Printable View
GOING AROUND AGAIN
I know intellectually that things go in cycles, the weather, the economy, styles of clothing and how many feet of shoreline are exposed on the Great Lakes. Of course there are various fads, hot cars, sports which seem to grab the attention of the public, and there are certain films which strike a chord, music of one sort or another. Give it a few years and it comes back around.
More things change, the more things stay the same!
Just how much difference is there in the fishing rods of yesterday, in comparison to those sold today?
They all have a handle, reel seat, and striping/snake/tip-top guide. You have the same choice in action, you have more options as to materials used in the fishing rods construction.
Same applies to the reels that you put on the fishing rods. They still have the same functions, storage of fishing line, a handle to wind the fishing line back in, and some sort of brake mechanism to adjust the drag on the line (as it comes off the reel).
Lines are still lines, and silk for the most part has been replace with nylon, and PVC materials.
Hooks are hooks and always will be.
I started fly fishing with a Cortland CL Series (6 weight) two piece 9 foot fly rod, cost me a $100 back in 1995 and I still fish with it.
All the way home from the Fish-In I was muttering...Gotta Get A Gatti. I was smitten just like that frog in the story book the "Wind in the Willows"!
It is all Denna's fault that I got hooked on a Italian Fly Rod by Gatti, after testing Denna's Gatti at the 1999 South Dakota Fish-In. I knew that I could not afford a store bought Gatti (they went for $500 back then) but I knew that I just might be able to build my own Gatti Fly Rod for half the cost. Not only build it for half the cost but make it even better than the store bought version. French Style Reel Seat w/ Lake Superior Agent Reel Seat Cap. Burled Cork Handle. Titanium/Nitrite stripping/snake/tip-top guides.
The blank was a sapphire blue with silver metallic flakes. So I found a light cornflower blue guide wrapping thread that would match the color of the rod blank, if I did not use color protector solution before applying the epoxy....
Total Cost $250, then there was the part where I broke the tip section of the 3 piece rod blank when wrapping the guides, and a new tip costs $50, but the shipment from Italy (where Gatti) are manufactured was $70, and the cost of the International Money Order was $30...
So I ordered two tips, and that way cut the cost of replacing the tip section in half, with a spare tip if it every happened again.
After all was said and done, I could not put just any reel on this "Lady Fisher", so I bougth a Teton.... and it has been heaven on earth anytime I have cast it out over the water.
The Gatti was like a magic wand in my hand, I could do no wrong, my casts went where I cast them, and today it is still the only 3 weight fly rod that I fish with.
You don't need the top of the line fly rod to go fishing, there are many out there that will do just fine, in most cost brackets. What you do have to checkout before you put down the money for the purchase, is to test the action of the rod blank. Find out how fare the rod blank bends, just have someone hold the tip of the fly rod below the tip-top, and gripping the handle apply load to to the fly rod blank.
Bends only a quarter of the rod length it is a Quick Tip Rod suitable for Dry Fly Presentation. Bends half way that is for flies with more wind Resistance in the cast or flies that absorb water weight from being fished (also helps when you are hooked onto a monster Pike, Muskie, Bass, Trout, Salmon/Steelhead) . Bends all the way to the handle grip, you got a wet fly rod the perfect wet fly rod. And it still has the name I place on the finished side of the rod blank....."Lady Fisher"!~Parnelli
PS: I could not have built this Gatti (my first attempt) without the articles by Al Campbell.....and the help of many others that helped me in this journey into rod building. Since then I have built two other fly rods both St. Croix Ultra (5wt and 7wt). I have also rebuilt and repaired many fly rods for friends and family.
Thanks Lady Fisher, for putting my thoughts into words.
All I can say is...AMEN, AMEN, AMEN. You are starting to see the same "price creep" working it's way into other types of equipment also. Now $150 for a casting rod is considered "low end". REALLY???
Great read! The most interesting point is just how much the availability of bamboo affected our sport. I think another sidebar is the VERY affordable chinese made cane rods. They prove that general cane rods "can" be affordable, if folks want them to be. They are cheaper than the entry level glass in many cases.
Fortunately for me I am an addict for the older unsanded Orvis rods. My last one being a purchase on Ebay for $66. Although I can appreciate the higher end rods when I cast them, my druthers for the older rods keep me in the sub$200 area for most of my "new" purchases. :^)
What I find amazing.....is how a company that makes a $150-250 machined alum disc drag fly reel....can't seem to make an honest $100 or less quality click-pawl machined alum reel? Doesn't make sense.
Just a thought. I think that many of the upper end manufacturers are getting priced out of the introductory rod market by big box retailers such as cabelas. While the big box retailers often get a bad name in this area they are often the way to go. It is now possible to get an introductory fly set up with a decent rod and reel that comes with a warranty from one of these retailers for around $100 which is much less than the average price that your article quoted for orvis rods. While it is too bad that the orvis, sage, and the other fly rod specialists have not made inroads into this market it makes sense when you think about the economy of scale. This was how I got my start in fly fishing and by being able to have some early success without a lot invested (when I didn't have a lot to invest). Now that I am actually a good enough caster to be able to tell the difference between fly rod actions I tend to be picky-er about my fly rod choices and willing to spend the money to get the results that I want. I don't foresee the big names in fly fishing changing this trend any time soon. However, there is a time and a place for all things and for the begginer that wants an inexpensive rod that still has decent performance and a warranty, cabelas may be the place rather than the local fly shop.
Just a different perspective on this discussion perhaps. Hopefully when the novices that have bought their rods at cabelas have learned to cast well enough to want a better rod the economy will have improved to the point that they will be able to visit the local fly shop.
Enjoyed the article and have many of the same concerns about rising prices. Just as note, I'm still fishing with my white WonderRod and it's not because I am too cheap to buy a new pole. I have a graphite rod and it just doesn't have the butt to put the screws to a big smallie in fast water. I have refinished the WonderRod many times and would hate to admit to how many times I have fallen while walking in heavy stuff...it just asks for more punishment. By the way, the rod cost $110 back in the early 70s so don't know what that would translate to these days but I am thinking that both graphite and boo rods would not be able to put up with the abuse that old classic has. Newer is better...only if you're on the retail or manufacturing end.
I haven't bought a "new" fly rod for quite a few years. Can't afford the new stuff anymore. I will buy a used rod now and then. Lately I have been buying older reels. I can get a fifties or sixties vintage click pawl reel for a fraction of the cost of a new "drag" model and have a better built reel.
Here is a past Reader's Cast by one of my favorite writer on FAOL... and the subject pertains to the subject of fly fishing gear and prices over the years..... ~Parnelli
The Stuff We Use
By Jim Clarke, UK
Rods, reels, flies and leaders. These are the basic equipment which no fly fisherman can do without. Everything else is embroidery. Or so many people would have us believe. There are those among us who are prepared to sing the praises of our forebears' lack of modern aids and to feel virtuous if they approach our sport in a more primitive manner than most of us would be prepared to do.
Many are the anglers who sing the praises of split cane rods, they (the anglers) exist in vast numbers, so perhaps they are not completely wrong. More of them later.
It is fashionable to long for a silk line, people pine for the sound of an audible check, I have even heard of a brotherhood who use gut casts (or leaders, to use the American term) and are prepared to carry wet boxes with damp felt leaves a la 19th century. This, I contend, is going many a mile too far. Progress will only be accepted as progress if the majority wish it.
This article was prompted by coming across an old Hardy cane rod in the back room of the business which used to be mine. The present owners allow me to wander around "as if I owned it still" and this was tucked in a corner with other junk. You will see that on this side of the Atlantic we don't have the same sentimental attachment to cane as exists in USA.
However - I was taught to fish with cane rods way back in the days of yore, I used Hardy rods all my formative years, my families company were Hardy dealers in the days when that carried some clout and exclusivity, days now long gone. Second-hand Hardys were common and I had the pleasure of trying out and using almost every rod Hardy made in the 50's and 60's. A few became favourites. The Halford Knockabout was a 9'6" dry fly rod, meaning a stiff action as opposed to an easy wet fly action, I fished one of these for a few years until long casting on reservoirs became my way of life when I transferred my affections to a Pope, 10 ft of super stiff split cane. Other models which remain in my mind with fondness are the J.J.H.Triumph, C.C.de France, Koh-i-Noor, Taupo and Perfection. The Triumph, named after J.J.Hardy, a casting champion, was 8'9" of sweet dry fly rod with snake rings instead of the more traditional full open bridge type, a light sliding reel seat on the cork in place of the popular heavy aluminium and in all regarded as state of the art lightweight, all singing, all dancing, super duper fly rod from the world's leading maker.
This was what I found among the junk!
The chaps who now run the business had grown up in the days when fibreglass was rapidly replacing cane (those old wooden things) and in turn giving way to graphite and really, cane rods mean nothing to them.
