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.