The Cheap Fly Rod – Just How Expensive is it?
Today we take a serious look at the other side of fly rods – the false cast, and compare the effort and number of false casts a “cheap” fly rod requires vs. the number of false casts and effort a “better” fly rod needs for the same distance. And I hope you consider what this can mean to your wholistic fly fishing experience – your long life on the water.
There are a lot of reasons to start your fly fishing interest with a cheap fly rod, and there are more cheap fly rods than ever before in the history of modern fly fishing. From Temu direct to you – you can get a starter with a reel for? how much? Unbelievable.
Now, as I say in the video, when you know that you know you are in for the penny and in for the pound? You can either start with a better rod, or upgrade pretty darn quickly! So, cheap fly rods have their place. They also can frustrate potential fly fishers because they can be more difficult than a better fly rod to hone in on casting skills – loading line, keeping it moving, etc …
In the end, that first fly rod may well end up being the last fly rod you pick up among many, or it may be the first-and-last fly rod a frustrated person never picks up again. Those two options are very popular.
Why a Cheap Fly Rod Can Cost Thousands More Than a Better Fly Rod
As you see, the better rods take a lot less effort (typically), don’t require a lot of fly line tweaking, accept a few different fly line types readily, and most important in a Wholistic Fly Fisher’s© life – will reduce wear and tear on your shoulder joints. Depending on your health insurance, blow a shoulder fly fishing and it can cost you thousands to repair. AND THAT IS IF you even want to undergo the surgery that apparently one of the worst joint surgeries in existence TODAY, with a very long downtime and recovery time.
Yes You Can!
Yes, you can catch fish with a Texas mesquite stick and a string! So can I. But, eventually you’ll want a better string, maybe a longer one, maybe a clear one or maybe one that sinks fast. Or, maybe one that makes that stick work better than it did. I get better response from a better fly rod that has a better fly line – one well matched to that rod. Once we start buying fly lines to overcome a cheap fly rod? It’s not cheap anymore! Fly lines can be expensive, and a never ending adventure in frustration – when trying to overcome the rod in hand. You can improve a cheap rod’s performance with a good fly line, but why the tradeoffs?
Lightning Can Strike
Lightning does strike sometimes. There are plenty of examples where a “cheap” fly rod outperforms. Yes, I know that. I hope you will take this in a broader more general and wholistic way. Not only does this sentiment I have apply to those of us living in aging, it serves as a note to newbies. NOTE: You will probably generate more enthusiasm with a little better fly rod than you think you deserve or need. Just like many heavy gear things I purchase in photography, and other sidebars, I try to make a purchase to GROW INTO and not quickly GROW OUT OF.