I picked the rod, in it's bag, from the junk corner, and took it out. The name, Triumph, leapt out at me and immediately transported me back thirty years. I went into the middle of the room and waggled, it as one does.
It felt strange, but somehow familiar. I asked if I could try it. The answer - "Take it away with you, we don't want it."
Next day I had found a #5 line and put it on a reel, took the rod down to the lake at the bottom of the garden and prepared to cast myself back in time.
IT WAS AWFUL.
This jewel of a rod, this epitome of the rodmaker's art, this thing of beauty was heavy and slow, oh so slow.
Somewhere from the dim recesses of my mind came the timing and movements needed to put a line onto the water. I found I needed a great deal more arm movement than I had used for the last ten years. It was a slow, very deliberate arm movement. Wrist was no good with this thing, wrist action ran out of arc before the line was aerialised satisfactorily. It had to be coaxed into reacting, and nursed into stopping at the end of the arc.
Fifteen yards was finally eased from the rod, a lot less than I once cast with a similar rod, but I had to be satisfied with that. I have been using graphite for twenty years and a Sage for seven, the difference is immense. My first rod was a greenheart, then came the years of cane to be followed by Hardy/Tarantino fibreglass. Each was the last word at the time but when graphite appeared, that was it! No going back.
Let us look at lines. Kingfisher silk lines were the norm when I started, with Hardy Corona lines the top of the range. We were happy with these, in our ignorance. Gladding made a few ripples when they introduced their Bubblet, a plastic line with a hole down the middle, and this in days when plastic was a novelty! However, the hole filled with water and the surface coating peeled off. Back to the drawing board.
Next to bat were Millwards with their Flymaster lines made of floating or sinking fibres which promised well. The problem soon surfaced, the coating was rubbery and wouldn't shoot, it seemed almost to stick to the rings. Failure. We carried on with our silk lines, greasing them, drying them at midday, hanging them up carefully on a drier at the end of the day and in the close season, and, inevitably, throwing them away when they got sticky and useless. Kingfisher would redress lines if requested, but even then it was labour intensive and uneconomical.
Then AirCel arrived!! Happy day!! We found these lines unbelievable. They floated forever, and if your line was pulled under by the current, up it popped further downstream. Magic. The makers said the lines didn't need to be dried after use, and even said you could practice on concrete and it would do no harm. We couldn't bring ourselves to do this but it gave one a lot of confidence in the wearing qualities of the line. Plastic lines have improved immeasurably since those early days, and once again - No going back.
Reels have not changed much over the years, except in weight and capacity, and these features were always possible, waiting only for demand to bring them out of the cupboard. I had a Hardy Perfect with silent drag in 1956 and it was an old reel then. It was a felt pad rather than a disc brake, but the advantages were there.
Casts have changed, how they have changed! When I left school and went into the business, we were still selling gut casts and points. The new-fangled nylon monofilament had just appeared and was greeted with some suspicion. This suspicion soon disappeared when the differences were realised. One could carry a spool of the stuff with you and take off as much as was needed. It didn't have to be soaked beforehand and didn't rot. Nowadays I use continuous tapes co-polymer casts tipped with fluorocarbon and cannot imagine anything better.
Flies have changed dramatically over the years. In the old days we still used the traditional trout flies with wing, hackle, tail and perfectly tied body, in the patterns that had existed for generations. Suddenly we had nymphs, odd looking things with shell backs and bunches of hackle at the sides where no hackle had any right to be, and so sparsely dressed as to look almost insubstantial. We were used to lots of hackle and full wings over a fairly robust body! But, they caught fish and suddenly change was afoot. Flies have never looked back.
I, for one, would never consider going back in retrograde steps to cane rods, silk lines, great heavy reels with little or no room for backing and gut casts. Heaven forbid! ~ Jim Clarke
I am a recent convert to fly fishing and I would hate to guess how much money I have spent. However, I consider the money as fair payment for the hours of enjoyment tying flies, thinking about fly fishing, traveling to and from and actually fishing. I tell people that catching fish is coincidental to fly fishing (I know, I shouldn't tell lies) but the essence of fly fishing is the experience and the camaraderie I have had here (on this BBS) and with a select group of fishing friends.
Today, while her grandmother took our granddaughter to play in the park, I tried to teach our daughter how to cast. She had told her mother that I had offered to show everyone but her, my fly fishing "stuff" and she was the only one actually interested. Well, today, we did a little 10 o’clock 2 o’clock and I gave her a cheap (W******t) fly rod and reel to practice with. Perhaps my best fishing buddy was standing there watching the whole time.
