Don,
Consider visiting Rodbuilding.org for awhile. You'll find that you
can come up the learning curve faster with the advice of individuals
on that site. In addition, you'll find that there are quite a few
reasonably priced blanks (as little as one third the price) that
perform as well as some of the well known finished rods out there.
Jeff

Thanks for this lead Jeff. I had read that there are very good
blanks, often made by name brand mfers but sold under some other
generic name. I'd welcome more specific information on this.
I want to test fly rods and know what I want before making this
investment. I'm living in Columbia SC and there is very little market
for trout rods in these parts. I tried my son in law's Sage SLT and
liked it. I would love to get to a real fly fishing shop and try a
few out. Maybe this is a good time to head toward the mountains.

Meanwhile, I will check out Rodbuilding.org

--Don