Kelly Galloup on $1000 rods

I was startled that someone thought Kelly was a "big ego guy". I've talked with him at shows and especially while staying at his Slide Inn, and always found him personable and engaging.
 
lestrout said:
I was startled that someone thought Kelly was a "big ego guy". I've talked with him at shows and especially while staying at his Slide Inn, and always found him personable and engaging.
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I think maybe its the youtube presentations that might be off putting for some people. I just think they are boring because he tends to complicate things and doesn't stay on topic in some cases. I find them tedious to watch compared to some other fly tying videos.
 
Yes, I’ve met him. I’ve been to his shop at least twice (which is a small sample size). I feel as though I have pretty good reads on people. The times I was there- he doesn’t have discussions with you , he pontificates at you. He holds court more than discussions.

Perhaps out of his shop where has to engage the Hoi polloi he is different. Just doesn’t seem like natural type interactions to me.
 
He comes across as blunt and very opinionated in his videos. Nothing wrong with that. The guy does seem willing to pimp out his name to just about anything so it's hard to read if he actually believes in the gear or not.
 
I like his videos and take his opinions as grains of salt in my knowledge silo. I don't dismiss or wholly accept either; he's very knowledgeable and there's value and respect in that.

I pretty much enjoy all of his videos under 15 minutes. Beyond that, he just talks too much for me to follow a simple wooly bugger tie.
 
His streamer fishing podcasts I've listened to were very good and covered a lot of stuff people overlook. He seems a little rough around the edges and I like that
 
Bamboozle said:
Since there is so much chatter about good waders being more important a good rod, could somebody please contact Kelly Giddy-up about doing a video titled:

"$1000 Waders, and $500 Wading Shoes, Are They BS?" ;)
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Right, I need a vid to explain to me why it's pertinent that I spend $1000 on a set of waders that I will tear up in a few years (I'm hard on clothing), though spending $1000 to own a rod I could fish for a lifetime or until I get bored with is an absolute waste of money.
 
Bamboozle said:
Since there is so much chatter about good waders being more important a good rod, could somebody please contact Kelly Giddy-up about doing a video titled:

"$1000 Waders, and $500 Wading Shoes, Are They BS?" ;)
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Apples and oranges IMO.

Big difference in fishing with a tools that are similar in function, and the expensive one is just more aesthetically pleasing.

As opposed to fishing in waders that are constantly springing leaks and don't last.
I start fishing early in the year, in water that's often 40 degrees or less.
Getting soaked like that really puts a damper on the day

How about spending big money to fly out west, stay in a nice lodge.
Only to finally get into the stream, and find out your waders leak?

Been there, done that.....
 
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I swap my waders annually so I have no worries about leakage. A cheaper set of waders will get me through a year. Too many potential hazards with waders for me to justify buying more expensive ones. Since they aren't terminal tackle and therefore not directly involved in catching fish I do not see the reason to go "crazy" with the waders. That's my own opinion, again you can spend your money however you want. Most waders look similar to me so I am not as motivated to research one I really like cosmetically. I think the Orvis ones look slick. As for your trip experience, that is unfortunate. I guess in that circumstance I would head to the nearest fly shop and pick up another pair.

I could be tempted to get the Simms River Camo patterned waders though they are costly and I don't want to be taken for a lowly hunter as that would clash with the prestigious fly fishing look I am going for (a little sarcasm if I may so be allowed).

On a serious note, making a video telling people where they shouldn't spend their money is asinine.
 
I bought a $300 waterproof backpack last week that will attach to my $200 waterproof chest pack. I’m going to put my $500 rain jacket in the backpack, and fill my chest pack with a few dozen flies that I’ve tied with $200 saddle hackles using an $800 tying vice.

When I go fishing I’ll take my $700 waders, my $300 boots, grab my $200 net, $100 wading staff, and not forget my $700 sunglasses. I may even take a couple $1000 rods, and $700 reels that are filled with $100 lines.

Then I’ll fill my $70,000 truck with a $100 tank of gas, and head out to my favorite trout stream.

The air there is fresh, the water is cold and clean. The fish that I hope to catch are wild and beautiful. Nothing is better than being out there.

And…it’s entirely free for you as well as me…to enjoy as we wish. We are all equal in the eyes of a fish.
 
mt_flyfisher said:
I bought a $300 waterproof backpack last week that will attach to my $200 waterproof chest pack. I’m going to put my $500 rain jacket in the backpack, and fill my chest pack with a few dozen flies that I’ve tied with $200 saddle hackles using an $800 tying vice.

When I go fishing I’ll take my $700 waders, my $300 boots, grab my $200 net, $100 wading staff, and not forget my $700 sunglasses. I may even take a couple $1000 rods, and $700 reels that are filled with $100 lines.

Then I’ll fill my $70,000 truck with a $100 tank of gas, and head out to my favorite trout stream.

The air there is fresh, the water is cold and clean. The fish that I hope to catch are wild and beautiful. Nothing is better than being out there.

