Why buy new rods?

[Wes]

competition, what competition? the way rod manufacturers control and fix prices there's no competition. if competition was real in the fly rod world there'd be much lower prices.

[Slate_Drake_9]

More times than not it's male ego driving these people to have the newest, biggest, fastest, whateverest when they already have something that will do the job more than fine. Gotta have it before Bob next door gets it. Makes the man parts seem bigger for some, I guess.

Different story if you have to replace something broken or get something you don't have already or something is really better (which most are not), but replacing your ultra fast 9' 4 piece 6 weight with the newest ultra fast 9' 4 piece 6 weight that only scientists in a lab can find a difference between the two in performance in is silly male ego and nothing else.

The companies that sell this stuff to us know this and play upon it. An example, Orvis was making rods that weighed 1 ounce a few decades ago. Now, they're selling the "lightest rods on Earth" that weigh more than the 1 ounce rods they produced years ago. AND, do we really need a rod that's any lighter? Who out there is so weak that something 1/8 ounce is going to make a world of a difference, even after fishing all day long?

I'm guessing they hope we have short memories, are stupid or are driven purely by our male egos saying "I've gotta have that to be THE MAN."

[Slate_Drake_9]

competition, what competition? the way rod manufacturers control and fix prices there's no competition. if competition was real in the fly rod world there'd be much lower prices.

AMEN! And if we were smart consumers, we'd stop buying the stuff completely until the prices were at a better level.

[kglissmeyer]

i just look at the catalogs, smile to myself , thinking wow thats a mortgage payment, by the time you put a decent reel on it and a line. I have had pickup trucks cost less than the top of the line products

Heinrich, well spoken, sir. LMBO!

Kelly.

[kbproctor]

Why buy new rods? I know Steve and I could think of a few reasons.

[Lake Erie High Ball]

Well Mr. Newton, let me puff up my chest and set my jaw and look you square in the eye and tell you why… I got nothing… I guess I might buy a new rod if I had more of a chance to cast one or a better response would be; I might be more motivated to adjust my priorities to buy a new rod if I had more of a chance to cast one.

I recall the first time I cast (casted?) a brand new state of the art Sage rod, man was it nice. Nice enough that I gave every consideration with the exception of telling my wife that I was going out to the car to get my wallet to buy it.

Now having said that going to a “single” store (fly shop) to cast all the rods that I would consider buying new dose not exist. Not near to me anyhow and lets face it when you go to a store to consider something it is called “shopping”. Shopping, this is what I have to say about shopping; the shorts and t-shirt I am wearing now… I have no idea where or who they came from (a chill just ran down my back, an old girlfriend could have bought these; I have been married 16 years) (another thought just occurred to me with a good lawyer I could be getting out in 2 years) So, I digress

Go cast a new rod you might be intrigued. I was, I didn’t but I was thinking, who needs breaks the horn is plenty loud.

Oh yeah, with my chest puffed and jaws set and looking you square in the eye; I have never bragged about my golf equipment but other people have. No one likes to get out driven with a persimmons wood these days. Sad to say I had to replace them. 340 yards is my record to date. Just ask Miss Crabtree, why she would know the exact yardage from the 14th tee to her coffee table in her living room is beyond me. Her mood mellowed when the guys from my foursome showed up and asked if she was going to let me play it from there or take a drop.

Now what the heck were we talking about…

[Kerry Stratton]

Jacked up 4x4 pickup trucks with oversized tires are the result of small parts not fast fly rods.

[Gandolf]

Hi Colston,

I generally don't buy new rods. The ones I have mostly bought in the last few years have been used. That said, I did buy two new rods a few years ago before a trip to yellowstone, as I did not have a travel rod, and looked quite a while on Ebay, but finally gave up and bought two new relatively inexpensive travel rods. The two rods worked fine.

Other than that, I have bought used rods, primarily because of the different type of fishing that I do. I am now to the point of starting to buy blanks to build rods to get the rods I want for a whole lot less money.

Fundamentally, though, I share your thinking, it seems a pretty good waste to buy the newest and finest, when a rod I already have works fine. There are folks who cast well enough that a better rod may make a difference in the casting that they do, but with my casting skills, or the lack of them, most rods are better than I can master.

It makes you wonder, though, and I have wondered if the fly rod makers change models every few years because sales of a given model slow down, because they do have a somewhat improved model that preforms a bit better than the old model so they introduce it to keep up with or get ahead of the competition, because fads in rods come and go, or because they knwo that some folks simply must sell the old so that they can have the newest and finest model.

At any rate I am with you, can't see buying the newest and finest just to have the newest and finest.

Regards,

Gandolf

[cross creek]

If a rod manufacturer would try making at least one rod line with the action they had back in the early years of graphite, but concentrate their development efforts on making them much tougher to break, with reasonable prices (around $300) they'd out sell every other rod line, even if they were two piece and had the simplest of hardware. Vintage two piece Superfines and LL's still sell on the used market at prices that would make you think they were new, and rods don't come any plainer than original Superfines--they look like rods made for fishing, not showing off.
CC

[Jackster]

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.