How much is that worth… in dollars?
I fish with a Shakespeare 8 weight that was given to me as a gift from my family, and anyone who knows myself personally will appreciate how inexpensive this rod must have been. I have seen some rod/reel combos at outlet stores for around 26 dollars. If you hunt for the deals, they are out there. A cheap rod will catch just as many fish as a custom made unit. Keep hunting!!
The only reason prices of rods and reels are so high, is because people continue to pay them. Fly fishing has always been and probably always will be considered high-dollar and exclusive because it is constantly portrayed as such by the majority of people who consider themselves even partly serious about it.
Sure, owning good quality equipment is great, and there is a certain "pride of ownership", but that needs to be separated from just plain snobbery.
"Action" (slow, fast) aside, Is there a big difference between a fly rod that retails for $30 and one that retails for $150?? Hell yes. Is there a big performance difference between a $150 and, say, a $350 price point? Not so much. $350 and $1000? No. Be honest. For the VAST majority of fly fishermen, the answer is just no. AS in every sport, there are a very few people who can take advantage of the absolute pinnacle of engineering, maybe 0.001% ? I'm a pretty competent recreational cyclist, but put me on a Pro-team mega-dollar time trial bike and I'm still the big fat slow guy.... Can I honestly produce results based on the difference between a $99 Huffy and a $1000 Cannondale? Absolutely. How 'bout the differences between a $1000 and a $10,000 bike? Not really. Same with most fly fishermen and fly rods.
I'd say that easily 95% of fresh and saltwater fly fishing could be totally enjoyed by 99% of people with an outfit that costs less than $150... probably less. If you know how to use a reel and have even a tiny bit of ingenuity, the heat-dissipating, unobtainium-alloy, state of the art, whoop-de-doo drag system is pointless in the vast majority of situations. Oh yeah, we need that super-high-tech drag on a reel that holds a 3wt line and 25yds of backing... Go up in scale to say an 8wt outfit and imagine you have a 20lb salmon hooked in flowing water and you let it have the whole line and 100 yds of backing out. How much resistance does all that line cause? A LOT. Up close, the last thing you want is a tight drag when a big fish makes a quick lunge.
Just like everything else in life, those folks who get some extra $$$ to spend want to believe that expensive gear will make them more competent in whatever hobby they undertake. The same as motorcycles, cars, bits of pottery, whatever, they're only WORTH what someone is willing to pay for them.
Nice article, but most of the manufacturers on the list also make affordable rods. St Croix for example (I own several of their rods)sell good quality rods. Their 8'6" 4wt Avid is $260. The Rio Santo $120. Orvis's Clearwater II rods start at $198. I personally don't think you can buy a bad graphite rod for under $100. I think for the most part the technology is the same. Higher priced rods may have more epensive components and lighter blanks thanthe mid and lower priced models. But the blank itself when cast performs well.
Some people can afford to spend $700 for a fly rod, some can't. That is the beauty of a free market society. And for those that can, I say go ahead. That is why most manufacturers sell high, mid and lower priced fly rods. If anyone is at fault it is the retail outlets both small and big box who may try and push a high dollar rod on someone who is just starting out.
Dave
Great read. But just to keep things straight, a few things were not exactly accurate.
There was never an Embargo against China during WW-II. In fact, the US sent millions of dollars in aid, equipment and personnel to the Chiang Kaisheck Administration, even before a formal declaration of war, to help them resist Japanese invasion. The Embargo was against Japan.
In the early to mid 20th century, most bamboo used for fly rods was 'Tonkinese', which is the area we now call Vietnam. Since this area was occupied by the Japanese very early in the war, supplies to the US were cut off. But this is not the reason for the decline in angling in the US during the war. Stockpiles of bamboo were more than adequate. The decline was caused by the fact that at that time, angling was practiced mostly by men, and most able-bodied men were overseas fighting the war, and every one else was engaged in projects to support the war effort. There was little time for recreational fishing of any kind. Most bamboo used for fly rods now comes from the Guangdong Province of China, due to various trade agreements with the US. It's attributes are very similar to Tonkin bamboo.
In 1946, Shakespeare did introduce fiberglass rods, but not because of any shortage of bamboo. It was because fiberglass rods had more desirable properties, was much cheaper and easier to manufacture, and allowed more control over the finished product. It brought angling within the financial reach of just about everybody.
