Before my earlier post, I checked to see if STP had anything that would fall within wcu boy's price limit and description of the kind of rod he was looking for. They have quite a selection of high quality rods within his price range that meet his criteria. As pointed out by Oregonian, the rods they have might not quite suit wcu boy's casting style, but if you get past that, you might do really well. If you see a rod on the STP site that you like, go to the the builder's site and see what they have to say about that particular model, and whether they have some comment regarding warranty for rod's sold through a discount outfit like STP.

As far as Powell goes, last summer they did honor the warranty on a rod I bought through STP several years ago. BUT, they are basically out of the fly rod business now and have only a basic rod to give you on a replacement issue, no matter what you had, and their warranty cost is $65, period. I will add that the three Powell rods I have had were all really good rods.

Good luck, wcu boy.