Hype, hype, hype! As the writer of a product review column for a fly fishing magazine, I've had the opportunity to cast some of the most expensive rods from some of the most prestigious manufacturers and I've become convinced that it's all bullcrap. This is the best time in the history of fly fishing to buy a fly rod; it's actually pretty hard today to find to find a bad rod and some of the best-casting rods are not the most expensive. As my old mentor, Les Johnson, used to say, "... it's only fishing".