Hi folks:

Got a real nice Christmas bonus this year, some of which I'm planning to spend on myself.....here's the situation:

Looking at a 7 ft 6 in 3 wt rod for my small-stream brook trout excursions up here in the Adirondacks of northern NY....I can't ? or haven't been able to ? make that psychological leap to something extremely high-end like ($650-750 range), but am looking at a mid-range rod such as the Scott A3, Winston Vapor or perhaps a custom rod from New York-based JP Ross......However, the Winston deal where you can purchase a high-end rod and get an Ascent for $65 is attractive; I could buy an 8 wt Ascent for steelheading on the Salmon River or for pike and bass on Lake Champlain....

I'd be interested in your thoughts, and feel free to toss a couple other rodmakers into the mix just to get me thinking some more....

Cheers

Bendog