Kelly Galloup on $1000 fly rods...
 

Interesting video.
I've thought similarly for many years.


https://youtu.be/OgaK1x1GtT4?si=_q1Sgje8_m9YErbL

I've said it before, I'll say it again. The fish do not care how much you spend on your flyrod!

Very sound reasoning. I'll always pay extra for something made in Canada or USA, purely for the fact it directly supports our economy.

I aggressively avoid things made in China when I can. Sadly not always possible. Korea? Western-friendly democracy. I own quite a few TFO sticks....and I only buy them on sale

I have a $100 4wt cabelas fiberglass combo I absolutely adore, Catches a lot more fish then my Scott, solely because I toss it in the truck more often.

I agree with all the aformentioned...I have a couple 1k+ rods a g.loomis and winston boron that I bought 2nd hand for 40 to 50 cents on the dollar ...the Loomis is great...have only grass casted the winston..seems good enough...my hardy demon tip literally exploded but Hardy honored it with me as 2nd owner...what gets used the most is a cabelas 5/6 wt glass rod and a graphite rod I built in the 70's from a shakepere blank...caught hundreds of rmwhite fish..on a 60's woolco spin rod and Mitchel 300 with 10lb test sears $1.49 day bulk line with a hand tied mosquito or a zug bug I learned at the old hook and hackle club as a kid...could only cast 10' max..but the most successful fly rod I have ever had...and that was primarily fishing the bow from Edworthy Park to princess island in yyc

What’s most important is learning to cast properly and practice, practise, practice. Buying expensive gear won’t make you a better caster. You won’t even be able to tell the difference between a good rod and an el cheapo if you can’t cast. I try to stay with mid priced rods. Probably the best bang for your buck. That said, there are a couple expensive fly rods that I wouldn’t mind owning. Anyway, Kelly knows his stuff.

Always found the the more expensive a rod is the more likely it is to get slammed in a door or tailgate, ran over, stepped on, jammed into the dirt, tree or boulder and so on...

I like second hand expensive rods where you get some quality without the outrageous sticker shock. Once a person learns how to cast, some of the finer rods are shown to really be a pleasure to cast.
I find if you are trying to cast a 26ft leader that a higher quality rod is often a nicer tool to use. It doesn't mean you can't catch fish with a cheap rod, just that it can be more pleasurable with a better rod. After 12 hours of casting on the water, a lighter, more responsive rod really shows itself.
I didn't upgrade for a long time, but I am now happy to use someone else's hand-me-down quality rod that has some years on it.

Lots of guys purchase new rods (and reels) with visions of many hours fly fishing in wonderful places - and then ‘reality’ rears it’s ugly head, life gets in the way, and the rod languishes in the closet for years. Then they sell it- often on FB marketplace or community buy & sells.

There’s some great deals out there - I use 50% off new - as a rule of thumb!

You do realize that Cabela's CGR (fiberglass) fly rods are made in China.:thinking-006:

I know...but I really like those rods...I pair it with a van staal vf.....lol

I have one also (5wt). It casts and performs great.
It also has the cheapest/ugliest reel seat hardware I have ever seen! Any reel that I put on it makes it prettier. But, hard to complain for $60.

The last couple of years, I have gotten more and more into glass rods (3,4,5wt). Love the nice and slow actions. Casting them is poetry in motion.

And when it comes time to replace it, it will be with one that isn't. pretty hard to find a glass rod under $600 that isn't made with a chinese blank.

... thinking.............................

Casting is great but catching >20 inch trout of all types is even better!

Happy New Year and tight lines everyone!

Lack of comprehension makes your comment irrelevant to this thread.
Try again.:confused:

Cheap rods are cheap as the labour or components are cheap.
The components on one of my rods runs <>$350. The labour takes upwards of 60 hours.
I don’t sell them @$60!
Tax man says I made $3.91/hour in 2022.
Getting rich.

