Why fly rods are more expensive than spinning rods?

[p.t.]

I always feel strange that fly rods are generally more expensive than spinning rods, but why? They are made out of the same material, aren't they? Yes, fly rods are usually longer, but that can't be the reason (same rod of different lengths are usually the same price, a little different, but not that different). Is there any real reason? Puzzled.

(I just went to Cabela's website to verify my point. Fly rods of $100 - $199 are "cheap" models, the majority is from $200 - $500. But for spinning rods, you get tons of selections for under $100, starting from $15. For spinning rods in the range of $100 - $199, they are "luxurious".)

[Anonymous]

I initially was not going to comment on this thread because I didn't honestly have a good answer. But I think that it is a very valid question that stares me in the face every time I go into a fly shop. Maybe some of the fly guys, Lo-Tech Joe, Wolverine, Mark Martyn... can give their opinions here.
I will quote someone else with saying, that if the gear fishing industry was a yard stick.... then the fly fishing market would be 3" on that yard stick. Sure... there are A LOT of guys/gals that are into it heavy. What I'm saying though is that Shakespeare is making 1000's of ugly sticks for for every few Sage rods that are being made. Maybe equate it to how much Budweiser is spilled on the floor of the Bud brewery, compared to how pints of quality micro brew are brewed at Rogue.
There really is fine craftsmanship in a quality fly rod, does it warrant 500-700 dollars that it may cost, not to me for sure. Maybe another thing to think about is that this type of fishing also is marketed by beautiful getaways to remote fly in lakes where you stay at 5 star fishing resorts.... all this is big $$$$ Did you ever see an magazine picture/article showing a very pristine remote fishing guide service... where they were advertising doing some "Awesome fishing with rainbow power bait and a Eagle Claw spinning rod?"
The person who can afford all that has a lot of disposable income at hand, and that leaves the fly community to be there to cater to that person. It is kind of a hand crafted, more personal touch product than a lot of what you find in the tackle section at Walmart. In the end, I too think it is very over priced, but it's a nitch market and the manafacturers know it.
Just my thoughts.

[VHMLLC]

As new comer to fly fishing ( about A year) I think part of it is the rush that comes with the first fish brought to hand on a fly rig . There for you want the best rigs for the job. I agree that the playing field is not level and I choke every time I buy line or a new real. I started with "cheap gear" then as with most people, I used a pricy rig from a friend, it was night and day. I'm not sure where I'm going with this but the bottom line is good gear ain't cheap, and I don't see price reductions in the near future. So if we want to fish we pay there ransome.

[Anonymous]

Fly fishing is considered an art form by many...

From the book, A river runs through it.
Like many fly fishermen in Western Montana where the summer days are almost Arctic in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being of my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise.

Like Quad stated above...The manufactures know it.

[p.t.]

Along the line of what Quadfather said .... I remember I've seen a few pictures of the President of the US take a fishing vacation. (Was it Regan or Bush or both? I don't remember. Definitely not Clinton.) The picture shows the President wading in the water waving his fly rod. Can you imagine the President of the US using a spinning rod on his fishing vacation? (On the sea, maybe.)

And I can still remember the first time I went into Orvis shop, which was and is located at the most exepensive commercial area on East Side, downtown Bellevue. I was totally amazed. It was definitely not the kind of tackle shop I had in mind! After checking out the price tags, I ran like hell and never returned!

Glad to know I'm not the only one who feels fly gear is way too pricey.

[Anonymous]

Somewhere out there, there is a statement like, " The fish biting don't know whether your boat is 40K boat or a dinghy." The same I think goes for whether the fish taking your fly know if it's attached to a expensive rod or not.

I guess that I would say.... go out and learn to cast and catch a few fish on a 75$ combo rod.... enjoy the feel of a fish on a fly rod (it really is different) Then if you're fortunate, borrow a friends expensive setup. You will definetly see a difference in how the rod casts. If you can't borrow one, then go to a fly shop and spend some time casting their expensive gear.
If it's for you... then spend some money and take the plunge. If it's not that big of a deal... then catch your future fish on the rod you started with.
For me fishing is the thing in life that i love so much. I don't mind spending a little extra in this dept.
(but I still fish on a 120$ fly rod and a 75$ reel.)

