Adrian,

First off, welcome to the best fly fishing site on the net. You'll find lots of good folks here willing to help whenever and wherever they can. My opinon of the name brand fly rods of the last 15 years or so is that they generally speaking very good rods. The limiting factor in most peoples casting is not due to the rod, but rather the person's technique or ability. If you can get the 2011 rod for the same price as the 2010, go for it. If on the otherhand, they want more money for the new-and-improved model, I'd go with the older model.

There are many people who seem to feel they need to have the latest and greatest of every new piece of gear that comes out every year. They then often sell off their older equipement at a fraction of the original cost. I personnally think that the best buy in a fly rod is a used name brand model that is perhaps 5-6 years old and has been well cared for. You can get a good Sage for about $150 - $200 that will last you a lifetime and never be the limiting factor in your casting. Most of the new-and-improved retoric is marketing hype to attact people to buy this years rods and reels. Unless you're dead set on a new Redington rod, I'd shop around (even on ebay) for a good used Sage, Scott or Winston rod in the length and wt you want. Just one man's opinion.

Again, welcome aboard and have a great new year.

Jim Smith
Conyers, GA