Which Is Your Favorite Rod Maker?

[rusty]

Yeah, people talk about the TFO warranty - but that's like buying a car because the towing is free every time it breaks down.

[TimD]

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.

 

Weedy my brother,

 

The fly rod is only means to an end and I can catch fish with pretty much any fly rod as long as it can cast some line. As for the Martins, I had a somewhat famous guide tell me that if he had to pay full price, instead of the 1/3 of retail guide price that he pays for the high-end rods, he would be fishing Martins.

 

Have a happy new year. See you at the lake.

 

Cheers,

 

Tim

[lonefisher]

TCR I think that stands for tournament casting rod. These rods to be fished or cast by us mere mortals may work better a bit overlined but from what I understand you pair it with an even weight (5wt rod/5wt line) long casting line like the XXD and perfect casting it will do what its supposed to do cast well at maximum distances. Overlining should only make the short and mid/long range casting easier it may even make the long range casts feel easier but it will probably loose a few feet off the max distance. Overlining will just make it do things its not really designed for like cast short. Also some tournaments do not allow overlining ect.....(with all the casting tournies in calgary I guess thats not really an issue though) I really really really want to cast one of these rods.

 

I like to pick on sage users a little bit because I do like GLX rods a lot but if you are gonna go top of the line with either brand you are gonna have a sweet tool.

 

I read a 6wt shootout article in an aus/nz magazine and they tested like 30 or more different 6wts. They masked the rod info on the butt so as to make the rods hard to identify and had every rod tested and reviewed by 70 different testers in 4 different locations. Additionally the testers could not have any connections to the tackle industry. They were rated in 5 different catagories build quality, short casts, long casts, loop control, feel.

 

The top 15 in this order were

#1 Sage SLT

#2 G loomis streamdance GLX hls

#3 G loomis streamdance GLX mls

#4 Sage Z Axis

#5 G loomis streamdance metolius HLS

#6 Sage TCR

#7 CD rods XLS

#8 G loomis crosscurrent GLX

#9 Sage Fli

#10 Sage Xi2

#11 Redington CPS

#12 Sage launch

#13 Stalker guide series

#14 Cd rods ICT

#15 Scott S3

 

TFO first appears at

19 TiCR

20 Lefty kreh pro

24 TicrX

25 Jim Teeny

interesting results for the TFO rods

 

The Winston Boron 11x the 2nd most expensive came in at #26 which was the big shocker.

 

Price wise the metolius by GL would appear to be the best value for someone with a mid range budget looking for a top notch rod. The Sage FLi would be the next to fit this list, less then the metolius but 4 places lower.

 

Some manufacturers we have in our poll were not included in the test however so who knows where their placement would be. I was very surprised that there was not an orvis rod in the mix. Nor a fenwick...... But maybe these rods are not common down under.

 

I don't post this in order to slag or boost certain brands just cause it seemed to be a fairly broad test pool and one of the better run rod tests I have seen. Thought you guys might be interested to see the results

 

Just as an added note none of these rods got a perfect score and with a scatterplot graph they designed factoring score/price ect they determined that by extrapolating this graph a perfect score rod would cost you $3700........ Sounds like a cane rod to me Don

[Weedy1]

I snapped three ends off a Rolling Fork(edit) in one year. One time it snapped reeling in a 10 inch fish. The quality just didn't seem to be there, maybe a bad batch in town, I don't know.

 

Happy New Year,

See you May1

[ogilvie]

I had to vote for Hardy Angel simply because the rod holds value and fish as well and better than most. The Hardy Angel single handers out fish(in hand feel) any other manufactured. However,there are many more great rods mentioned on this thread...

[TimD]

I snapped three ends off a Rolling Fork(edit) in one year. One time it snapped reeling in a 10 inch fish. The quality just didn't seem to be there, maybe a bad batch in town, I don't know.

