Good advice for newer anglers looking for a rod.

I think that's pretty solid advice. Particularly for people who aren't set in their ways in terms of action. There are tons of light fast tip action rods out there . Not my cup of tea but they do cast well and you can find them from 100- 1000 bucks.
One thing I think he neglected to mention, or maybe it's not a big issue to him but some people are just brand loyal a guy may be a Scott fan so he buys expensive Scott rods. Along with that brand loyalty there is certainly a sense of identity and belonging to a group. "I'm a Scott guy"

Not good or bad, just something people do.. there are certainly people. Who'd only fish a Burkheimer. Ask me how hard it was to buy something other than a Burkheimer last summer.

Anyway, Kelly was pretty spot on..
 
Great post and very true. I have been an Orvis and Sage rod user for many years. When I got more into lake fishing, I bought several Echo rods and they are enjoyable rods to cast. The lower price points allow me to have multiple rods strung and ready to cast when I’m in my float tube or pontoon boat. I undoubtedly will purchase more of their lineup. I’ve broken the tip on my Echo euro rod several times through my own fault and it has been easy to purchase a new section and be on my way. My ”local” fly shop in Maupin stocks the extra tips so it’s a quick stop to be on my way. For me, spending more money on my Meiser Spey rods (I own three now) and Hardy reels to match them is worth it, but I am a big fan of the Echo rods for my other fishing.
 
I agree and have long suspected that it would be more cost effective to pay for the value of the rod up front and repairs as needed.
 
How ya gonna look on the 'gram with a 2 buck 'kit rod' balanced on your shoulder ?
:)
Lol
 
My recollection differs slightly from Kelly's. In the days when most fly rods were fiberglass, rod warranties did not exist. And except for some custom rods, prices topped out at $75. Then Fenwick introduced graphite rods in 1973. And there were some material, design, and production problems and a lot of these new fangled $150 graphite rods broke. No warranty, but Fenwick and the shops worked with customers to make things right for everyone as much as they were able. Then Sage entered the marketplace scene in 1980, and their rods cost even more. Still no real warranty, but they were a new and good thing and they sold well. But by the late 1980s, Sage and some other rods crossed the $300 price point. To cushion the blow, many of the manufacturers introduced the lifetime, no-fault warranty. Orvis may have been the wiser business and saw how flawed that concept was, so they introduced their 25 year warranty.

Fast forward to just a few years ago and Sage saw what an unsustainable business practice those lifetime warranties are, and they up and changed it, thereby double-crossing all those customers who, over the years, were persuaded to pay the higher price for Sage rods because of the fabulous warranty they came with. While I have and like some Sage rods, I won't buy another because I won't do business with someone who double-crosses their customers. It's not the customers' fault that those warranties were an ill-informed and unsustainable business practice. The fault lies entirely with Sage and any other company that offered warranties that they couldn't realistically stand behind. A company with integrity would stand behind those lifetime no-fault warranties and change the warranty and policy on all new rods going forward, not changing the warranty on rods sold long ago.

Anyway, Kelly's right. There are very good rods at almost every price point. The industry is just that good. I don't test cast new rods very often of late, but when I was doing it I was amazed at how few "bad" rods I encountered. And to be honest, most of those not so good rods were lower priced rods, but even so, there are some few higher cost rods that are real dogs IMO. And that's just it. Because rods are personal, there is a perfect or near perfect rod for every caster at every price point.
 
Back when top of the line cane rods were sold, it was assumed you would buy one...yes one and that would be your rod.
As in a trout rod you used for your life.
Perhaps the very well heeled would buy several, but the average working man had a trout rod, and used it exclusively throughout his fishing life.
Now marketing departments have folks buying trout rods for sunny days, cloudy days, partly cloudy days etc.
;)
I can't be too critical of the folks who repeatedly purchase each new rod model though, as then I would be unable to buy the lightly used older models for a fraction of what they originally sold for...
The thousand dollar rods today will sell for 500 bucks, just as soon as the 1500 rods hit the market, with little appreciable improvement for the average angler.
:)
 
I fish TFO, G.Loomis, Proof, North Fork Composites, Allen, St. Criox, Reddington, and a few blanks I have no idea what they are. I love every one of them:)
When I fish a new rod it usually starts off with "this feels weird". By the end of the day its "this is awesome".
Although the last rod I built the day started off with "I think the guides are crooked". By the end of the day, "who cares?"
 