In your section on 'spinning' reels, I am guessing you meant spin-casting reels, since you mentioned a 'push-button'. Spin-casting reels were developed simultaneously by the Johnson Reel Company, and the Zero Hour Bomb Company (ZEBCO), in 1948. It brought the skill-level required for casting down to a level that anyone, even a toddler, could master in a few minutes. It revolutionized sport fishing, and is still the most popular type of reel. Spinning reels had been available in the US since the 1870s, and were first marketed by the Mitchell Reel Company of Cluses, France.
I have to admit to a certain fondness for the slower action, and more forgiving nature of fiberglass. I still own several, both standard and fly, and use them frequently. But I also have an old bamboo rod, and enjoy the nostalgia of dropping a fly with it every now and then.
The price of rods is going up for sure, but so is just about everything else. I think it is probably just a sign of the times.
A very thought-provoking article. Good job.
Have heart, Ladyfisher. There've just got to be a whole bunch of kids out there as gullible as I was to the lure of the sport. To me, fly fishing was a condensation of all the good things nature had to offer. Being streamside with a fly rod, cheap, unbalanced, unwieldy or otherwise, and being able to catch a trout, was everything in the world to me. I shunned expensive equipment because of two things: The lack of money (very important), and a propensity to be somewhat equipment unfriendly while pursuing the sport. There's nothing more depressing than spending a lot of money on a rod and then slamming a car door on it. There's no reason, too me, that fly rods have to be of outstanding quality in order to attract new entrants to fly fishing. So long as they are usable at all, a WalMart fly rod package, when coupled with a genuine love of the outdoors, should suffice. Its a mentality, the way I see it, and if the mentality isn't there, then there isn't much pleasure, anyway. Tight lines!
I have to agree with wgflyer on this one. In my entire life (which spans over a half a century), I have never had anything close to an 'upper-end' rod. I have only owned 6 fly rods in my entire life, and I still have 5 of them. I have owned 1 South Bend (which was stolen in the 70s), 1 Eagle Claw 5wt, 6-1/5' fiberglass rod, and 3 Scientific Anglers rods, a 4/5, a 6/7, and a 9/10 wt., and 1 bamboo rod with 2 tips that belonged to my grandfather. And I fish with them constantly. I don't see how anyone could get any more enjoyment out of their equipment than I do, and I count myself lucky that I have what I do.
I guess it's sort of like the guy that felt bad because he didn't have any shoes......until he met a man that had no feet.
I really can't see how there could be that much difference in $500.00 rod, and a $100.00 rod if they are made of the same material, and the same weight. There is only so many ways you can make a rod. I can't see $500.00 in any rod. I think it is like guitars. The main difference between a $200.00 Epiphone, and a $800.00 Epiphone is the finish. Martins are the same way. The only differences between a D-15 (around $699.00), and a D-45 ($2500.00 and up) is the amount of Mother-Of-Pearl, fancier tuners and hardware, and maybe a little better finish. Does a D-45 play, or sound any better than my D-15? NO WAY! my D-15 is the sweetest sounding and best playing guitar I have ever picked up. I wouldn't trade it for 3 D-45s. It's old, the finish is almost non-existent, but it sounds like angels, plays like hot butter, and it's mine. I am the same way about my rods.
The saying" You get what you pay for." is only true to a certain point. There is a point of Diminishing Returns, on everything. I am also an an avid bicyclist. The saying holds true up until you hit the $800.00 mark on bicycles. After that, mostly what you are getting is maybe a little cooler paint job, a menacing name-dropping model name, such as the 'Greg Lemond Predator', or the 'Paris Rubaix'. Unless you plan to ride Time Trials (I don't. I am a Vehicular Cyclist), or a pro Racer, you don't need that much bike. Racing bikes have every little new high-tech contraption there is on them, and each one is hideously expensive, especially when you realize that their only function is to help you shave 1/100th of a second off of your time. For a Racer, who is trying to make a living, 1/100th of a second is the difference between maybe paying the rent, or living in the Team Trailer. For the rest of us, 1/100th of a second is negligible.
The average mark-up on any manufactured item averages 2.52% by the time it gets to the consumer. This is assuming a normal marketing route from manufacturer, to wholesale distributor, to retail, to consumer. So, for a $1000.00 rod, the manufacturer is saying it cost them $520.00 to make each rod??? I think not! And we're not even talking about custom, all hand-made rods here. SO somewhere along the line, someone is cleaning up on profits.
My only advice is to not buy expensive rods. Sooner or later, the message will get through, and the price will drop to one that the market will stand.
In the mean time, what ever rods you have....go out and use them. There are few things more wholesome than spending time on the water, in quiet reflection.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wgflyer