Cortland Fly Rods

[FarmerDave]

Afishinado, does she have a sister??? :lol:

I'm joking.

You're good. you should be in sales or marketing. Great response. I'll consider myself slapped down after that response ... especially because i usually make an effort to buy American whenever i can, even if it costs quite a bit more.

Now how do you feel about bobbers, errr, I mean strike indicators. :-D

 

[afishinado]

FarmerDave:

LOL, check my profile under occupation............

I love those indicators..... especially the red & white plastic ones!
Kidding, but I sometimes use strike indicators. Under certain conditions, they are indispensable.

 

[troutbert]

lestrout wrote:
Capt - your analogy between cars and fly rods is very apt. For sure, 30 years ago, there was a lot of difference between high and low end stuff. However, these days, there is far less difference, especially in terms of pure functionality.

Cortland has always had excellent value at the various price points, and even their starter stuff (I recall C/L as up the curve a bit?) is quite nice.

Same thing with wines. Even the basic stuff is usable these days, though admittedly with all of these, you can spend lots of money and there are differences, if you are looking for them.

tl
les

I also think the car analogy is good. It used to be that the lower priced rods were really much poorer quality than the high end rods. Think Chevette, Vega, Pinto.

But now many of the lower price rods have closed the quality gap quite a lot. More like Civics and Corollas. Very good value.

 

[Sockman]

I really do appreciate everybody's input. Great stuff, very helpful. Like I said I have used the Cortland CL 5/6 wt for six years. I have and use other rods like a 7 1/2 bamboo (sweet action) and a couple of Orvis rods ( Clearwater Classics) that I use most of the time; my CL is a true 6 wt with a tip flex and I use it especially for nymphing and for fishing bigger water on windy days. It has a great feel for me, with good power and sensitivity. We are so fortunate to have so many options in buying good gear at reasonable prices to enjoy our beloved sport of fly fishing. I must say that in my experience Cortland stands by their products well. My wife has a CL 4/5 wt. Two years ago, a problem developed with the reel seat. The customer service office told us to send it to them. In one week the rod was returned to us, repaired for no charge. Thanks again for all your comments.

 

[FarmerDave]

afishinado wrote:

LOL, check my profile under occupation............

I did before I posted that.

For the fun of it, I was going to nitpick your numbers but figured I'd be better off if I quit while I was behind and admitted defeat. :-D

 

[WestDeerPirate]

Bringing this back after 9 years. Reason being I wound up purchasing a Cortland Fairplay 2 pc. 9' 6 weight that I think is a great casting rod. Purchase price was a staggering $15.00 off Ebay used. I own and fish several rods including vintage steel, fiberglass and newer Orvis Clearwater outfits. While the craftsmanship and quality of the Fairplay is not that of higher end rods I find it to be a great casting rod for a fraction the price of some of my other rods. Just thought I would share. I would be my $15 rod catches as well as my $300 rod.

As other said years ago for big water a high end quality rod might have the less expensive rods and of course the replacement warranties cant be beat. But, other than that I see no reason not to fish a Cortland rod. The 99% graphite rod left a great fist impression.

Fish On.

 

[redietz]

tomgamber wrote:

I know an old guy who still won't fish with anything other than his 40+ year old bamboo. He has upgraded to other than silk line, however. About 15 years ago he said he just couldn't keep it clean any longer and the polution was eating it up.

Most people that I know who silk would say "other than silk" is a downgrade (and $$$ wise they would correct -- silk lines run 200-300 dollars).

For trout, a good bamboo rod is an upgrade. (Less so when you start talking about bass or saltwater.)

There's not a thing wrong with Cortland rods.

A rod is only "good" if it fits a particular application (and is pleasant to use for that application.) Price has nothing to do with it, and you start to reach the point of diminishing returns -- a rod that costs $1000 probably isn't twice as good as a rod that cost $500, which itself probably isn't twice as good as a rod that cost $250. Part of the higher price is strictly aesthetic -- you're paying for better grade cork, a fancier reel seat, a better wrapping job/finish on the guides, etc. None of those will make the rod fish any better.

 

[phiendWMD]

I don't have any experience with a high end rod, I've got a couple mid range rods and a few low end rods. The best rod I have is a St Croix Imperial, which some people that do own high end rods have cast and seemed to like and had positive comments about. Maybe they were just being polite?

But I'm just as likely to use an Eagle Claw featherlight.

For me, it really depends where and what I'm fishing. For dry flies on a creek I can almost jump across the featherlight is more than enough. Streamers on a river that is 2 football fields wide it is not nearly perfect.

If I can continue the car analogies, sure it's nice to have a Ferrari but how many opportunities exist to truly open it up? How many actually have the skill to handle it wide open? I think rods are like that. Does anyone really need an $800 Sage rod to make 25 foot casts? Can they squeeze the performance potential out of it?