One other thing. Since you are in Bellevue, check out the Orvis shop near the mall. See if they have some casting classes. If they don't. ( I am sure they do though) then check out "Avid Angler" in Lake Forest Park, across the lake. These are down to earth folks. They are not on comission, and they will tell you what they really think about whatever gear your're asking about.

[nickbell]

Very true quad. I have a cheap cabelas combo, maybe 90-100 dollars, and I can definantly feel a difference between this and expensive 300 dollar rods. My combo works just fine for me though, although I dont care very much for the line that its pre-spooled with (it sinks in some places, and i dont prefer the color) so im about to go to cabelas and get some new line and a few more flies then make a trip down to the green. Does anyone know what would be hatching now at the green? I cant find a hatch chart for it.

[Rooscooter]

I would think there are a few things at play with the costs of Fly Fishing equipment in general that make it more expensive than "traditional" fishing equipment.

The first would be volume of sales. R&D, materials and labor to make the fly rod may be a little more expensive than a spinning rod, however spinning rod sales probably outpace fly rods by more than a 10 to 1 margin. You have to recoup your raw costs on much fewer units.

Second, most fly rods are sold through specialty shops or shops within stores (Cabela for example). There are dedicated staff for those "shops" that have to get paid that add to the cost of all equipment sold there. Cabela's has at least 2 people in there "Fly Shop" at a time that service just that area of the overall store. Fly shops have a very high overhead to sales ratio that's why an area as large a Spokane has only 2 or 3 dedicated shops, while there are literally hundreds of stores in the area that sell spinning rods/equipment.

I think exclusivity plays a part as well. Most fly shop owners are not getting rich doing what they do, however they can charge premium prices for their goods because they are few and far between. The internet, and big box stores have cut into this but if you want quality products with reliable advice you go to a shop.

Finally, there is the status premium. The same one at play that makes a Mercedes 800 series sedan cost significantly more than a Corvette while the cost of production is nearly the same. An example of this in my opinion is Simms fishing gear. To me it is outrageously expensive for what you get, however it says Simms.

Tight Lines!

[G-Man]

Cost of a fly rod is much like any other rod, the less it weighs the more it costs. As fly fishing is near continuous motion activity, having a light weight setup makes the experience less physically taxing. Same thing goes with a light weight Loomis drift rod. I don't fish nearly enough to shell out $300+ dollars for a rod that weighs next to nothing, yet can handle a bruiser of a fish. To make rods like that takes a fair bit of engineering and major quality control during the manufacturing process. Add to that some exotic materials for the reel seat and as Quad mentioned, limited production runs, you end up with a high ticket item.

[Marc Martyn]

Good comments from all. Sorry I didn't chime in on this on Sunday, but, well,.......I was out fishing...all day!:cheers:

The prices of fly rods in a pro shop are indeed shocking compared to the chain stores, Walmart, Sears, Fred Meyer, etc. However, there are two good reasons for that. Engineering and manufacturing.

There is a great deal of engineering that goes into designing and perfecting a good quality fly rod. Unlike a spinning rod, the fly rod has to be designed to "carry" the weight of the line in motion. The conventional casting rod is designed to throw a weighted object, once. The fly rod has to load and reload several times when casting while letting line out in each cycle. The action of this rod is designed specifically for different weights of lines, casting conditions, wind, distance, etc.

The main difference between an inexpensive fly rod and an expensive rod is the materials in the rod blanks and the manufacturing. The cheap rods are manufactured in mass quantities and shipped to the United States in large cargo containers from either China or Korea. They are assembled by a poor sweat shop worker making about .20¢/day. Many of the major big name spinning rods are manufactured by Pure Fishing Inc. These include Shakespeare, Berkley, Penn, Abu Garcia, Plfueger and Fenwick.

