Troutnut Forum > Fly Fishing Discussion > cheap rods, high performance, Page 3
| Bflat | April 16th, 2008, 11:09 pm | |
| central wisconsin Posts: 7 | Modern rods are so good that I'd venture to guess that even the cheapest discount store rod is better than the best rod of yesteryear. I like fine tackle, but never fool myself into thinking it's really necessary. I remember expressing my interest in bamboo to an old and accomplished fisherman. His response, "When glass rods came out we were so relieved to give up our bamboo rods and their upkeep, then came graphite, what a pleasure." I'm still fascinated with bamboo, but think they're somewhat (not totally) an affectation. High end rods quickly reach a level of "diminishing returns." They are pretty cool, though. A nice thing about trout fishing is that even the most expensive stuff is cheap relative to other pursuits, such as sport flying, horses, car collecting, etc.. Heck, just compare high end waders to a bass boat! Or flies to plugs. Bob | |
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| TheMidge | April 30th, 2008, 5:50 pm | |
| Massachusetts Posts: 13 | I have to way in here. I began fly fishing with an inexpensive rod from LL Beans (the quest) as I became a better caster, I purchased a TFO 3 weight, and saw a difference...... I really liked it. Next I bought an Elkhorn, and emmediately saw an improvment. The rod just casted better and felt more "quality" for the same price. I was a firm believer in never paying big money for a rod. Over the winter, I bought a discontinued Sage XP at LL Beans factory outlet for under $200 because I figured worse case scenario, I could turn a small profit on it. This rod allows me to do things I could never do with my other rods. It is more responsive when nymphing, it is a 5 wt that lays down line softer than my 3 wt, I can cast much farther with accuracy, and it can handle streamers and double nymph rigs that my other 5 wt's had trouble with. Will I spend $600 on a rod? No way. Will I bargain hunt for my next rod? absolutely. | |
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