Quote:
Originally Posted by Pikebreath
You do realize that for the same money you can buy lifetime warranty on TFO Echo, or Reddington etc which you do not get with a sage loomis loop etc used rod?
And yesterday's high end rod design is OFTEN today's Asian made rod?
|
Some of todays Asian rods are todays high end rods. I wouldn't trade my Hardy Zenith for any rod on the market and my son feels the same way about his Loop Opti-Stream. These rods are magic to fish at all distances and should not even be mentioned in the same breath as TFO and Redington.
I have received blank cards with every used Sage I have purchased and the closeout rods have full warranty. I am not sure how the warranty work on the others.
So no I would not trade one of my rods for all of the rods you mentioned let alone one.
I have fished with TFO and the components were junky to the point of failure. There really is no warranty. They sell you a rod piece and make a profit. How much do you think a rod tip is worth for a 100-300 dollar rod when one size fits all? I think less than $10.
Redington is similar although they do have better quality components. They have not produced a rod I really liked for a long time and I have fished many. I still have a 4wt RS4 kicking around somewhere that is a nice rod. I would definitely still recommend them to a beginner especially the Classic Trout.
Echo is the stand out in your group. I have lawn cast an Echo3 in 3 weight and was impressed. Like I mentioned above it was more like a 4 weight to me. They are on sale at Cabelas and I am tempted but in this economy I have put a halt on spending.
Your statement is true regarding the top end manufacturer's lower end rods. Some of Sage's offerings like the Vantage and Flight Series were outstanding and I am sure that still holds true today. I have also heard the same of Hardy, Orvis and Winston. Their seconds are better than most company's top end. I fished a G Loomis Pro4x and although not a keeper for me, it was very nice.