 

Happy New Year,

See you May1

 

I broke my St Croix 3 times the first year I owned it, have broke the Scott 3 times since I have bought it (only one was my fault- I swear it - but it was only partially my fault if I remember correctly), and I broke the Sage once - and that was Garry's fault - he hit it with a clouser doing about 40mph when we were fishing the Bow one spring. I told him he broke the rod and sure enough it broke in that very spot about 2 months later. Rods are fragile fishing tools and I get attached to them in the same way carpenters do hammers. I heard of an angler that met one of those TV guides somewhere down south in bonefish land; he asked the famous guide who the best rod manufacturer was and was told, "whoever pays me the most to use it."

 

All in all they are only fly rods, just a means to an end. That is why I like rods with warranties - however the Martin is a nice 4 piece I got off ebay and I could not refuse at $25 (freight in) - even though it is sans warranty. Put a fish in front of me and hand me any fly rod - I will catch it.

 

Cheers,

 

Tim

[snakeman]

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

 

It's the Sage LE, now discontinued and replaced by the Launch. The 'LE' probably stands for low-end. It is a very slow rod, it casts smoothly in the 20-35 foot range but outside of that it's really weak. It takes a lot to toss a weighted streamer or Bow nymph rig with it. Someday I might go for a high end Sage, as I've heard nothing but good about them, but for now the TFO's satisfy my needs.

[Guest bigbadbrent]

TCR I think that stands for tournament casting rod. These rods to be fished or cast by us mere mortals may work better a bit overlined but from what I understand you pair it with an even weight (5wt rod/5wt line) long casting line like the XXD and perfect casting it will do what its supposed to do cast well at maximum distances.

 

 

Its either Tournament Casting or Technical casting...And they have a line made just for this rod, so it explains why its tough to cast with a regular gpx

[rhuseby]

Sadly, my favorite rod is no longer available, and it gave up the ghost 2 years ago. Golden West built rods and offered blanks for a number of years, and I had a 10' 7wt that was a dream to fish with. It finally got clousered one two many times. Since then, I've tried TFO, which I mainly use now, and Loomis which did nothing for me. If anyone has a Golden West they want to dump...........Call me.

[Guest Rocknbugs]

Yeah, people talk about the TFO warranty - but that's like buying a car because the towing is free every time it breaks down.

 

 

Not to mention you have to pay a fee of 25 or 28 dollars just to get the part even though they are made here, so your not even getting that free tow. So if you buy a 200/300 dollar TFO and break it 4 times, you've basically just paid for another 2/300 dollar rod but you still only have one rod. This is why I will never buy a TFO. I would rather pay a fee of 25/28 dollars to actually have my rod sent somewere and fixed. G Loomis and Sage rule.

[Guest Rocknbugs]

TCR I think that stands for tournament casting rod. These rods to be fished or cast by us mere mortals may work better a bit overlined but from what I understand you pair it with an even weight (5wt rod/5wt line) long casting line like the XXD and perfect casting it will do what its supposed to do cast well at maximum distances. Overlining should only make the short and mid/long range casting easier it may even make the long range casts feel easier but it will probably loose a few feet off the max distance. Overlining will just make it do things its not really designed for like cast short. Also some tournaments do not allow overlining ect.....(with all the casting tournies in calgary I guess thats not really an issue though) I really really really want to cast one of these rods.

 

I like to pick on sage users a little bit because I do like GLX rods a lot but if you are gonna go top of the line with either brand you are gonna have a sweet tool.

 

I read a 6wt shootout article in an aus/nz magazine and they tested like 30 or more different 6wts. They masked the rod info on the butt so as to make the rods hard to identify and had every rod tested and reviewed by 70 different testers in 4 different locations. Additionally the testers could not have any connections to the tackle industry. They were rated in 5 different catagories build quality, short casts, long casts, loop control, feel.

