Hi Andy,

Good to hear you're posting here. I have about a dozen rods that I built and each one cost me less than $50. They are far from works of art but they are functional way beyond my investment. I've actually watched as a quality caster put a line from one of these (a 9' 5wt) out a measured 123 feet. My point is that sometimes the quality isn't easy to see. So, in answer to your question, there are obviously fly fishers who look at different aspects of this sport and measure different qualities differently. Maybe some of us would rather catch a few trout and have the fly fall apart, put on another fly and continue to catch trout rather than put on a durable fly that doesn't attract any trout. This is a discussion that probably started at the turn of the century, not this one but the one before (-: and it will continue as long as there is fly fishing and fishers still tye flies. Ain'tt it great?

Maybe we can discuss this further in a week and a half at the Museum?

Allan