That’s what it’s for: impressing your friends

Like the sign at the local feed store proclaims,

“Good quality oats for your horse will cost a premium, if however you want oats that have already been through a horse, they’re a little cheaper!”

I would "echo" the comments that casting a rod, especially a relatively high dollar rod, before buying would be a good thing.

I have picked up modern glass rods in a couple of shops, but have yet to cast and/or purchase one. Scott and Echo feel pretty good in the hand

"Worth the price" depends on how you measure worth. For some, purchasing a rod that is made in the USA (including the rod blank) is worth a lot of extra money. Same goes for having a rod that was assembled with high-end components by an artisan rod builder. For others, finding really inexpensive equipment that works well is part of the fun.

I think I fall into both camps.

On the expensive side, I have a 7.5' 4wt black-glass Scott F. It's a great rod. I used it to catch every one of the fish (six species) for the California Heritage Trout Challenge that I completed in 2020. These were all small fish - like 8" / 20cm, and this rod is fun to use with fish that size. It has enough oomph to push out fairly large dry-dropper rigs and I have caught trout and whitefish in the 16" / 40cm range with no problems.

I also have a 7.5' 4wt LL Bean Pocketwater Glass rod. It is much, much less expensive than the Scott, and probably pretty similar to the Echo River Glass rods. The components aren't as nice as the more expensive rods, but they work just fine. I'm no great casting technician, but I like the way this rod casts with light flies, small streamers, or dry-dropper rigs.

Is the Scott rod better? Undoubtedly. I like fishing with it because it is a Scott. Is the LL Bean rod good enough to make fishing enjoyable? Absolutely. One other note - I also have an 8.5' 6wt first-generation Orvis Superfine Glass rod. It is a powerful, effective rod that is fun with either big or small fish on the line. For the price (US$450), I found the build quality to be pretty uninspiring. I think the second-generation SFG rods are built more in line with current higher-end Orvis rods. I also think Orvis has spent significant effort to tune the actions of their rods to feel good to fly fishers coming over from graphite rods.

I think you have a few options:

Buy a higher-end (more expensive) new or used rod from an established maker like Scott or Orvis or a known craft maker like Shane Gray, Larry Kenney, Yasuyuki Kabuto, etc. You can be confident that if you don't like it, you'll be able to sell it and get much if not all of your money back.

Buy a lower-priced rod (new or used) with an established reputation. This way, you won't be too invested, and you can probably also get most of your money back if you decide to sell it.

The other question you might want to ask yourself is whether you are interested in experimenting with gear or just want to buy a good rod on the first try. Unless you are a dedicated experimenter, the one thing I probably would not do is buy a very-low-end rod as a first fiberglass rod.

I'm not sure the information above isn't horse hockey, but I hope it helps. In any case, good luck with your search and please keep us posted on what you do!

Many excellent builders are forum members. Don't hesitate to send them a message via PM or forum email.

This is also a good place for me to add my usual advice on buying a new rod, read and follow the Forum Buyer's Guide! Always treat buying a rod like a business transaction, because it is a business transaction.


Tom

I'd like to revisit the question from a different angle. Glass offerings are very diverse in action and feel and these differences are marked and very palpable. I happen to have a broad collection of rods and I happen to know what action/length/configuration I want on any particular day. It might be that I reach for an old Fenwick, Hardy or a Kenney, Paddock (Mc Farland), Wojniki or something I have put together from a custom blank. It's not so much the price of the rod that matters but its character. When lucky, one finds the character one wants in a relatively affordable rod, when less lucky one might need to talk to a custom builder to obtain what one is looking for at what is likely to be a higher cost.

Your taste is your taste and you are allowed to have more or less expensive tastes.

That said the more expensive rods tend to be more sophisticated and better presented dishes but again, what if you happen to be in the mood for apple pie at the local diner?

I totally agree

ibookje;
I've cast a couple of the last generation F2 rods from Scott and found them a bit too whimpy.

Except for a couple of models I agree. I know Scott is capable of designing glass rods with the character giogio describes but I believe they're leery of competeing with their graphite rods. As I recall, all but one of their more recent models have been 4 wt. and under and the 5wt. F2 fell into the wimpy category. I really liked their black blank F series, which were not at all wimpy and actually on the fast side. The F2 6633 has a solid rep as a very capable rod. I just think Scott sees glass as a niche and are more concerned with bolstering their cutting edge reputation than making versatile glass rods in many line weights. Can't blame them, their graphite rods have been their bread and butter for a long time.

Planning our four-day Arroyo trip for Thursday, Susie e-mails a menu proposal asking if I want her to make her a Dutch apple pie.
Is this a trick question?

When Susie asks about meal planning, the answer is always YES

Fancy glass 7wt, E or S glass?

a Conolon/Mitchell 6wt will cast a modern 5wt line happily, as most of the current so-called 5wt lines are made a half weight or more heavy.
At 60-70 it's probably worth it to get one and see if you like it..
I'd expect this to be significantly slower and more of a through-action than modern glass.
I had a Conolon 8' 6wt glass blank in the 1970s which I built up as an ultralight spinning rod, and sometimes cast a fly line with it.

By all accounts the Superfine is a lovely rod, if you have the €s then why not..
This also gets the Orvis 25-year warranty, which is nice to have as backup.

Or, shop the UK Ebay, for a nice vintage Hardy Fibalite glass rod. I have fished these in the 80s, and would rate them several steps above the Conolon/Mitchell rods.

Best reply yet Surf.Layed it out perfectly.Factory rods are marketed to the masses.You may find one that suits you perfectly.Vintage rods are mostly the same.I have a few that do pretty much what I want them to do or rather I have learned to use them to the best of my abilities .The custom rods do not cost that much more than top of the line factory.But you will have to wait some time for them to be built to your specs.In the end it is still just fishing tho.A pastime we enjoy.I am not fishing to feed a family.A flyrod is still just a tool to deliver a fly.A fake prey on a hook..I am not a purist,I fish warm water and the fish have are not trapped in a stream where they have to rely on limited food sources.WW fish have a much wider variety of prey from zoo plankton to each other .That is what makes it fun for me.If I only pursued trout in mountain streams I would want the perfect rod for that.I may catch 5 species in one òuting even on a rock bottom beautiful stream.Sometimes on the same fly.There is no perfect rod for what I do.