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I just saw a real pretty 7 foot, 3 piece, 3 weight fiberglass fly rod for sale. They want $700 including shipping. Is it nice looking? YES! Is it probably a work of art? YES! But it's fiberglass. I thought the resurgence of fiberglass was going to make fly fishing more affordable. I feel like I'm being left behind. Even the fiberglass blanks to build a decent fly rod start at around $200. I guess I'm looking for canned tuna in a mahi mahi market. :sad:
So, who is marketing it?
The best fiberglass rod blanks on the market today are Steffen Bothers, McFarland, Kenney (not sure he sells his blanks), and Kabuto.
In my opinion, Steffen blanks, for the money, are the best. Run about $170.00 on the average.
Talk to any glass fishermen and I think they will agree.
If you can build it up yourself or even have it done, maybe it will get within your budget?
I would agree, $700.00 is ludicrous for glass.......maybe Morgan??? Nah!!!
It's Kabuto. He does beautiful work, but still....Quote:
Originally Posted by bobbyg
Here are the rod and blank prices for Steffen Rods:
http://www.steffenbrothersflyrods.com/fiberglass.htm
...but I still LUST for this:
http://thomasandthomas.com/heirloom.html
PT/TB:p
The more of anything that is produced the lower the unit cost. The cost of the material the blank is made from is a small part of the finished cost. IE. the cost of the bamboo in the finest rod is a small part of the rod. If only a handful of a certain glass rod are produced then the price will be high, the same as graphite or any other material. If you want great deals on glass rods hit the garage sales, flee markets, pawn shops and online auctions. The hunt is half the fun.
Eric
Hi. I built myself a 3/4 wt., 9', 2-piece rod. I paid $25 for the blank, and all total, about $75 for the entire rod. And, you know what, it's my favorite dry fly rod. It's a moderate flex blank, too slow for the fast action rod users of today I suppose, but it also allows me to fish nymphs on 6X tippet in skinny water. I just love the thing. I know, I would'nt have believed it either until I fished it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lotech
$700 to me seems a bit much to pay for a fiberglass fly rod. But then I have never been a big fan of fiberglass rods even when I use to fish them. Now $700 for a split cane rod, that to me is a different story!
This year Cabelas brought out a line of glass rods called the CGR (custom glass rod) to commemorate their 50th anniversary. At the price they were asking I was pretty sure they were a bunch of C _ _ _. I was wrong. I purchased both a 5'9" 3 wt and a 6'6" 4wt. Both rods are 3 piece, have excellent hardware, and a nice finish. That being said, the 3wt is a little too limber for my taste and it's very easy to overpower the cast. On the other hand, the 4wt seems to be just right. I have a Cortland Sylk WF 4 on the 4wt and it handles it nicely. Be aware, you really have to slow your casting strike down with these rods, but for small streams and small to medium fish, they're great rods for the price
You are paying for the meticulous labor, not the "effectiveness" of the tool. I have been part of the on-line fiberglass community since Clark Davis first started a "glass forum" a couple decades ago, and I too lament that glass rods have gone the same ostentatious route as their bamboo brethren. Mark Steffen is a great guy that designs great tapers with S-glass. I own a few of them, and they are my most often fished fly rods.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lotech
There are are few concepts in this world which I guess I will never understand. Why pay for "meticulous labor" if the end result is NOT an effective tool?Quote:
Originally Posted by steck
I have the rod I learned to fly fish with, it was my Father's, it's a late 50's era (or possibly very early 60's) glass Phillipson. He caught a LOT of trout with it over the years, as have I. It's a great rod, certainly different than any "modern" fly rod and under most circumstances a mediocre quality carbon rod of modern vintage "outperforms" it by miles. If someone offered me $700 for it, I wouldn't sell only because of sentimental value.
Maybe $150-200 into a good glass rod with good hardware I could see, but Putting $700 of meticulous labor into a glass rod, in my small narrow mind, is like putting a $5000 stereo system in a rusted out beat up Ford Escort.
"meticulous labor".........hmmm, can't say I can get a handle on that.
I'm a total klutz with absolutely no mechanical skills but even I can execute a fairly good line guide wrap.
Mounting a reel seat, checks, cork handle. stripper and line guides, and tiptop is certainly not rocket science.
The rod blank is where it's at!
Being meticulous is certainly a fine attribute but total perfection in the details is not required to achieve a very good fishing rod.
Some of the new fiberglass blanks equal any material ever used to build an excellent fishing rod, imo.
And yes, they are going to cost you more, as any well executed blank will.
... that I built are a testament to this truth !!Quote:
Originally Posted by bobbyg
This comment reminds me of a fellow I worked with years ago who liked to say "Done beats perfection every time."
John
P.S. Thanks to the poster who provided the link to the Steffen site. Got me thinking about doing some more imperfection.