 

The top 15 in this order were

#1 Sage SLT

#2 G loomis streamdance GLX hls

#3 G loomis streamdance GLX mls

#4 Sage Z Axis

#5 G loomis streamdance metolius HLS

#6 Sage TCR

#7 CD rods XLS

#8 G loomis crosscurrent GLX

#9 Sage Fli

#10 Sage Xi2

#11 Redington CPS

#12 Sage launch

#13 Stalker guide series

#14 Cd rods ICT

#15 Scott S3

 

TFO first appears at

19 TiCR

20 Lefty kreh pro

24 TicrX

25 Jim Teeny

interesting results for the TFO rods

 

The Winston Boron 11x the 2nd most expensive came in at #26 which was the big shocker.

 

Price wise the metolius by GL would appear to be the best value for someone with a mid range budget looking for a top notch rod. The Sage FLi would be the next to fit this list, less then the metolius but 4 places lower.

 

Some manufacturers we have in our poll were not included in the test however so who knows where their placement would be. I was very surprised that there was not an orvis rod in the mix. Nor a fenwick...... But maybe these rods are not common down under.

 

I don't post this in order to slag or boost certain brands just cause it seemed to be a fairly broad test pool and one of the better run rod tests I have seen. Thought you guys might be interested to see the results

 

Just as an added note none of these rods got a perfect score and with a scatterplot graph they designed factoring score/price ect they determined that by extrapolating this graph a perfect score rod would cost you $3700........ Sounds like a cane rod to me Don

 

 

Yea dude I just crossed over from Sage to GLoomis, the GLX I bought is sooooo sweet.

[lonefisher]

RKNbugs - Did you take the HLS? I did. Hopefully I will have a Max GLX to test cast soon...... thats supposed to be something else. The zaxis and other top end sages are in most all ways just as good as the GLX but I don't know why but nothing that I have cast yet feels as good and performs as well for me as my GLX...... Its like sex in your oh wait thats not gonna sound right......

[rusty]

It's a common misconception that TFOs are made in Calgary - they're just distributed here.

 

I believe that they are made off shore (Korea?), which explains the price.

 

Sage and most of the other major manufacturers are building blanks and finishing rods in the USA, which is a nice selling feature. My favorite thing about my Islander is the little "Made in Canada" sticker on the back of the reel foot.

[Guest bigbadbrent]

Not to mention you have to pay a fee of 25 or 28 dollars just to get the part even though they are made here, so your not even getting that free tow. So if you buy a 200/300 dollar TFO and break it 4 times, you've basically just paid for another 2/300 dollar rod but you still only have one rod. This is why I will never buy a TFO. I would rather pay a fee of 25/28 dollars to actually have my rod sent somewere and fixed. G Loomis and Sage rule.

 

 

4 x 25 is 100..not 200/300

 

If you broke a sage or gloomis that time, you're looking at 40+ per time..

[bhurt]

Not to mention you have to pay a fee of 25 or 28 dollars just to get the part even though they are made here, so your not even getting that free tow. So if you buy a 200/300 dollar TFO and break it 4 times, you've basically just paid for another 2/300 dollar rod but you still only have one rod. This is why I will never buy a TFO. I would rather pay a fee of 25/28 dollars to actually have my rod sent somewere and fixed. G Loomis and Sage rule.

 

This makes no sence to me at all? I broke my rod in all 4 parts, mostly my doing, and only paied like brentt said $100. Second Springbrook is just a distrubutor for TFO and not a manufacture, cause eveny thing I have seen that they have manufacture themselfs bear the name Springbrook on it. Third, if I lived in BC I would have to ship the rod to here (Why should we have a break on it cause we live in the same town as the distrubutor), we are lucky that we can drive within 30mins and have the rod fixed or replaced the same day.

 

I have a friend that is a big Orvis fan and has had to replace his rod three times this year. I do not think $$$ has anything to do with a rod qualility but instead it is how the owners treats it.

