Good for you Cameron.

Leland should carry more glass though, not just the one line of rods from Scott. Like the Hardy glass rods for example: I mean, they carry a few Hardy rods, but not the glass series right now.

Good to hear Cameron. They do a great job on their website with all the extra info they offer; almost like going into my local shop. It almost makes me feel less guilty about buying online vs. going to my local shop because they really try to add value.

Separately though, and I say this as half-fisherman and half-product strategist professionally: How many super fast graphite wunderrods can a guy possibly own? I mean really, Mr. Rajeff, is the new Loomis NRX going to cause me to trade in my Sage Xi3 or Scott S4 and drop another $795 on a rod that is 3% better but otherwise the same as what I and all of my friends already have? No, and I suspect that is the same answer for most fishermen at this time. We already learned that our Z-Axis rods are not actually better than the XPs they replaced. I'm not even incorporating the effect of the economic situation into this $795 question.

Instead, I wonder why more manufacturers and shops don't start throwing curve-balls, change-ups and ... screwballs, instead of all fast-balls? Maybe the market I imagine to be there isn't really there at a large enough scale to make it worthwhile. Maybe it's only big enough for McFarland, Steffen, Paddock, etc. But guys like me who have e-v-e-r-y fast graphite rod they could use in a lifetime (they all have warranties that last that long, after all) are starting to look more and more for something different. That's what I see anecdotally, at least, and I don't mean the guys hanging out on this forum.

Maybe I don't hang around enough newbies who are upgrading their TFOs for top-shelf rods, and that's the big market for the big rod companies. So I could be wrong, but I'd love to see the hard market data that proves me wrong. I just feel like there's got to be some oddball (screwball?) niches to be filled. Heaven knows that for my own arsenal, I had to search high, low, and long to fill a few niches (e.g., short streamer rods).

Just my $795 ... I mean, 2 cents.

Good for you Cam. I've dealt with Leland's before and I have to say top notch outfit.

Good for Leland, and I like Lugan123's question a lot. If I buy at a local shop it's as though I can have any rod I want so long as it's a Sage Blastomatik. How come I can't go into a local fly shop and find a fiberglass rod? With the recent growth in fiberglass rod production from Hardy, T&T, and Scott I suspect this will change. If those companies are building rods they must see demand. But glass rods from these companies have been out a few years now and I don't see them on the shelves of any of my local shops. When I've talked with staff and owners at these shops, however, one in twenty has any idea what I'm talking about when I ask about glass or bamboo. It's not just them wanting to sell what they have in the shop, they truly have no real reference point for anything other than graphite. I don't mean all fly shop staff are like this, but those in the shops where I live are like this.
So then you guys have to get your ears bent with questions from guys like me. And maybe if you're lucky I'll send you two cents.

My take on this issue of glass availability is that when the fast graphite market is saturated, the makers will start "introducing" and marketing slower rods and we will start to have some shop glass rod options. What is the guy with fast graphites in each line weight going to buy next? Assuming he will continue ot buy rods.

The most important message in this sport is the many different ways to do the same thing. All of them are good. Glancing around the site this evening we have active discussions on leaders, fly lines, flies, rod grips, rod length, and of course custom rod builders. In each of those discussions there are a wide variety of preferences.

There is no "right way" to fly fish, just lots of good ways. Glass fly rods happen to be one of them.

Tom

rewynd - I hear what you are saying about the likely difficulty of large scale bamboo rod production. But if you consider factory bamboo rods like Granger, Heddon, Phillipson, WM Granger, South Bend and others were all basically massed produced, and remain popular fishing instruments today despite their age.
If they could do these rods in factories up to the early '50's I really wonder whey it can be done today given modern planning equipment, glues and availability of tonkin cane. In the old days, many of these rods were sold in hardware stores and local sporting goods retailers. Granted, these rods will never approach the craft of the modern builders, but I would think they could meet the niche for $300 rods.