[stob]

Originally Posted by tiptoprod

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.

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