And…it’s entirely free for you as well as me…to enjoy as we wish. We are all equal in the eyes of a fish.
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I bought a new fly box a few weeks ago, which holds more flies than my previous primary box. While I was shopping, I looked at the flies on their site a bit just for fun. I guess it really never dawned on me the cost of flies, and I never put a value on all the flies I've tied. I realized if I had bought them all, I would have thousands of dollars in flies on me on any given day. Then I remembered that I have probably 5x that in fly-tying materials. Though the materials have been accumulated over about three decades, that makes it a little easier to digest.
 
Silent Ocelot said:
I swap my waders annually so I have no worries about leakage. A cheaper set of waders will get me through a year. Too many potential hazards with waders for me to justify buying more expensive ones. Since they aren't terminal tackle and therefore not directly involved in catching fish I do not see the reason to go "crazy" with the waders. That's my own opinion, again you can spend your money however you want. Most waders look similar to me so I am not as motivated to research one I really like cosmetically. I think the Orvis ones look slick. As for your trip experience, that is unfortunate. I guess in that circumstance I would head to the nearest fly shop and pick up another pair.

I could be tempted to get the Simms River Camo patterned waders though they are costly and I don't want to be taken for a lowly hunter as that would clash with the prestigious fly fishing look I am going for (a little sarcasm if I may so be allowed).

On a serious note, making a video telling people where they shouldn't spend their money is asinine.
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Back in the days when you had generous luggage allowances on planes, I would take a backup pair of waders. Pretty hard to do now.

As for your comment about most waders looking similar: Not sure if that's part of your sarcasm or not.
But for me, I couldn't care less about how my waders look.
I just want ones that keep my dry for, hopefully, quite a while.
And don't have to screw around trying to repair them, or send them back.
Same thing with rain coats.

I didn't take Kelly's comments as trying to tell people how to spend their money.
More as a useful tip on how to save some.
 
Personally, I really enjoy his tying videos. They can be long with respect to the complexity of the fly, but I find there's normally good info in there around the finer points of making a good fly. Be it thread control, material selection and/or handling, etc.

I find his videos far superior to the ones where they run it at 2x speed, no or very little explanation with music dubbed over the whole thing and a stupid beer or whatever displayed in front of the vice.
 
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dryflyguy said:
Back in the days when you had generous luggage allowances on planes, I would take a backup pair of waders. Pretty hard to do now.

As for your comment about most waders looking similar: Not sure if that's part of your sarcasm or not.
But for me, I couldn't care less about how my waders look.
I just want ones that keep my dry for, hopefully, quite a while.
And don't have to screw around trying to repair them, or send them back.
Same thing with rain coats.

I didn't take Kelly's comments as trying to tell people how to spend their money.
More as a useful tip on how to save some.
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The sarcasm was directed at my use of "lowly hunter" as I knew if I didn't annotate that it was sarcasm the constant camo wearers would assault me. With waders, a lot do look alike so it's hard for me to decide on one particular model. For the most part I buy things that appeal to me aesthetically and haven't really found a pair that really appear to me in that regard barring the Orvis convertible top ones, thusly why I haven't really looked into what waders I want to buy when the time comes to get a new set, I just stroll into the local sporting goods store and grab the one that appeals to me most.

As I said you are entitled to your own opinion. I find your reasoning for wader choice and making them a high priority sound and I agree with it, so I would expect you to respect my reasoning for choosing to spend what I want to spend on a fly rod. Your reasoning is confusing to me. You say you should invest in waders but not to put the same kind of investment into a fly rod?

Labeling a video as "this product is BS" implies an absolute, which is a fallacy in of itself. That statement says $1,000 fly rods are not needed by anyone. That statement is incorrect and several members on here have voiced this. On the contrary if I made a video targeting cheaper rods stating they are junk, have sloppy construction, and a are mass-produced and soulless, what do you think the response to that would be? However, that is just my opinion, and unlike Kelly, I keep that opinion to myself and only critique rods I have fished or casted.
 
Silent Ocelot said:
That statement says $1,000 fly rods are not needed by anyone. That statement is incorrect and several members on here have voiced this.
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Which fly fishing situation needs a $1000 for success? I can't think of a single one. There is not and never has been a trout (or any fish) that could only be caught consistently by using an $1k rod. Throwing around the word "need" in relation to a $1k fishin' pole is nonsense.

Ok, some people think they need a $1k fishin' pole. Well.... ... they're wrong. Larger numbers of people have bee wrong about more important matters on an endless number of occasions.

Also, a modern graphite fly rod is essentially the same thing across all price points. A $80 rod is physically, far more similar to a $1k rod than it is different. The only tangible difference is a greater likelihood that more effort was spent designing a taper and figuring out how to minimize weight with a $1k rod. But that also doesn't mean the same hasn't happened with a much cheaper rod.

Saying you "need" a $1k fishin' pole to fish in any given situation is the same as saying you sometimes need a $1k hammer to pound nails. It's rubbish. Are $1k rods nice? Sure, but they ain't all that. I don't even know that they are high quality. Heck, I know three people who had the metal reelseat hardware fall off their Scott Radians. I've also seen a Sage where half the grip came unglued and cracked, spinning freely around the blank.

And yes, im going to call any rod in the $1k price range a fishin' pole from now on because that's what it is.
 
Many of the less expensive rods cast very nicely.

Suppose someone started out with blanks that were all the same color, and with no markings, then finished them with the same hardware, etc.

Then you did blind testing casts. Do you think you could tell the difference?
 
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