FishingBanter - View Single Post

**jeff miller** · November 25th, 2008, 12:11 AM posted to rec.outdoors.fishing.fly

wrote:

Money doesn't talk

If you think that a very expensive rod is better than some other less
expensive tool, then you must perforce buy the expensive one. One thing
is certain, it will not normally catch you any more fish than a cheapie.

Quite excellent rods which cost ten dollars ex-factory in Korea, or
Taiwan, are regularly sold in Europe and America under various brand
names, for well in excess of two hundred dollars, and sometimes a very
great deal more. The final price has little to do with the cost of
actually producing the rods, and certainly not with the raw material
cost or the inherent "quality". Transport, advertising, several
middle-men taking their profits, etc etc, all jack the price up.

This is also why comparing rods based on their retail prices is
absolutely senseless, as you have no way of knowing how this price was
set. It may have absolutely nothing whatever to do with the quality of
the rod.

received the first of my usual abundance of holiday fly-fishing catalog
mailings today - feather-craft's christmas offerings. it's interesting
to see what this retailer charges for a blank, a blank + kit, and a
finished rod.

winston BII-MX 4 piece 4 weight: blank - $338; kit - 448; rod - 675

sage gen 5 tcx series, 4 pc, 4 wt: blank - 390; kit - 508; rod - 780

tfo lefty kreh ticr-x series, 4 pc, 4 wt: blank - 112.50; kit - 162.50;
rod - 249.95

jeff