I have the same 9 foot 5wt Pfluger rod I got when I was a kid. It works, I rarely cast beyond 30/40 feet, This may be the year I expand my collection. I am really interested in glass since I'm an old soul, a 8 foot 4wt in glass would be nice to have for smaller streams.
 
I was pleased to hear Galloup come out and indict the rod industry for their devious practices that have led to a generation of fly fishers overpaying for a simple tool. I have been preaching his sermon for several decades now as I watched fly rod prices rise exponentially to stratospheric prices without an attendant increase in performance. Too many noob or inexperienced fly fishers being seduced by the notion that an expensive rod will immediately make them a better fisherman. Time on the water will make a better fisherman, there is just no mechanical substitute for experience.

I won't bore you with my personal experiences other than to say that I received my first fly rod on July 27, 1951-a tubular steel 8' model built by TrueTemper! ...yeah, the garden tool manufacturer.... Everything after that was a step up. Some didn't feel right to me and I sold, gave away or traded for something else. These days I have 15+ rods including two I haven't used yet and none have cost as much as $300. In a 72 year exposure to fly fishing I can't recall a single time I have been embarrassed or handicapped by modestly priced equipment. Just damned happy to be on the water!
 
I bought a new 486-2 Sage LL in the late 1990s for $350 and it has been worth every penny and then some. Sage repaired it three times (each time user error) at the then $30 repair/mailing rate. Nowadays, I primarily fish that LL (though a little more nervously than when I knew it could be repaired for $30!), an RPL 690-2 that I bought used, and an ECHO euronymph 10' 3wt.

I am very eager to get out and fish the sweet Iconoglas rod that I recently bought from @Wetswinger !

I don't think I'll ever buy a new really expensive rod rod again. There's so many nice rods in the $200 range these days from ECHO, Redington (Classic Trout), hobby builders, and used.
 
Salmo_g said:
Fast forward to just a few years ago and Sage saw what an unsustainable business practice those lifetime warranties are, and they up and changed it, thereby double-crossing all those customers who, over the years, were persuaded to pay the higher price for Sage rods because of the fabulous warranty they came with. While I have and like some Sage rods, I won't buy another because I won't do business with someone who double-crosses their customers. It's not the customers' fault that those warranties were an ill-informed and unsustainable business practice. The fault lies entirely with Sage and any other company that offered warranties that they couldn't realistically stand behind. A company with integrity would stand behind those lifetime no-fault warranties and change the warranty and policy on all new rods going forward, not changing the warranty on rods sold long ago.
Click to expand...
This is so spot on.
 
Fast forward to the present and it's easy to armchair quarterback what happened with these warranties. I mean what were they thinking?! I slam my tailgate with the rod in the way and you will buy me a new one? Not a very sound business plan. Kelly is correct in stating that the rods today are well made and many lesser value rods fish very nicely. So then two things come into play: the initial cost and what it will cost if I break the rod? Again as he states, rods don't break, we break rods. If there's a factory flaw the rod will break soon after you start fishing it. And for me the two things that I mention lead me to choose Echo rods. I now have seven of them because, like many they have a warranty for life, for all that is worth after fishing for a while, but they also have tips and sections available for a reasonable price that doesn't involve me mailing the entire rod to them to get it all back up and fishing. That is very convenient. $20 to $40 for a tip section on most single-hand rods compared to $50, $95 $195 for tips from Sage. It's easy to choose Echo based on that but aside from that they make damn good rods and they price them reasonably.
 
FontinalisFin said:
I have the same 9 foot 5wt Pfluger rod I got when I was a kid. It works, I rarely cast beyond 30/40 feet, This may be the year I expand my collection. I am really interested in glass since I'm an old soul, a 8 foot 4wt in glass would be nice to have for smaller streams.
Click to expand...
a little off topic....but not for you. hit up Shane Gray at Graywolf rods once you're ready to dip your toes into the wonderful world of modern fiberglass rods.
 
ABITNF said:
Fast forward to the present and it's easy to armchair quarterback what happened with these warranties. I mean what were they thinking?!
Click to expand...

They were probably thinking most people that are willing to pay that much have too much money and too little time, so they only fish once a year on their annual NZ lodge trip, and there was a low risk of breakage.
 
I've been trying to get one of my two fly fishing buddies to splurge on a $1,000 fly rod so that I might get to throw a few loops with it to see for myself. Peter is using a Sage he bought 30 years ago, and Fred has an Orvis Clearwater.
I did get to cast Helios 3F 5wt in Coeur d'Alene in 21 that belonged to Fred's nephew, who works in fly shop that is a Orvis dealer. I wasn't overwhelmed!
 
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