Don
Bamboorods.ca

As Kelly Galloup stated in the video, custom rods are full value for their high prices due to their uniqueness and the quality of the craftmanship. They can be considered works of art.

While your hourly wage may be low, what value do you place on the enjoyment and pride you get from designing and crafting your rods? I think it is very high. As well it should be.

Similarly, people that purchase your custom rods take great pride in owning and fishing them.

Certainly designing and manufacturing fly rods is neat. The best parts are the joy of the customer or the money that has been raised bu donating those rods to TU for fund raising.
Plus I get to fish them.
My first Fiberglas rod was built in 1969 with a single 8 1/2*11” instruction sheet and four hours of effort. Bought the parts Friday and fished the Oldman River Sunday with the rod.

Don

There is no quarantine that high priced rods won’t have issues.
The most repair rod I get in the shop are Sage. Parts fall off regularly.
Cork handles fall apart.

Don

Rods
 

People can save quite a bit of money buying discontinued rods, at blow out prices as well. Still brand new with warranty, just previous model.

Agree

i have a 250$ Sage Rod n $250 reel Sage 5/6

love it and have used a lot on Trout and Lake Whitefish

the fight is fun fun fun on these mid range rods

the reel is great and the rod does its job

some times its the fish that make's or breaks the rod or damage

Sage has replaced parts but was due to my mishandling

i have other mid range rods like TFO and like them

its about fishing and not how much you spend

have fun fly fishing

David:)

Sort of like asking why buy a Mercedes sedan when a Honda Civic will get you from A to B.

Well, if you're fishing ~50 days per year a Cabelas stick will do the job.
If you're fishing 100+ days per year then yes I could see the justification of wanting a "better" rod. Having said that, what happens when you break the rod? When I travel to remote location, I bring 2 or 3 times the essential fishing gears and that's when the high end rods and reel are getting expensive!

I've bought the fancy Sage, Orvis, got a bunch of old school rods and then decided to settle into rod building. Once you go down that rabbit hole you quickly realise that most of the "high end" rods are just a money grab.

Putting money in the blanks and material is what will likely result in a good rod IF the builder is able to pull it off. I can happily chose my blanks and keeping spare parts to quickly fix anything. If I ever wanted super fancy art work on guide wraps or handle work I can't complete because I don't have all the tools and skills, then I'll send it to a rod builder and pay them for it.
The only "true" mastery rod building I can think of are bamboo rods, they really are up to the skills of the rodbuilder.

I picked up an Orvis Helios 3F at Fish Tales for $800 on sale from $1300. Am I skilled enough to appreciate a $1000+ rod? No, but I can't pass up a deal!

Still on clearance for anyone else with cash burning a hole in their pocket...

The 3F is supposed to provide precision casting, e.g., hitting the center of a rise ring at any distance. Good luck!

It casts very nice. So does my TFO, but you can certainly feel the difference.

I have some XI2 and XI3 rods for saltwater fishing.

I saw the other day that repair prices have shot up.

https://farbank.com/pages/repairs-pricing

$195 US plus shipping for a rod repair that was once $100 US. Yikes.

Buying expensive rods made sense because repairs were reasonably priced.

Guess this is what happens after Sage is sold.

As an amateur rod builder....WHAT HE SAID!!!

HA definitely sounds like Kelly! Blunt to the point no BS.

That is a HUGE jump!
Let's say you have a 4 piece Sage rod that is >12 yr. old and originally cost around $800. For the sake of argument let's say that each section is worth $200. The warranty repair cost of replacing a section is now $200 which means that you really have NO warranty after 12 years.

It will be interesting to see if other brands follow suit.

TFO can maintain their excellent warranty but jack up prices because people will chase their warranty.

Due to these changes in repair costs, I will never purchase another Far Bank product, although if you already have one of their rods, they have you by the short hairs. An $800 rod with a broken section is useless so you have to spend the $ to have it repaired or junk it. :angry3: