Wow, Cost of Top End Rods Really Getting Expensive!

[wbranch]

PennKev,

but the variety of anodized finishes now available on reel seats allows more variety when it comes to aesthetics.

I do agree with you on that comment 100%. When I was building rods all I was able to get was shiny black anodized aluminum. I used those for all my personal salt water rods and a couple of my trout rods. I still have a 8' 6" 3 pc rod for a #5 line with a Struble up lock black aluminum reel seat and rose wood spacer. It is easily over 20 years old and still one of my favorite 5 weights.

 

[Fredrick]

Nympho wrote:
I just bought a 10'8" 3wt Thomas and Thomas for Czech nymphing and in my opinion it was worth every penny. The Echo 10' 3wt I was using before this doesn't even compare.

I gave that rod a twirl at Somerset and thought the performance wasn't justifiable for the money over the other rod I was looking at the Marryatt pro nymph 10' 6" 3 wt . And the Marryatt was easier to cast in my opinion, I thought the T&T was to soft . I have the orvis recon nymph and prefer it over the T&T for casting but the T&T is more sensitive .

 

[poopdeck]

I'm willing to bet the 1000.00 rod club has an equal number of anglers who aren't upper class. In fact I'm willing to bet the majority of those in this club don't have two nickels to rub together and in 30 years they will be complaining about not being able to retire young because they have no savings.

I've never spent more then 400 for everything. Would you believe I've never studied a reel seat or gave it much more then a passing glance. Ignorance is bliss so I'm not missing out on anything.

 

[Bamboozle]

Rod bling is a relatively new phenomenon. It all of a sudden became important when a few bamboo builders like T&T, Leonard & Ron Kusse decided to pretty up their offerings in the 1980's -90's.

Case in point, look at some of the older Winston Bamboo offerings when a Bakelite reelseat was the norm or when cork-locking or simple knurled sliding bands were all there was on Orvis’ rods.

Once the bling thing started, even Orvis jumped on board with nickel silver, nicer wood inserts & mortised seats.

That being said, without getting into an argument over what $1000 gets you versus $200, I will say that today’s “economy” rods have 1000 times nicer fit & finish than the first “high quality” rod I owned; an Orvis graphite from the 1980’s that cost around $150 new.

Most of today’s lower priced options perform a lot better too!

IMHO - No matter what you spend today, you are way better off than any time in the sport.

 

[afishinado]

Bamboozle wrote:
Rod bling is a relatively new phenomenon. It all of a sudden became important when a few bamboo builders like T&T, Leonard & Ron Kusse decided to pretty up their offerings in the 1980's -90's.

Case in point, look at some of the older Winston Bamboo offerings when a Bakelite reelseat was the norm or when cork-locking or simple knurled sliding bands were all there was on Orvis’ rods.

Once the bling thing started, even Orvis jumped on board with nickel silver, nicer wood inserts & mortised seats.

That being said, without getting into an argument over what $1000 gets you versus $200, I will say that today’s “economy” rods have 1000 times nicer fit & finish than the first “high quality” rod I owned; an Orvis graphite from the 1980’s that cost around $150 new.

Most of today’s lower priced options perform a lot better too!

IMHO - No matter what you spend today, you are way better off than any time in the sport.

I agree that the rods now are so much better than they were back-in-the-day, like a lot of other things are, too....

 

[moon1284]

Pretty sure that nickel silver (which isn't silver at all) had been around much longer than aluminum.

I'm going to take the opposite stance and say a top of the line rod from 1995 is as good as a top of the line today. And ill even say a top of the line rod from 1980 has a better fit and finish ( i.e.neatness of wraps, varnish vs epoxy, quality of cork, etc.) than a top of the line rod today.

Granted I'm biased because most of the rods I use are 20+ years old. Also the bottom line is it's the angler not the ros.

 

[afishinado]

moon1284 wrote:
Pretty sure that nickel silver (which isn't silver at all) had been around much longer than aluminum.

I'm going to take the opposite stance and say a top of the line rod from 1995 is as good as a top of the line today. And ill even say a top of the line rod from 1980 has a better fit and finish ( i.e.neatness of wraps, varnish vs epoxy, quality of cork, etc.) than a top of the line rod today.

Granted I'm biased because most of the rods I use are 20+ years old. Also the bottom line is it's the angler not the rods.

There's certainly nothing wrong with finding a rod you like and sticking with it. As we all know the fish sure can't tell the difference

I have rods from the 80's, 90's, 00's and 10's. I fish with the latest rods I own because they cast and fish better for me....that's really why I bought them in the first place. I don't really buy new rods all that often, unless I need a specialty rod for some new type of fishing or trip I'm planning.

Every so often I pick up an older rod that I really liked at the time and cast it or even fish it. They always seem to end up back in the old rod rack upstairs, while my newer rods sit in in their tubes beside my waders, boots and pack ready to go on my next fishing trip.

Most of the rods I own are on the higher end of the price spectrum.
But if you read bamboozle's post, I agree wholeheartedly with him that the less expensive rods sold today are a quantum leap forward compared to the junk sold in the past.

As far as the finish and hardware, I have a bunch of rods of all ages in my rod rack, and other than the cork not being as good today as was in the past, the finish and detail of the old rods I own are no better or worse than my newer rods by my eye. I actually like the newer reel seats as well as the guides. I guess it really depends on the manufacturer.

Stick with whatever works for you.

 

[Fredrick]

afishinado wrote:

moon1284 wrote:
Pretty sure that nickel silver (which isn't silver at all) had been around much longer than aluminum.

I'm going to take the opposite stance and say a top of the line rod from 1995 is as good as a top of the line today. And ill even say a top of the line rod from 1980 has a better fit and finish ( i.e.neatness of wraps, varnish vs epoxy, quality of cork, etc.) than a top of the line rod today.