The higher end fly rods, including some spinning rods are "Made In The U.S.A" They are engineered, built, tested, marketed and sold by people like you and I. Each rod is basically hand made and inspected for quality. Many of these also have a great Lifetime Warranty. Here are some of the major high end rods that you see the fly shops with higher price tags:

Sage- Bainbridge Island, WA
Loomis- Woodland, WA
Orvis- Manchester, VT
Winston- Twin Bridges, MT
Thomas & Thomas- Greensfield, MA
Scott- Montrose, Colorado
Courtland- Courtland, NY

I own 5 fly rods, all made in the U.S.A. My first two were fiberglass Fenwicks (when they were made in the U.S.), two entry level Sages and one entry level Orvis. All are suiting my needs perfectly although my Fenwicks are now basically antiques and I keep them for memories only. They were fine rods in their days. The Sages and Orvis are the rods I use now.

As for the president that fly fished, it is Jimmy Carter and I believe Teddy Roosevelt did also. Dick Cheney also fly fishes, but I'm not sure I would like to be around his casting, considering he shot his partner while out hunting#-o

[p.t.]

Wow! Glad that I asked and saw so many great replies. Yes, there are factors that I didn't think of before. All good points, thanks guys.

My first and only rod is Cabela's entry-level model, calle Genesis, 6wt, 9', 4 sections. I bought it as a kit: rod + reel + lines + rod case + a bunch of other things. Cost me $210. I still consider it too expensive. (My first spinning combo + line was like $60.) BTW, this rod is made in China, but I can't tell if it's good or not. Decent for its price, I guess, at least it bears Cabela's name.

[nickbell]

Wow! Glad that I asked and saw so many great replies. Yes, there are factors that I didn't think of before. All good points, thanks guys.

My first and only rod is Cabela's entry-level model, calle Genesis, 6wt, 9', 4 sections. I bought it as a kit: rod + reel + lines + rod case + a bunch of other things. Cost me $210. I still consider it too expensive. (My first spinning combo + line was like $60.) BTW, this rod is made in China, but I can't tell if it's good or not. Decent for its price, I guess, at least it bears Cabela's name.

I have the cabelas wind river combo, like i said in my last comment, It is very nice, but i dont like the line it comes with, so I am about to replace it.

[p.t.]

I have the cabelas wind river combo, like i said in my last comment, It is very nice, but i dont like the line it comes with, so I am about to replace it.

This morning I just checked Cabela's website about the Wind River starter kit -- which inlucdes case, flies, etc. in addition to the rod and reel. There were two reviews, both said the same thing: broke at the first use! Then I went to check the reviews for the Wind River combo, just the rod and reel, the reviews were great! I don't know why there is such a big difference, but I guess yours is good. :-)

[Marc Martyn]

I looked over the combo you bought and it looks like a great set up for you. The customer reviews were very good. You got quite a bit for your money. One thing about Cabela's is they know the products they sell. They would not put their name on any product that didn't meet their requirements for quality. They also back what they sell.

You should get many hours of enjoyment out of your new combo. It won't be long before you will realize that the $210.00 you dished out was well worth it. Have fun.

[nickbell]

I have the cabelas wind river combo, like i said in my last comment, It is very nice, but i dont like the line it comes with, so I am about to replace it.

This morning I just checked Cabela's website about the Wind River starter kit -- which inlucdes case, flies, etc. in addition to the rod and reel. There were two reviews, both said the same thing: broke at the first use! Then I went to check the reviews for the Wind River combo, just the rod and reel, the reviews were great! I don't know why there is such a big difference, but I guess yours is good. :-)

Thats what i got, just the rod and reel. I dont know why the kit has so many problems, its the same rod right?

[Lotech Joe]

I have dwindled my quiver down to 3 usable rods. Two of them sold for over $200 new but they were given to me. The other one sold for $160, but I built it myself. Building fly rods is the only way I can afford a quality stick. The $160 rod that I made was built to closely approximate the Orvis Superfine which sells for $575. Building my own rods is the only way I can afford to use quality equipment. That being said, probably the finest rod I've ever cast was a Sage 9 foot, 5 weight, which sells for about $700. Most of the top of the line rods have an unconditional lifetime warranty. So, if you break it in a ceiling or roll it up in your car window, they replace it for next to nothing. So, they end up selling one rod and giving another rod away. Hence, part of the reason for such high prices. I won't own one of those rods unless I can buy the components and build it for myself.