Which Is Your Favorite Rod Maker?

[NormanMcLean]

Which is your favorite rod maker?

This could be a personal favorite or your opinion of who makes the best rods.

Feel free to add another maker not listed.

I voted Winston.

[bigbowtrout]

This a hard pick. I love my Sage VPS 5wt and it's my main rod but my T&T 7 1/2 3wt is one sweet rod so I voted for the T&T

[maxwell]

i lvoe my tfos but loop is by farm my favorite

[ladystrange]

i voted sage, but i really really like my orvis

[WesG]

I cant believe that you left out the biggest fly fishing/outdoors sporting company out there. I am going to have to say Orvis

[ggp]

Sage but the new Orvis-Hellios is a fine fine rod.

[bulltrout]

fenwick cuz sage is too damn expensive...

[rusty]

Sages kill everything else out there in my books. The 390XP and 690RPL+ are the two nicest rods they've ever made.

 

DBT - Sages aren't cheap, but they don't have to be expensive either. I just picked up my eighth - a beautiful custom 1090-4 Xi2 - and at $500 it's the most I've spent on one yet.

 

There are some great deals on the used market, and with the rate that Sage discontinues rods at, you can frequently find a brand new outstanding rod for $300-400. A lot of guys on here probably got awesome deals on XPs. Custom builds are also a great way to save money. You could buy XP blanks for $150 last year, which means you could put a better-than-factory rod in your mitts for $250-300. When they discontinued the VPS, you could get two piece midweight blanks for $100-120.

[bulltrout]

i refuse to ditch fenwick as they have been there for 20 years for me now...

[birchy]

Temple Fork for me.. surprise surprise!!

 

Just can't beat the "in town warranty" IMO.

[Brownstone]

Temple Fork for me.. surprise surprise!!

 

Just can't beat the "in town warranty" IMO.

 

Yeah but thats the warranty not the rod .. I love the TFO service but the quality just can't compare ..

 

Sage all the way

[prairiebrown]

I would have to say Winston and Hardy.

[headscan]

Sage. The FLI is easily one of the best bang for the buck rods out there IMO.

[TerryH]

Sage all the way. My go to rod for years has been a 5wt VPS -- moved up to z-axis this year, in both 3wt and 5wt -- love em both. Terry

[NormanMcLean]

Yes, I realized after I created the poll that I forgot Orvis. I should have dumped Martin.

[lonefisher]

Well atleast there is one other voter who recognizes a good stick. G loomis all the way

 

That said I gotta say sage makes a nice rod

[hydropsyche]

Dan Craft. I don't have a whole lot of experience with a ton of different rods, like some of you do, but the guys over at Rodbuilding.org seem to and they highly recommend them.

 

According to them, world champion fly casters are using them.

 

Before I started building Dan Crafts, I had a Dragonfly. Thats a bit of a step up.

[TimD]

How about a "It depends" selection?

 

I have each of the following: Martin, Sage, St Croix, Powell, Scott and an 'I am not quite sure who made it' rods. They all work depending on the type of fishing and how I feel like fishing.

 

Cheers,

 

Tim

[Weedy1]

I don't know about that Tim. I just don't see ever pulling out one of my old Martin rods again, I think I would rather not fish if I had to sink to that level.

[DonAndersen]

How about a few more on the the list that don't build Tupperware Rods although T &T does build some decent grass poles.

 

 

Don

[NormanMcLean]

Sorry Don, this poll is a no-boo zone.

I would love to see a bamboo poll though.

 

I voted Winston but have Sage rods as well.

They clearly are a very good rod, with a range of models and reasonably priced.

I have declared Sage the hands down winner for this poll.

[snakeman]

I've owned 2 TFO's and one Sage. The Sage is useless, casts like a wet noodle. I guess that's what I get for buying a low-end Sage.

The TFO's are great, I'm sure there are many better rods out there but the TFO's suit my needs just fine.

[KnotLikely]

I own Sage, G-Loomis and TFO rods. I'll take my Sage rod's over any of the other two, or the Scott, Fenwick and Orivs rods that I've tried. In fact I'll take my Sage DS over the pricier G-Loomis GL3.

 

Any of you G-Loomis fans want to buy a G-Loomis GL3 4-piece 6 wt so that I can replace it with another Sage?

[Guest bigbadbrent]

I've owned 2 TFO's and one Sage. The Sage is useless, casts like a wet noodle. I guess that's what I get for buying a low-end Sage.

The TFO's are great, I'm sure there are many better rods out there but the TFO's suit my needs just fine.

 

 

What sage is it? Chances are is just cause the lower end (launchs) are much slower then the TFO's. Once you go to the FLi or VT2, your looking at a hell of a rod, and the Z-axis is unbeatable. Their top rod, the TCR is insanely fast, you need to double or triple overline it, but then it bombs

[Guest Rocknbugs]

I have a Sage SP+ 6X, G Loomis GL3 4X, G Loomis GLX 6X and a TFO. TFO never gets used its like trying to golf with a rock taped to the end of a tree branch, its the one I let the kids smack against trees and drag through the parking lot. My Sage was the go to rod for a long time until I bought the G Loomis GLX. The GLX is the sweetest rod I have ever casted and is the new go to rod and the GL3 is a 4X and I love it as well, it casts beautifully and is great for dries on the Bow or the Lake so my vote goes towards G Loomis. If TFO did not manufacter rods in Calgary I would be interested to see how many people did not buy them.

 

PS: Sage was a close second, nothing bad to say about my Sage, I still love it.