Why buy new rods?
I have read the Sage thread. You buy a great XP and then, they come up with another and we are supposed to buy that? What's up with that? Reminds me of golfers buying new drivers to brag about at the 19th hole.
I have rod that are new (ish) and old slow glass and boo. I have never understood the need to go buy whatever the makers put out. I don't understand why we buy the things...of course the first fish I caught was on a hand line baited with crab.
Colston, no one is saying you have to buy a new rod.
I think the number of reasons could be infinite.
You break one.
You outgrow one and want to upgrade.
You want a different rod weight.
You want a faster action rod-
Or a slower action rod.
You want one for a back up, or the old one will become a back up.
Because you want one.
Because you can.
Just a few reasons.
And what about the newbies? The have to start with something.
Progress, I think is the key. They're just providing what people want (and maybe they are dictating what you should buy) And you have to admit they have a great product for most flyfishers.
It's almost like computers. But I'll be damned if I would work on a 386 with dial up these days.
Colston,
I'm 105% in agreement with you on the "new" fishin poles. I buy when mine wears out and THAT hardly ever happens. On the other hand, golf clubs are a bit different, especially drivers. They have gotten SOOOOO BIGGG that the
"sweet spot" is about 9 square inches. One can hardly miss hitting good shots with one. Even having said that, I ain't payin $300 for a golf club but I do ,on occasion, splurge for a "knock off" for about 20% of the original. Even then, "it's not the arrow, it's the Indian ( or Native American)".
Mark
I let those that have to have the latest found out it isn't what they want and sell them used. The last "new" rod I bought was a nice Sage 2 hander that I had cast at a clave and fell in love with. I waited and bought a used one in like new condition with two new lines thrown into the deal for several hundred dollars less then the new price. Mostly I fish what I have although I am now looking for a nice fast action 3 or 4 weight, used. Haven't found what I want yet but it will come along in time and I know I will not pay anything close to original price.
"The reason you have a good vision is you're standing on the shoulders of giants." ~ Andy Batcho
I have 12 or 13 rods. Only one was bought new. I don't hav a local shop, so I get almost all of my gear online. Either from bulletin board sale forums or Ebay. I know I don't get a warranty, but I am careful with my stuff. Just picked up a like new T&T rod for $240 to my door. It retails for $600. If I don't like it, I'll resell it for what i have into it. I have never care about lighter, faster new color rods. I like classic Winston and Orvis rods (graphite and bamboo).
I would think the main reason rod manufacturers come out with a new line of rods every so often is because of the competition between the companies. They can't be one-upped so they make another one and say its the best ever made.
My big river rod is a Sage SP 6wt that I bought, new, quite a few years ago. The most I had ever paid for a rod. Before that. is was run-of-the-mill fiberglass. The only rods I buy now are at auction sales, if I get a deal on them, to add to my/son's, grandson's collection. I won't buy another new high-priced rod at my age. I don't even look at the catalogs anymore.
George
Buying new fly rods is therapeutic. lol.
Over the years I found two rod series that matched my fishing and casting style perfectly. I bought a few of each series. I had years of total joy with that first series and had zero regrets of buying them in all of the many times I used them. Then another series came out a few years ago that trumped my old favorites in every way I desire so I broke down and bought into the new series. I sold the old series easily for not much less than I paid for them but I had the luxury and joy of using them frequently in all of the years I owned them. In both sets of rods I never had regrets in buying them. How could I? I had the best of rods and the family still had a nice roof over their heads and plenty of food to eat. We all were smiling. That right there is hard to beat.
It's not like I wore these rods as a badge of honor. In fact, the job I had allowed me the time and priveledge to travel and chase runs and hatches all year long and fish a whole lot during the work week. I could have made a few more bucks sitting in a cubicle waiting for my one-to-two week vacation to fish, but for some of us money isn't everything and you certainly can't take it with you. I never wanted to be the type who spent life hoarding and worrying over every cent then died rich. Like the old man before me, I just want to leave this world comfortable and smiling.
I've bought a number of new rods over the years, and there was a point in time some years back when I bought at least one new rod every year to add to a growing collection. A number of these rods were inferior quality, in my opinion, or they didn't cast well, were ill suited for how I intended to use them, and were largely wastes of money. There were Sage, Loomis, T&T and other rods among the lot.
I still buy a new rod from time to time, the same as with most things I buy, but I've learned from experience that newer does not always mean better.
In fact, specifically related to these new Sage rods, a friend of mine has fished extensively with 3 different series of new Sage rods (demo rods) the past 2 weeks, before concluding that 2 of the 3 were less satisfactory in a number of respects for his fishing purposes than an older series Sage rod he already owned. He also let me fish with these rods, and I agreed with him. He really liked the 3 rod though, and bought it (new) a couple days ago.
In my opinion, it's far more important to buy a rod that you like and one that performs well for you, including where and how you'll be using it, than whether it is new or used or whether it's high cost or inexpensive.
One other important consideration in buying new versus used these days is the warranty. Another good friend of mine, who hadn't bought any rod in a number of years, finally bought a new Orvis rod 2 months ago. He just got his second replacement from Orvis this last week, after breaking this rod twice. You better believe he's glad the rod he purchased was a new one, with a warranty!
John
Assuming one isn't a noobie or decided upon entering a new area of fly fishing (say starting out on saltwater), I think the new rod "thing" may be very dependent on the type of fishing one does. Steelheading, salmon fishing, saltwater and other areas where covering the most water is important lend themselves to newer, "better" rods that are lighter, faster and can throw line farther. In these cases, one can see the benefit of the newest "advances" in rods.
On the other hand, if one (like me) spends 99% of one's time creeping around small creeks for trout and blue-gill - the newest and best doesn't add much. I'd guess 100% of the fish I catch are within 40' of my position and I can easily cast that far (with reasonable accuracy) with a 7 year old 4-wt Orvis Power Matrix or a 10-year old 5-wt LL. Bean First Cast that I bought for my son when he was 9.
My wife bought me a 5 wt Zero Gravity about 5 years ago, I've used it a few times out west, that's about it.
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