I understand that in the world of custom rod building there's a nearly infinite amount of wiggle room in terms of price, even for seeming identical rods, just based on components alone, so if you, the community cant answer the following, I completely understand.

That said...

My next rod will, by necessity be a heavier one, for Lake Erie steelhead, but since it wont see a great deal of use, I plan to get a fairly simple, off-the-rack fly rod for that application, not beginner level, but probably just 1 or 2 "notches" past that (think the Red.Fly or RS4 series of Redington, St. Croix Imperials, Orvis Clearwaters, etc.)

That will have to happen this fall...but then for next season, I'm thinking of saving any cash I get for the holidays and putting it toward a custom fly rod. I started with an all-in-one kit from Sci Angler, and loved that rod, all things considered. Unfortunately, just after Thanksgiving this past year, while disassembling, I pulled an eye right off of it. While I looked into repair options, I came across a clearance sale of St. Croix Reigns, and snapped up a replacement 9' 5wt for half price. Since day one I've not liked that rod, and have actually lost considerably more fish after hookup than I've landed with the thing, including about the first 20 trout in a row that I'd hooked with it.

This past spring, full of frustration with the Reign, I saw St. Croix Avids on sale and got a 3wt. I fell in love with the thing, and have lost maybe 5-10 fish out of...oh I'd guess about 100-125 trout hooked with it since March.

The main limitation with it is weighted nymphing rigs and any bulkier flies, or anything larger than say a #12. That said, I tried a friend's glass rod (Diamondback Diamondglass), and loved it as well. It was a 3wt, but after fishing my own 3 wt, I could really feel the difference the glass made.

So!


For my custom rod, I'm looking at getting a 5wt glass rod, somewhere between 7'-6" and 9' with a wooden grip and matching reel seat.

Past that, I'd really just need to talk with people to determine the best route in terms of guides, a specific blank, and any special "flair". I like the look of the feather inlays I've seen as well as some truly, truly beautiful exotic woods.

Another twist I'd seen that I liked was a decorative wrap just up form the winding check, with a thin band almost like a ruler that marked off 12". It didnt say "12" on it or even look obviously like a measuring reference, but once I knew what it was for, I liked it.

I dont know whether I'd like it to look "vintage" or "modern", and really it wouldn't matter, as long as the whole thing went together (no cutaway aluminum skeleton reel seat w/ EVA fighting butt on a traditional rod!). I'm somewhat partial to the older style, and would probably go for slightly smaller diameter guides and a "vintage" color scheme, though.

So...I'm not looking for a final cost estimate, obviously...but in general...should I be prepared to shell out at least $150 for something like this? $250? More?