I see a great many catalogues from tackle manufacturers and advertisements from retailers in the c
ourse of a year and it never ceases to amaze me when I see the absurdly high prices asked.
Some fly fishing rods are priced at several hundred pounds each, for example, with £800 being asked for some rods.
Having tried out a lot of different rods I believe that the dearest ones may, on average, be just a bit better than some of the much cheaper ones, but in a few cases I have not liked the top price rods much at all.
My very first carbon fibre fly rod when they appeared on the market some 30 years ago was one priced at more than £100 and I could never have afforded to buy it had it not been a gift to me from the late Walter Bower who ran the fishery at North Muskham at the time and who was a good friend.
By contrast the most recent fly rod that I bought last season was a delightful rod with a RRP almost £100 but discounted to just £50.
It has good fittings and a delightful action and I prefer it to many a more expensive rod.
Fly lines are laughable in my opinion. We now have lines offered at £100 and half that price is commonplace.
I often use so called Mill End lines costing about £3 each and I get two lines out of one by using each end of the line in turn.
I had to laugh when an earnest young salesman on a stand at an angling fair tried to sell me a line that was very high in price by telling me that it was built to last for 40 years. I could not resist asking him. "Do you think that I will last that long myself?"
Buy decent but moderately priced gear and save your money to buy permits for top class fisheries or membership of clubs that offer the best fishing.
John Neville