 

My first TFO, a 6wt 9ft was my first rod and I was rough as hell with it and has only broken it four times in 2 yrs. My second TFO which is a 7wt 10 foot I just broke the tip (due to ice build up) in two years, and my other TFO Blue (6wt 9 foot) has yet to break.

 

I am extremly hard on my equipment, as I have stated before, and have never brought inside any of my TFO's from outside (yup they sit in the Sun, Rain, and Snow) and hold up great.

 

In the end does the rod make a better fisher? I think not, if you like the higher end stuff, great I hope you have alot of sucess with it, but because something cost 1/2 the price of something you like does not mean it is no good!

 

Just my two bits.

[Guest Rocknbugs]

RKNbugs - Did you take the HLS? I did. Hopefully I will have a Max GLX to test cast soon...... thats supposed to be something else. The zaxis and other top end sages are in most all ways just as good as the GLX but I don't know why but nothing that I have cast yet feels as good and performs as well for me as my GLX...... Its like sex in your oh wait thats not gonna sound right......

 

 

Yes I bought the HLS and it is the sweetest rod Ive ever casted, I also casted the Z-Axis as well but it did not feel as good as the GLX.

[Guest Rocknbugs]

4 x 25 is 100..not 200/300

 

If you broke a sage or gloomis that time, you're looking at 40+ per time..

 

 

Fuzzy math.........lol, guess maybe I should try before all the Baileys and Coffee and beer and schnapps. Regardless the last time I had to deal with TFO I was told they were built here and to go down to Springbrook and get the part replaced with a $25.00 shipping and handling fee. That was 7 years ago and I have not used it since. So I guess if they are not built here that explains the shipping and handling fee.........still wont buy one.

[Weedy1]

In the end does the rod make a better fisher?

I would agree the rod will not make a better fisher, which is something learned, but a good rod will definitely have many advantages over cheaper rods (for the most part).

-High end rods usually allow for better presentations as well as longer casts.

-The weight of high end rods is usually lighter = getting less tired

-Tougher

-Stronger

-They are more sensitive = enhanced line control and accuracy.

-Generate higher line speed and will cast further and more accurately.

-Are made of better components. = less down time.

 

but because something cost 1/2 the price of something you like does not mean it is no good!

Agreed, I buy most of my rods at 25-50% off, doesn't make them any worse.

[Guest Rocknbugs]

This makes no sence to me at all? I broke my rod in all 4 parts, mostly my doing, and only paied like brentt said $100. Second Springbrook is just a distrubutor for TFO and not a manufacture, cause eveny thing I have seen that they have manufacture themselfs bear the name Springbrook on it. Third, if I lived in BC I would have to ship the rod to here (Why should we have a break on it cause we live in the same town as the distrubutor), we are lucky that we can drive within 30mins and have the rod fixed or replaced the same day.

 

I have a friend that is a big Orvis fan and has had to replace his rod three times this year. I do not think $$$ has anything to do with a rod qualility but instead it is how the owners treats it.

 

My first TFO, a 6wt 9ft was my first rod and I was rough as hell with it and has only broken it four times in 2 yrs. My second TFO which is a 7wt 10 foot I just broke the tip (due to ice build up) in two years, and my other TFO Blue (6wt 9 foot) has yet to break.

 

I am extremly hard on my equipment, as I have stated before, and have never brought inside any of my TFO's from outside (yup they sit in the Sun, Rain, and Snow) and hold up great.

 

In the end does the rod make a better fisher? I think not, if you like the higher end stuff, great I hope you have alot of sucess with it, but because something cost 1/2 the price of something you like does not mean it is no good!

 

Just my two bits.

 

 

Just to clear the air I did not say they were not good because they cost 1/2 as much. I never said these were bad rods. I did say that I have one and wont buy another.

[TimD]

I would agree the rod will not make a better fisher, which is something learned, but a good rod will definitely have many advantages over cheaper rods (for the most part).

