For an angler, buying a major new piece of fishing tackle is one of the highlights of the hobby. There is much anticipation and a lot of time spent browsing the trout fishing catalogs or surfing online stores. The choice of trout fishing rods is very wide and it helps if you can narrow down your requirements initially.
The fishing tackle market caters for an extremely wide range of buyer types and a quick look at the difference in prices between the cheapest and most expensive trout rods will tell you that choosing is not simply stating the size and color that you want!
Premium fishing tackle manufacturers such as Sage and Orvis in the USA, and Hardy & Greys in the UK will supply you with a wide range of rods that can cost a small fortune. On the other hand, if you check out the offers in some of the catalogs you will see many Asian imports costing a few pounds or dollars. To take an example, rifling through any current fishing tackle catalog you might see a Hardy Angel nine foot 'AFTM # 6' two piece trout rod for £649 ($1000) whereas on the next page you will see a Leeda Quick Silver of the same specification being sold for £30 ($50). This is a big difference for two rods designed to do the same job, essentially both built from similar carbon fiber materials and both with cork handles.
How do you start to choose your new trout rod? To provide some advice it would be useful to explain how I bought my own trout fishing rods over the years. I started to fly fish 30 years ago with an old fly rod that my parents had brought my brother one Christmas. It was part of a child's fishing kit and was useless at casting a fly line. One day in the tackle shop I noticed a fiber glass blank and bought this together with rod rings, varnish, whipping twine and a cork handle for me to assemble at home. This only cost me a few pounds and I ended up with a 9 foot trout rod that I was to use successfully for a number of years.
As fiber glass was gradually replaced by carbon fiber I was keen to trade up. Once I had a go with a 9.5 foot Shakespeare carbon fiber trout fishing rod I realized how much better they handled and how much easier it was to cast a line further. This time I paid about £100 for the rod.
Much more recently and perhaps with a little more money to spare I started looking at the high end quality rods. Eventually I splashed out on an a featherweight Sage costing me about £500 ($750) this time. This is a joy to use and my old Shakespeare rod has been consigned to its rod tube in the garage!
The point is that you should not spend a lot on the rod until you are able to appreciate the additional quality you obtain for your extra money. Pay a moderate amount if you are starting out, enough to get you a tool that will do the job well. Once you have mastered the art of trout fishing with a fly rod you will no doubt be attracted by the glossy images of the high end models in the fishing tackle catalogs and then be in a better position to judge them when trying them out. This advice is also valid for bass fishing, pike fishing, sea fishing, carp fishing tackle or any other area of what is essentially an equipment focused sport.
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Gone FishingTM Floating Multipurpose Knife - 10.375 Inches Not Only Will It Stay Afloat in Water, but Its Blade Is Great for Line Cutting, Scaling and Filleting! In Addition There's a Compass Conveniently Located in the Handle Sale Price: $10.95 |
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