dezza
Well-known member
I'll say they are!
Many of you I know are coarse anglers. However if you get the chance, have a look at a typical fly rod, the average one being 9 feet long which will cast a 6 weight line. It will generally be in 3 or 4 pieces for ease of transport and have a short cork handle about 9 to 10 inches long. There will be a fancy screw reel seat and there will be 9 or 10 chrome plated snake rings together with what is called a "hayfork" tip ring. These are the cheapest rings you can get. I bought a pack of 10 for only a fiver a few years ago, H & H, the best make too.
There is generally a heck of a lot less labour in a fly rod than a 13 foot float rod for instance, and you can get an adequate float rod these days for less than £50.00. The manufacturers may make a big deal of the carbon used in the blank of course, but quite honestly the compound tapers that make up a good float rod by say Drennan, require a hell of a lot more engineering skill than in any flyrod!
And there are some flyrods, especially those "from America" that can cost upwards of £600.00 in the UK. And no sour grapes here at all. I own one such rod and have used several others from this stable in the past. Are they any good?
Well at that price they bloody well ought to be! Personally I think they are complete rip-offs. These days the fly rods by Sonik and Greys are every bit as good as these Yanky brag pieces. I have a 9 1/2 foot 6/7 weight Sonik that gets far more use than my American rod, mainly because it's superior in every way. And that rod cost me one sixth of the price of a Yanky wonderstick.
Oh and by the way, those of you who think that the wondersticks are made in America had better think again. Most of them are made in either China or South Korea, just like the Soniks and the Greys!
Many of you I know are coarse anglers. However if you get the chance, have a look at a typical fly rod, the average one being 9 feet long which will cast a 6 weight line. It will generally be in 3 or 4 pieces for ease of transport and have a short cork handle about 9 to 10 inches long. There will be a fancy screw reel seat and there will be 9 or 10 chrome plated snake rings together with what is called a "hayfork" tip ring. These are the cheapest rings you can get. I bought a pack of 10 for only a fiver a few years ago, H & H, the best make too.
There is generally a heck of a lot less labour in a fly rod than a 13 foot float rod for instance, and you can get an adequate float rod these days for less than £50.00. The manufacturers may make a big deal of the carbon used in the blank of course, but quite honestly the compound tapers that make up a good float rod by say Drennan, require a hell of a lot more engineering skill than in any flyrod!
And there are some flyrods, especially those "from America" that can cost upwards of £600.00 in the UK. And no sour grapes here at all. I own one such rod and have used several others from this stable in the past. Are they any good?
Well at that price they bloody well ought to be! Personally I think they are complete rip-offs. These days the fly rods by Sonik and Greys are every bit as good as these Yanky brag pieces. I have a 9 1/2 foot 6/7 weight Sonik that gets far more use than my American rod, mainly because it's superior in every way. And that rod cost me one sixth of the price of a Yanky wonderstick.
Oh and by the way, those of you who think that the wondersticks are made in America had better think again. Most of them are made in either China or South Korea, just like the Soniks and the Greys!
Last edited: