Keep in mind when you spend $600 a big chunk of that goes to the fly shop owner, so at least find a worthy fly shop to buy it from instead of the Cabela brothers...

The best time I ever spent was in learning to build my own rods. They still cost me $200 a pop but will out perform the best of any commercial rod on the market. Buy yourself a cheapie kit and learn to save yourself a bundle and your marrage...

And if name envy is your concern, buy the lowest priced model the company makes as long as you can flash the name thats all that matters... FB.