What’s a good fly rod?

Sometimes folks come into the fly shop and ask, "What’s a good fly rod?"  Others walk straight to the rod rack and start flipping tags. It can be pretty interesting watching the reactions of potential fly rod customers as they peruse the rack.  If they hit the Echo Base at $89.99 first, there is usually silence.  If they reach for the Sage Method at $825, there is usually a strong verbal exclamation.

Many prospective fly anglers seem to view fly fishing tackle as somehow different from other retail goods and become offended when they view the costs as being too high.  A day seldom goes by when someone does not react to the price of a high end fly rod. The reality is that premium tackle is very specialized, available in smaller quantities and as such, priced accordingly. High end rods also carry no fault warranties that must be factored into the selling prices. Our high end fly rods are also produced in the USA, not overseas. While some domestic companies may be more altruistic than others, they still need a profit to keep the wheels turning and to keep on developing new fly rod choices.  If consumers don’t view newer generation rods as better than older generation rods, they go out of business.

Do you need an $800 dollar rod to fly fish?  Absolutely not.  If it’s not in your budget, don’t worry.  Do you need a Range Rover to get to the river? If you are a novice or first time fly rod buyer, is the Sage Method a good choice?  Probably not.  It is a specialty rod with an action made for a certain style of casting.  As with golf clubs, skis and firearms, there are a broad range of choices and price points.

If you are an experienced caster and educated angler, you can handle just about anything and catch fish.  Why than are some rods so expensive? How about looking at it this way: Do you need the latest high resolution 75" TV screen to watch the Super Bowl?  We all know the answer to that.  Will the experience be more enjoyable on the big screen?  I think that answer is obvious.  We make our choices based on our perceived needs, desires and resources.  I would personally rather have a 40" TV screen and two $800 fly rods.  That’s my cost to benefit analysis.

Still, $800 dollar fly rods seem expensive, but maybe we can look at them another way.  Remember when home computers first came out?  A decent machine went for over $2000. For less than $300 now, you can get a better machine than $2000 would buy in 1994.  My smart phone is better than my first computer at 1/10th the cost.  Thanks to $800 dollar fly rods, the same is true in the fly fishing market.  For less than $300, you can get a fly rod that is likely as good as or better than, the most expensive fly rods available in 1994.  If you want the best of the best at any given moment in time, you will have to pay a considerably higher price.  In a few years, the technology available in today’s best premium rods will be sold in less expensive rod models.  That’s because there will be $1000 rods that have features and benefits not available in the premium rods of today. That is how retail works.

You get little benefit from an $800 fly rod if you have a .50 cent cast.

So what is a good fly rod?  A good fly rod is one that will work for its intended purpose.  You need to match the correct rod to your intended use.  If you come into the fly shop and talk to us, we can figure that out with you.  We’ve got good rods starting at $89.99 and good rods for over $800.  Fly fishing is about having fun and learning along the way.  If you get hooked on fly fishing and develop into a proficient caster with more diverse fishing needs, you certainly appreciate the more expensive fly rods we sell.  You will also find that you need at least three of them.