I will be in the Market again for another fly rod. I have made a decision on the BeaverKill fly rod. I was able to cast them and like the way they feel and the price was very affordable. I will be going with a nice medium action rod. So here I am sitting at my desk today and received a new fly fishing catalogue from yet a new fly shop that I never herd of. I was going through the pages and looking at all the rods. Boy I said, look at all these rods by the names I know and look how all the product lines changed. I felt after reading and looking at all the Rods I am out of touch with who’s who any more. That last rod I bought was a close out Sage 690 SP. Loved the SP series and really do not like the SLT line up that replaced them. Now Sage has a new line up all together in addition to the SLT. So does Loomis. T&T dropped some lines and along comes BeaverKill rods which I am glad I found. St.Croix pretty much stayed the same and for the most part so did Orvis. You see when you do not focus so much on rods like I do on my tying you lose touch it seem pretty fast with the market. Also wanted all to know that I really also like the L.L. Bean Fly rods too. I am at the point in my fishing that I really like to get a new rod here and there but not every year. Some of my rods I have sold to buy new ones that you can not pry out of my hands. Love those medium to medium fast action rods the best. I can feel them load and they fit my casting stroke. I just don’t see how a guy is to find a rod any more that he will love to own with out test casting every one. Not to mention with all the rods on the market there is getting to many to test cast. Seems like I have to spend a few weekends doing this. I found Beaverkill rods advertised in the Fly fishing magazines and this past January at the Somerset show had the pleasure of casting one in the model and weight I was interested in. Now I just test cast one again and felt very pleased with it. Decided it time to buy it. I think if it was not for the show and I went and looked at catalogues my head would spin with all the choices that are available to me. I feel this is a double edged sword. A lot of choices good for me. To many to look at and test cast, I feel bad for me due to a lot of research and effort needs to me made on my purchase. Am I the only one that feels this way? or is it because I only buy a fly rod once in awhile any more that I am out of touch like I previously stated with the market?
You’re not alone. I, at least am in the same boat. There are so many choices that it is hard to know where to begin. I am just at the point of trying to upgrade my rod collection. As a newcomer to the sport I ended up purchasing a bunch of rods at the lower end of the spectrum, which was fine for my needs at the time. Now I feel as though I have progressed enough to invest more money and purchase higher quality rods.
The problem is there are so many selections that it hard to even know where to begin. I don’t think I’m ready quite yet to spend $500+ on an off-the-shelf rod. Right now I have a couple of custom rods that are pretty good quality and a TFO (pre-Lefty) that is a good rod. I’m looking a the new TFO rods, mostly because I like the one I already have, and a Sage LE which I found a great price on but I haven’t found anywhere I can test cast either rod.
Don’t fall into that the more expensive the rod the better it casts trap. I did when I was starting out–started with a few inexpensive rods, felt that i needed a top of the line rod, got one that retails for $500 (but i got a great deal), and now i never really use it. it’s all about technique–i think one benefits more from a $200 rod and $200 in casting lessons than a $400 rod, imho.
D. Micus- Boy I sure am gald that you weren’t in my local fly shop yesterday. They had a box of lines reels and extra spools going out to a fellow that was headed saltwater fishing. I asked Jeff how much it was worth because the reels and spools were by Tibor. He said just under $5 grand. You would have had a heart attack for sure. I know you can’t stand anything that costs over about $13 bucks at the great wholesale prices you get. Ron
That’s one of the benefits of the various flyfishing shows if you have any that are held reasonably close to you. I attended the one at College Park, MD this year and was able to cast rods from the “major” names that I was interested in (Scott, Sage, Loomis) but also was able to compare them against some companies that my local shops don’t carry (Elkhorn, March Brown, Powell, Beaverkill). In addition to being able to try such a variety of rods, many of these companies offer show specials so you can save a few bucks as well.
I will definitely hold off on my next purchase until the next round of shows starts … of course it will take that long for my wife to forget about my last purchase.
I also agree with D. Micus - I ended up with a Scott A2 (around $280) that seems to suit my casting stroke well. I was prepared to spend more and thought I needed one of the faster more expensive cannons, but I could’nt get the hang of casting them and truthfully rarely need to cast far enough to have even considered them.
You already want it. You just gotta
justify it in your mind.G If it fits
your budget, will not create a divorce
court situation, and would put a grin on
your chin, by all means, go for it, and
soon! It may not wait for ya too long.G
Warm regards, Jim
You can do all the homework, searching,
and casting at flyshops, but every once in
a while, a special rod comes along. It’s
hard to identify it without spending a day
on some favorite waters with it. For me,
it’s a little 5’ slow action JP Ross 3 wt.
Beaver Meadows model. It’s former owner
was not taken by it and was willing to pass
it on to me at a very fair price. What did
not trip his trigger, smacked mine dead
center. I could hardly ask for a nicer gill
rod for my fishery. The little rod is pure
joy to cast.G So much so that I’m almost
paranoid about it. I’m afraid I might roll
over some night in bed and break it.G
Warm regards, Jim
So, your advice would be buy a $600 rod, that will make you a tournament caster?
If I spent $5,000 on flyfishing equipment there would be a boat in there somewhere.
So here’s a question for you. Lefty Kreh used to be the spokesman for an expensive rod company. Now he is the spokesman for TFO, whose rods are much less expensive. When Lefty gives a demo with the TFO rods, do you think he is casting less line then he did with the expensive rods? No. Why is that? Because it’s all about technique.
But I hope your bud at least bought you a drink, seeing that he made $2500 off of some poor soul.
[This message has been edited by D. Micus (edited 28 May 2005).]
I would not buy a rod, until I’ve casted it. Then I would have to try other rods, and see how they compared. Many of us look for specifics in a rod, suiting our types of angling. If you find a couple of rods that casted well for you, and you would be very happy with, then start looking at price, warranties, etc…
Ron 