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3. cheap rods, high performance

Holy cow guys... I just fished my friends new rod. A redington 5 wt. 9 foot four piece.

why have I spent thousands of $$$ on fly rods over the years? this rod was $160 with lifetime warranty. I can cast this thing accurately into backing with relative ease ON water. I had a 90ft. old 5wt line on it too. i have a closet full of RPLs, LLs, Scott Gs, Loop, STS and S3's so I'm no stranger to performance.

unreal rod. and its put together nice.

There will soon be a sage, scott, winston yard sale at my house. then I can buy a new truck and a closet full of these things.

I have been old school for a long time- I have bought the rods I have had history with - sage and scott. seems like the times have caught up and the technology has improved so much that the $$$ makers will soon have a run fo their money. if they don't already.

I have a Redington Wayfarer that I like, and have recently been using Temple Fork rods, mostly since I have three women in the family who can spend money much faster than I can. Which model Redington rod did you purchase, and have you tried the Temple Fork rods?

Doesn't surprise me in the least. I have about 15 fly rods, but only 3 that I paid over $200 for and all of them are just older Orvis Superfines.

Everything else I own is old Fenwick glass and newer lower end St. Croix and Diamondbacks.

Oh, and one J. Kennedy Fisher I won at a TU banquet 20 years ago when I was still occasionally getting a half a snootful now and then and bought too many raffle tickets...:)

I don't own any Redingtons at present, but I need a new 9 foot, 8 or 9 weight because I want to start chaing Northerns. So, maybe I'll have a look at their lower end rods.

Louis,

I just bought a TFO 9'6" 8wt and at only $150 it's a great rod. They seem to be great "fishing" Rods(all performance no glam) which suits me just fine.
Jeff

It was suggested to me some time back by SoftHackle (Mark Libertone) that I purchase a TFO, and I couldn't be happier with my purchase. I didn't want to spend a fortune, but I wanted a lighter weight rod, as my 7 wt. was a bit large for the streams I typically fish. The particular one I purchased was a 4 wt. 8'-6" from the "Signature Series" line, and at the time it was only $90. I don't know if it was all of the practicing I did during the "off season" or the rod, but I seem to remember my cast improving dramatically the second I picked this rod up.

I don't have a lot of experience casting different rods, but I was happy enough with it to purchase a 5 wt. "for my wife," and even as a beginner, her cast looks really nice. In reality, it was just a good excuse for me to purchase yet another rod, but that's for another topic.

Chris.

Davez,

I owned a Redington RedStart 7.5 ft. 4-5 wt. for many years before I unfortunately broke it (loose ferrel did it in) in 2005. I paid $130 for it in 1998, and I loved it! Being a field biologist/environmental consultant, I sure don't make a lot of bucks so I could never afford a $500 Sage or anything close. Nevertheless, having been in this game for 22 years now, I am currently fishing two very inexpensive rods I picked up last year at Cabela's: the Clear Creek 7 ft. 3 wt. ($100 with tube), and the Three Forks 8.5 ft. 4-piece 5 wt ($55 without tube). I am delighted with both rods, especially the Clear Creek (to which I recently added their CSR #1 reel and a GPX floating line - just fished this oufit last night on the Huron River). Both rods cast very nicely for me, and I can get some good distance and accuracy.

I'm sure many will beg to differ, but I don't see much sense in paying more than $100-$200 for, as I like to put it, a delicate wand of graphite (I've broken a few too many). Same with a reel - unless you're going after tarpon or billfish, I don't think you should pay more for your reel than you do for your rod!

Enjoy your Redington, and I expect you will catch many, many fish on it.

Jonathon

P.S. I owned a Sage Discovery series rod in the 90s (8.5 ft. 4-piece 5-6 wt.), and to be honest, after getting the RedStart, the Sage just felt kinda clunky and too soft (though I caught plenty of fish on it).

this was a redfly 2 rod. not bad, i fished it again.

Hi all, I'm new to fly fishing and this forum. I bought my first rod this year, a TFO 5 wt.. I really like it, although I have nothing to compare it to! Grandpa has been fly fishing for over 60 years and has practically every "top" setup imaginable. He was really impressed with my choice for an entry rod. It's all about performance, not flash, and it seems like the TFO's are just that, at a great price.