-High end rods usually allow for better presentations as well as longer casts.

-The weight of high end rods is usually lighter = getting less tired

-Tougher

-Stronger

-They are more sensitive = enhanced line control and accuracy.

-Generate higher line speed and will cast further and more accurately.

-Are made of better components. = less down time.

Agreed, I buy most of my rods at 25-50% off, doesn't make them any worse.

 

Presentation is related to angling skills like reading the water, working with light and terrain. It is something that is learned not bought - unless of course one takes angling lessons or reads a bunch of books on presentation.

 

Longer casting is more a function of casting skill first and then rod design. There are lots of things that can be done before one has to buy another rod. Besides lots of rods that cast long are not that handy when casting a short distance. The majority of casts that catch fish are less than 30' - way better line control and setting response. When I have made 80'+ casts to a fish, I don't expect to hook it.

 

I would agree with the lighter part, the difference would probably be less than 20 grams. I am pretty sure I can hold up that extra weight for a day of fishing.

 

How would one measure if a rod is tougher, stronger and more sensitive. I know the person who is promoting the expensive rods says they are but how do they tell and how do we know they aren't just following a script? It is hard to say anything is tougher, stronger or more sensitive without having an objective measure - like a toughermometer.

 

Line control and accuracy are casting/fishing skills. Give me a reasonable fishing rod (like any of the ones I have) and I will catch just as many fish.

 

Better components - yes and - when I built my Sage SP, I made it from a blank using oversize guides, made a larger handle (full-wells), put in measuring marks and used a gorgeous rosewood reel seat. All of the components were higher-end than the Sage-built rods. It is one of six good rods that I own and I haven't lost one fish with any of my other rods due to a failure in component.

 

Fly rods are really subjective tools and I won't blame a rod for me not catching a fish. They are always coming up with 'new and improved' rods that somehow make the old rods obsolete and anglers need to buy so they can consistently catch fish. It is almost like those golfers that keep blaming their putter instead of working on their putting.

 

Best regards,

 

Tim

[Weedy1]

Hey Tim,

 

If ever want to buy a really decent rod for next to nothing let me know. I have several you may be interested in.

[KingSalmon]

G-Loomis hands down. I absolutely love my StreamDance GLX

[lonefisher]

TimD is definately not of base with his post its not the rod that makes the angler and if you are not using your low end rod to the maximum of its potential then there is little need to upgrade a bit of practice and improved skill is gonna go a lot farther then an xtra 400 bucks spent on a rod.

[Weedy1]

I'm not saying a high end rod is going to make an average fly fisherman with a $100 rod into a fly fishing star. I said, "but a good rod will definitely have many advantages over cheaper rods (for the most part)." How large or small these differences are is very open to interpretation, if they exist. Personally, I went from a TFO signature to an XP this year. It made a world of difference. I also compared the rods side by side several times throughout the year to try and determine if buying an XP was a stupid move. I wasn't disappointed. I can cast 15 feet further with the XP and the sensitivity is way better on the XP. My accuracy is also better and the rod was still in one piece at the end of the season. Every other year I went through at least three rods, go figure.

[lonefisher]

Weedy Thats definately true and it sounds like you were likely using your rod to it full potential before upgrading. My GLX has opened up about 15-35 extra feet overhanding and about the same switch and spey casting with light rigs, But it nearly doubles the distances achievable with a big heavy rig while roll/spey or switch casting...... And I am not unconfident feeling takes or setting the hooks at long distance. There is definately a difference...... Some also say that most fishing is done within 30 feet...... sure on creeks it is. But when fishing stillwaters from shore the ability to catch fish at long distance is priceless........ The comment about breaking has merit as well I think. Maybe you can't measure toughness but I have only broken my streamdance once and it was my fault...... fishing cheaper rods I went through a lot more rods and most breaks should not have happened.

 

Weedy ya don't have a 11ft 7wt native run single spey in your bag of tricks do you?