Kelly Galloup on $1000 fly rods...

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by BungMan

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.

Warranty is why rods are so expensive. I can get a Gary Loomis built blank on sale for less than a hundred bucks US, although his sales are getting further and further apart, maybe people are staring to notice he is building blanks again and he doesn't have to get so many out for advertising anymore. Cannot make them for others commercially as I cannot afford to warranty them, shipping of blanks is a killer. I am not paying what the big companies want for rods to support others that can't look after their stuff. It's ridiculous, but every company has to do it if one does it. People think the consumer wins but really the winner is the guy that can't look after stuff.

[MK2750]

Originally Posted by BungMan

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.

In all fairness and for the sake of argument you could pick up a Sage Z-Axis 12 years ago for less than $400. Even at full price they were not $800.

If after 12 years of enjoyment someone offered me a new or as new repaired Z-Axis for $200 I'd be all over it like a Pitbull on a Poodle.

I also have a ZXL that owes me absolutely nothing. It is, in my mind, the best 4 weight stream rod ever manufactured and again I picked it up new for under $400 over 14 years ago.

I can't say I am an avid Pike fisherman but my Xi2 8 weight will throw kitten sized projectiles without issue and has no problems with big Pike and walleye. I picked it up for under $200 as new on Kijiji about 12 years ago.

If I decided to sell my Sage rods, I would probably at least break even and perhaps make a bit on the sale. That's a lot of entertainment for zero dollars.

Like anything, if you want the latest and greatest you are going to pay for it. If you are patient and ready to buy when the opportunity arises top end gear is by far the best option used or on closeout.

I remember years ago everyone saying how great TFO warranty was/is. The Signature Series was an easy rod to learn to cast on and I bought several for kids. They all broke but you could buy a tip for $29. The Chinese or Korean tip is worth about $29 with the cheap components so basically you got no warranty right out of the box. Still a decent deal at $100-$150 if IIRC but absolute junk compared to a used Sage in the same price range back in that day.

For the record, I don't believe $1000 plus rods are worth it but I would buy a $1000 plus rod at 50 cents on the dollar if I ever need another.

Mid priced rods from high end manufacturers are also a great deal. They obviously will be using the technology they know so you are basically getting a top end model from a few years back at a significant discount.

Let's also keep in perspective the world we live in. People are paying over $100 for a decent fly line and the top end stuff is closer to $200. Flies have over quadrupled in the last few years and to fill up the old pickup for a day out west is well over $100.

A broken rod sucks and warranty is basically an opportunity to have it repaired at a very reasonable rate. After all, we did break the rod and I don't believe anyone has ever suffered from paying for their own mistakes.

[32-40win]

Think I have 4 or 5 rods with 25yr warranties that are out of warranty now, couple more that are near to out of warranty, if I bust them, I bust them. Have one I shoved together from 3 or 4 different ones that had broken sections, they fling a line, that's what counts, that one actually works pretty well.. I stayed under 500.00 on my rods over the years, most were in the 3-400.00 range, have one, that was 700.00 landed here from England. Not likely to be buying any more, I'll make these last, but, TFO or Pieroway ar good enough for my needs, easy enough to get serviced if need be, and they do what I ask of them.

[Mr Flyguy]

My 5wt 10 ft Orvis Clearwater broke last October so in late March I sent it to Orvis for "warranty" repair. Cost $35 to mail to Virginia.

Got the rod back quite soon with a replacement top section. UPS charge was $41. Took it out for a session on the Fort Pond and whoops, broke at the top section again. Complained to Orvis and they said send it back again and we will waive the return handling fee. So that would be >$100 for something that may just snap again.

Considering that I bought the rod for ~$170 from Wholesale Sports I guess I'll just go wait for a Fishin' Hole sale so get something new.

[pope]

Fishing hole sale started today and very little for rods on sale …They use to have better sales.

[Colin_r6]

Great video!
I've got a $130 Reddington fly rod that i've had for almost 15 years. Catches fish just fine, never an issue with it that wasn't directly caused by my own ineptitude!

[Groundhogger]

I've always respected KG's contribution to fly fishing, interesting guy and a good video. Thanks for posting!

I've been at it a long time like some of you guys, I've owned $100 rods that fished great...and $1000 ones (at least a couple) that were total duds. One of which was a T&T. I think the that the best and worst rods I've ever owned came form T&T, one of which I've regretted selling every since. I know I have a 9wt./2pc Sage XP too that might be better off as a tomato stake.

Most experienced anglers can make any rod work, but most would also say that something like a GL Pro 4X casts better/more fun to use than a $99 job from anywhere. We all recognize that better rod are just better rods sometimes. They can shorten the learning curve and in experienced hands, be a thing of beauty. I still have a very hard time looking at any fishing rod (fly or otherwise) and seeing something worth $1,000+. Could be a comment on how little fishing I do now.

It had been over a decade since I bought a fly rod...when I got a 3wt. last year. I used it a couple of times in the spring and didn't love it. Cast fine @ the fly shop, I think I need to try some different lines. Felt fast enough to use a 4wt. line, thinking that's not the case in hindsight. I still have the Lamiglas 9' 4wt. 2pc. that was my first rod. It was $289 in about 1998/99 when I bought it if memory served, had it upgraded with a nice reel seat and beefier cork grip by a rod builder. That thing has a million miles on it, but not well-suited to the tiny streams I find myself on here in S. Ontario.

[catnthehat]

I got my first fly rod for a Christmas present in 1967, and have used it for everything from perch to yellow fin tuna.
It's an 8 weight Heddon glass rod that had to be re-guided after a trip to Mexico in 1992 because the black chrome snakes got messed up in the salt - my biggest regret of the whole trip.
It has backed me up when I broke high dollar rods in the past.
I still use this rod when the going is nasty with sunken logs or brush when fishing for big pike- there isn't a pike made that will break an 8 weight glass rod!
its not the best, far from it, but I would trade any of my high end rods for it if it came down to it!

My buddy Petew is a hard core MaxCast guy, and the rods he brings out to fish with me cost less than most fly line! They are danged fine pieces of gear, especially when you consider the cost!
Cat