Hi all,
I've heard a lot about high priced rods being better, and perhaps some of the hardware may be a bit better in quality. I've heard a lot of fishermen that look down their noses at you if you are not fishing a rod that cost you $500 or better. I'm sorry, but I have been fly fishing going on 46 years. I've used fiberglass and graphite. I've never fished boo, but someday might try one. I have to say I've never owned a rod over $150. I've never had any problem with them doing their job that they are intended to do.

I have two sons-in-law that own TFO 9' 5 weight rods, They love them. My son recently purchased a Redington 9' 5 wt. at a great price and it performs like a dream.

I myself own an Orvis rod I won in a raffle. It's very nice and it normally sells in the $300 range, but I can't see much difference in it compared to a similar St. Croix I paid about $150 for. I also own a Cortland Rod which I paid just about $100 for, and I have a nice little Pfluger 7 footer for small streams that was about $80 some years back. All work great.

I usually ask a question that gets interesting answers.

You are on a river, fly fishing and the gentlemen just down river of you hooks into a real beauty of over twenty-four inches or better. He plays this fish for almost twenty minutes before getting it to the net. You join him as he gets the fish over to shore to remove the fly. Do you look to see what kind of rod he was using?

(More likely than not, you look at the fish, then the fly it was caught on. Does the rod and reel matter?)

Mark

Thanks to everyone who has made contributions to this discussion so far! It is all really helpful info.

Here's a little story for you folks about the danger of using high-priced fly rods. First, some background. Many years ago I was married and living in Missouri - the ex was from Kansas City - and of course I had to check out the trout streams there. Missouri has four "trout parks", which are essentially hatcheries located on huge springs (hundreds of millions of gallons per day!) that release trout into the spring-fed rivers (about 57 F) for people to catch. Now, this is what some people call "fishing": at 8 a.m. every morning, they open the gates and let a fresh batch of hatchery rainbows (mostly) out and people line the banks to catch their limit with Power Bait and etc., then go back to bed thinking they've just had the greatest fishing of their lives. NOT exactly my cup of tea (this is a severe understatement) but I will say this: the survivors get everything known to humankind thrown at them and they can be amazingly difficult! After a few visits I tied specifically to match the hatches - size 16 caddsiflies and sulphers - and watched fish turn away at the last second, even when using 6x tippet.

OK, enough about that. (I have some much better expereinces in MO to relate if anyone's interested, including a couple of great spots.) While my ex and I were fishing at one of these places, a fellow came up to us and asked us if we had seen a rod left on the bank, that he had apparently forgotten. We hadn't seen a thing, and told him so. He then lamented that he had paid $700 for this Sage rod!!

I know companies such as Sage will repair and replace broken or otherwise damaged rods - but I severely doubt they would replace one lost through FORGETFULLNESS.

Moral of the story: buy less expensive rods and you won't be so heartbroken if you break or lose them. Besides, like Redington, many companies that make less expensive rods will still replace them if you snap that delicate wand of graphite.

Tight lines to all!

Jonathon

Jmd123 mentioned his philosophy on reels. He seemed to recommend the Clear Creek 7 ft. 3 wt. and the CSR #1 reel as a good combo.

What would be some comparable pairings?

For a long time I've felt that all of the high end fly rods are very high in price and would think that these makers are going to price themselves out of business. How many guys and gals can really justify spending $500 - $750 on a trout rod? There was a period when many of the off-shore fly rods were pretty rough looking but now they have come a long way and not only do they possess the asthetics of a Sage, Loomis, or Winston but they also possess the casting qualities of these high end rods. I recently wanted a 4 piece #5 and happened to get a hold of a copy of a recent of Fish & Fly that had a huge article on 9' #5 weight rods. It was enlightening to learn that many of the so called high end rods performed less effectively than lesser priced rods in that category.

The article was broken up into two portions; high end rods from $300 to ???? and the other category was rods under $300. I liked the looks of the Wright & McGill 9' #5 4 piece and located a fly shop in Montana that had one and only charged me $10 for shipping. I like the way the rod casts and it has really good looking fittings, Fuji SIC stripper guides, TiC snakes, Flor cork, a nickel silver reelseat and a great looking leather trimmed travel tube. All for $209 including shipping.

Hi All
Man O man do I agree with you on less pricey rods. I was always a Sage guy till my friend made me a top of the line St Croix three weight, it fast became,a favorite. I took a trip to West branch of the Delaware,then drove off with sage on top of truck.I bought a 4 piece Gander Mountain nine foot 5 Wt for some where around 150.00 at Birmingham (Sp),its a fine looking rod that performs as well as all the rest.
You get what you pay for---- not sure that applies to fishing rods .

My 2 cents

John Dunn--- not the Poet
Caddisman1

I am now a firm believer that buying expensive rods is a complete waste of money. In fact I recently snapped my orvis rod and it was the only rod that I have, I have to send it in to get fixed, A couple days ago I really had the itch to fish and Im embarrased to say that I went to wal mart and picked up a rod that was literally only 18 dollars, an eagle claw 5/6 weight that is 7 feet long. I really didnt think that it would work to well, boy was I wrong. I hit a local stream where the water was low and clear and snuck through some tall grass and this rod layed out a size 14 black knat flawlessly and the fly was immediately sucked in by a 17-18 inch wild brown (the best fish of the year for me plus its august!). Will I ever pay 500$ for a fishing pole, hell no! It seems ludicrous now.

Smallstream, glad to hear that Eagle Claw still makes that wonderful rod. it won't last forever, but it sure taught me a lot about how to fish. now when your Orvis comes back, you'll appreciate it a lot more.

Wbranch, that article caught my eye too, and when i wanted a 5 weight, i went for the Scott V2. that's their beginner line, but the rod is a honey! on the other hand, i have a Powell 4 weight that is a true cow when casting less than 45 feet. i got it because my other Powells are really great. it may be harder to try out cheaper rods, but you really need to do it, just as much as those $600 wonders.

and to think i used to wonder why anyone needed more than one rod...when did you say that sale was, Davez?

I just thought I would way in here...
I have a reddington redfly series 7.5 foot 3-4 weight that I bought 3 years ago for $169 with reel and line already on it...
it has been a pleasure to fish with...
the only thing that leaves something to be desired is the reel which has a not so great drag system, and it came with not so great line...
that being said I broke the tip top off not 3 weeks after buying it and, having lost the receipt sent it to the company with nothing but a hand written note about what had happened..they sent me a brand new rod with expedited shipping and I was back fishing with it in about a week and a half...
the stellar customer service, and excellent rod at good price will most likely keep me coming back in the future, and the rod fishes so well that I would have no problem putting a $200 reel on it...
being a broke ass type of person I can't see spending more than $200 dollars on a rod to catch fish with, but to you high rollers...
more power to you...

---------------------->buddy

i have a browning 7'6 3wt rod i got for cheap it was 169$ and i have a G.loomis reel sitting on it,
and i love it! it has grat proformance, no frills juts a nce rod for cheap.
a work horse and has the same lifetime garuntee that comes with other rods.

Gentlemen:

I believe you have found the Golden Fleece...the truth about high priced rods. I once owned a fly shop and I should know a little about it. The rods on the market today from $100 -$200 are incomparable for the price in many areas. I seriously doubt that if you took the labels off the rods that anyone could really tell the difference in casting between these rods and the $500.00 models.

Some of the best deals I have found on rods are from Sierra Trading Post on Powell advantage XL II four piece rods (around $100.00; retail $199). I own two different models and can say without reservation they can match most stuff on the market. I use them in guiding and my clients love them.

Part of the problem is that many fly anglers have been conditioned to believe that the highest price rod and equipment is the best. They believe the same about fly lines which is another area of "fleecing."

Tight lines and rising trout

gene
www.flyfisher.com

(Part of the problem is that many fly anglers have been conditioned to believe that the highest price rod and equipment is the best. They believe the same about fly lines which is another area of "fleecing.")

Tight lines and rising trout

gene

Hi all
I was just sitting here thinking the same thing. They ( fly companies )have done a remarkable job of brain washing the public. The bass industry is now doing the same thing.

Theirs a set for every car and a hand for every rod.

Another John

JaD