Granted I'm biased because most of the rods I use are 20+ years old. Also the bottom line is it's the angler not the rods.

There's certainly nothing wrong with finding a rod you like and sticking with it. As we all know the fish sure can't tell the difference

I have rods from the 80's, 90's, 00's and 10's. I fish with the latest rods I own because they cast and fish better for me....that's really why I bought them in the first place. I don't really buy new rods all that often, unless I need a specialty rod for some new type of fishing or trip I'm planning.

Every so often I pick up an older rod that I really liked at the time and cast it or even fish it. They always seem to end up back in the old rod rack upstairs, while my newer rods sit in in their tubes beside my waders, boots and pack ready to go on my next fishing trip.

Most of the rods I own are on the higher end of the price spectrum.
But if you read bamboozle's post, I agree wholeheartedly with him that the less expensive rods sold today are a quantum leap forward compared to the junk sold in the past.

As far as the finish and hardware, I have a bunch of rods of all ages in my rod rack, and other than the cork not being as good today as was in the past, the finish and detail of the old rods I own are no better or worse than my newer rods by my eye. I actually like the newer reel seats as well as the guides. I guess it really depends on the manufacturer.

Stick with whatever works for you.

Just give the xp it’s a shame that it’s sitting there collecting dust .......just saying........

 

[Brianh]

I have rods from the 90's through today. The advanced materials in the top of the line rods today create lighter rods with quick recovering tips that make it easier to generate line speed.
It's up to each person to decide how much these advancements are worth but the new high end rods do provide some improvements over the rods from the past.

 

[afishinado]

Fredrick wrote:
Just give the xp it’s a shame that it’s sitting there collecting dust .......just saying........

The poor xp is now a back-up. Hey, remember Nicks Foles was a back-up too!

 

[wbranch]

Bamboozle wrote;

In fact I'm willing to bet the majority of those in this club don't have two nickels to rub together and in 30 years they will be complaining about not being able to retire young because they have no savings.

I agree with you 100%. Actually I have seen that at least of 1/3 of Americans 65 years of age and older have no more than $5000 set aside for retirement savings. What on earth have they been thinking about?

 

[wbranch]

Bamboozle wrote;

Case in point, look at some of the older Winston Bamboo offerings when a Bakelite reelseat was the norm or when cork-locking or simple knurled sliding bands were all there was on Orvis’ rods.

I know that is a correct statement but when I bought my first Leonard Baby Catskill in 1965 it had a nickel silver cap and ring reelseat with a maple wood insert. My buddy bought a Leonard 7 1/2' #5 rod and it had a down lock nickel silver reel seat. So while many rods may have had journeyman reel seats some were using finer materials.

Someone wrote "Nickel silver is not silver". Correct nickel silver is 60% copper, 20% nickel, and 20% zinc.

 

[falcon]

Several years ago I upgraded my equipment after 25 + years or so. I bought a hardy zenith 5wt on closeout for 350.00. All I can say is WOW!! This rod is intuitive to cast, decent in close with the right line, excels in mid range casting and can really throw a long line. The rod is med fast with fast recovery with reserve power in the mid blank.

As much as I like my Winston IM6 rods from the 80's this rod is much better (at least in bigger water where I tend to fish).

However I would never pay 800.00 to 1000.00 for the latest and greatest. I don't have the ability to notice any real difference.

 

[Van_Cleaver]

One of my favorite rods is a 4pc LL Beans Streamlite; I paid 160 bucks for it with a nice travel case. (8.5' 5wt.) My go to dry fly rod is a Loomis gl-3; 8' 3wt. I think I paid 225 when I bought that. Best nymphing rod is a Loomis IMX (also 8.5' 5 wt.) which I built for around 150.

So I like to look at fancy rods that I probably will never be able to afford but am more than happy with the ones that I have. There are a lot of rods out there that are more than adequate for most anglers a fairly reasonable prices, though casting them is always advisable before purchase. Anyway, I have been fly fishing for almost forty years and am perfectly happy catching trout with what I've got. If you can afford 1000 bucks more power to you, but it isn't the instrument that makes the musician imo.

 

[Sylvaneous]

bigjohn58 wrote:
These prices on rods scare a lot of people out of the fly fishing game I bet and make people not want to participate. Makes them feel its just for the "upper class".

Good thing they don't try to start bass fishing! (snicker chuckle tee-hee)

 

[Sylvaneous]

Van_Cleaver wrote:
If you can afford 1000 bucks more power to you, but it isn't the instrument that makes the musician imo.

I have to think, with my proletariat orientation, that if a body has $1K to spend on a rod, they pretty much ALREADY have the power. And I don't mean "The Power of Grayskull!". ( He-Man reference. Anyone? anyone?)

 

[Sylvaneous]

Actually I have seen that at least of 1/3 of Americans 65 years of age and older have no more than $5000 set aside for retirement savings. What on earth have they been thinking about?[/quote]

They've been thinking about a LOT of things, like how meager their pay is, just for one. Another might be how mega-millionaires need to shutter the place where they work and ruin their lives just to have a few more $$ that won't change how they live one minute of their life. (from a Tom Petty interview on Fresh Air. Thanks Tom, for everything.)

 

[Sylvaneous]

falcon wrote:
Several years ago I upgraded my equipment after 25 + years or so. I bought a hardy zenith 5wt on closeout for 350.00.
However I would never pay 800.00 to 1000.00 for the latest and greatest.

Because most or nearly all of us have everything we need and then some, this is the way to go. No one here isn't fishing because they don't have a 5 wt. rod to use. Getting a close out or a used rod that was tip-top a few years ago is the way to go.

I'd put a 10 year old GLX up against about anything. If it's in good shape and for a good price, It's a winner.