpin configurations. Even with all the components they don't cost all that much for me to have them done.

Fish on...

Todd

Centerpins and spoons?

Or are you branching out?

True dat.

Nah, they're not for sale...but I've been fishing with them since college.

Fish on...

Todd

New IMX rods are under $400 and well worth their value!

Todd. I was just at NFC/Edge Rods a few days ago and we were talking centerpin blanks. They handed me a 13' rod that felt beefy. He said it was a 13'0" 8-17 lb blank. I told them they might have just made the perfect float rod for Washington pin anglers. It was a prototype I believe but I can find out more info if you are interested? It is built on (IM) material, similar to the old IMX but lighter and stronger.

If it's actually an 8-17 then they are in the game. Would definitely like to hear more about it...because I am lazy and would rather have a factory rod that I like than build rods

Fish on...

Todd