Where (if anywhere) do you skimp? (spin-off thread)

[vicrider 0]

I should kind of clarify a little since it made me come off snobbish and I'm sure not. What I'm trying to say is I fished with Wonderods for years and my main reels were Medalists in fly fishing. Now I'm retired. If you drive by my place you will see a lot of toys, a completely renovated house, and no payments on anything. This makes a huge difference and now I am able to fish with both classic and modern bamboo rods. My reels are Hardy Perfects and Bougles. I just purchased a titanium bench made and limited edition St. George reel and extra spool which cost more than my first new car (that was a long time ago). I'm able to do these things today because I did economize for years in the past. Now I'm enjoying some of the rewards and still eating just great. Now I just wish my health had held up better so I could get out and enjoy my toys more.

[wschmitt3 0]

I like to think that when I make purchases for fly fishing and tying I purchase gear that is of good quality and high functionality but not a super high price. All three of my rods are TFO because they work well and have a very reasonable price point. The one place I didn't skimp was my waders and boots. Last fall I got a pair of Patagonia Rio Gallegos waders and Simms Guide boots at a 30% discount and while the total was a tough pill to swallow I have been very very happy that I didn't skimp that purchase the fit and function is fantastic on both.

 

Thinking about it I also don't skimp on fly lines either all of my lines are Rio or Scientific Anglers.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

I should kind of clarify a little since it made me come off snobbish and I'm sure not. What I'm trying to say is I fished with Wonderods for years and my main reels were Medalists in fly fishing. Now I'm retired. If you drive by my place you will see a lot of toys, a completely renovated house, and no payments on anything. This makes a huge difference and now I am able to fish with both classic and modern bamboo rods. My reels are Hardy Perfects and Bougles. I just purchased a titanium bench made and limited edition St. George reel and extra spool which cost more than my first new car (that was a long time ago). I'm able to do these things today because I did economize for years in the past. Now I'm enjoying some of the rewards and still eating just great. Now I just wish my health had held up better so I could get out and enjoy my toys more.

Vicrider, I didn't think you came of as snobbish at all. To me you came off as exactly what you described in the post quoted above--a guy who worked hard and economized on "toys" for a long time, and who is now enjoying a few well-earned rewards for his responsible behavior. I say treat yourself well and enjoy--you've earned it. I aspire to such an outcome myself.

[whatfly 0]

Not something I worry about much. I buy what I like, save for what I cannot afford immediately, and if someone else has an issue with how much or how little I spend, that is their problem, not mine. I am a firm believer in buying better equipment because it typically will last longer, but of course that is not always true, just a useful guideline. I find it equally annoying to have someone tout the supposed virtues of some ridiculously high priced piece of fly fishing/tying tchotchke, as it is to have someone claim a bargain basement item that performs the same as a higher priced item when it clearly does not. There is no virtue to a homemade solution if there is a perfectly reasonable retail solution that will save significant time, which is an important commodity in my mind.

 

While I agree with whomever stated 'it is just fishing equipment after all' it must be qualified that it is HIGHLY specialized equipment for a VERY small market and supply and demand determines the prices accordingly.

[artimus001 0]

function - fit - finish

 

$ - $$ - $$$

[FlaFly 0]

Boy Jason, it's interesting how touch some people are about being asked your question. I wonder how many of the guys who don't care how much money they spend, and it's nobody's business... how many are married?

[JSzymczyk 0]

FlaFly I think it could be partly a generational thing too.... perhaps. Being in my mid-40's, part of the last generation of folks who remember working and being handed a pay check at the end of the week, that I had to go down to the bank and cash, and see my efforts result in currency to spend as I needed to spend it. Credit Cards were for "rich" people. Now it is just bits and bytes, lots of folks don't even want to work to accumulate their numbers of bits and bytes, because I'm doing it for them and uncle sugar is handing it out.

 

I'm all for spending big dollars on equipment IF YOU HAVE IT TO SPEND.... if you have your basic needs and security of your family under control. Yeah I have more tackle than I NEED... but in fact I do not NEED to fish, so it's a losing battle to begin with.

 

What always irks me are the "guides" and "professionals" who spout off about how a fisherman NEEDS a particular item to be successful, when we all know full well they have not paid for it themselves.

 

Everyone has their own personal version of their cost/benefit ratio point, but too often I see it ignored.

[FlaFly 0]

Boy Joel, you sure know how to stir up a hornet's nest! I can't wait to see all the replies from the younger crowd that get their stuff from bit Sugar. (BTW, in Florida, Big Sugar means something else, and is a sore point). And at 40, you're hardly an old fogey. My first two jobs were at a gro store bagging gros, and a service station, at both off which each customer had his/her own little tablet on which we kept track of their purchases. Ever so often, they'd come in to pay off the account.

 

But in response to your thought, ... maybe... for some. In my case, I feel some responsibility to my wife, who worked as hard as I did to save for our oldness, not to fritter away money unnecessarily. My "married" statement was a joke (I hope). We do most things together, but fishing isn't one of them, so for me it's secondary. I felt guilty when I bought (on her insistence) an Old Town canoe last year. Same year we had to replace the roof, and the year after we had to replace the A/C, etc., etc. So I'm naturally frugal when it comes to anything besides eating. There, I draw the line.

[flytire 0]

Not something I worry about much. I buy what I like, save for what I cannot afford immediately, and if someone else has an issue with how much or how little I spend, that is their problem, not mine.

 

^ditto^ on what is said above

 

I kinda see it as its really nobodies business on who spends what on anything

 

theres a price point for everything and where that price point lies is up to the individual and shouldn't be judged by anybody who doesn't agree with it

 

my equipment was bought many many years ago and now that I inch closer to retirement it will all have to do. I'll catch as many fish with an older $200 rod and $25 reel as I would if I upgraded it to a $750 rod and a $500 reel

[Bryon Anderson 0]

 

I kinda see it as its really nobodies business on who spends what on anything

Just to clarify, my original question wasn't intended to get people to divulge what actual dollar amounts they spend on anything (which I agree is no one else's business), but rather to get us thinking and talking about how we think about our gear and how we divide up however much we have to spend on fishing between the various items, and why.

 

That's why, when I answered my own questions about myself, I was careful to say, for items on which I spend more, that I buy "the best I can afford" rather than just "the best". I don't mind telling anyone that, with a few exceptions, "the best I can afford" is still quite a ways from "the best" of just about any product. In the rare instances where I do go for higher-end stuff, it's almost always for a product where spending more gets me significantly higher quality than spending less, and I know that if I don't buy quality the first time I'll just end up replacing the cheaper item with quality somewhere down the line. Even when I go this route, I'm a maniac for finding closeouts, clearance items, sales etc. Nothing turns me off faster than elitism or pretentiousness in a person, and it was certainly not my intention to commit either of those with this post.

 

If my questions seem too intrusive or just plain nosy, or otherwise in poor taste I apologize

[FlaFly 0]

Bryon, if I thought you were being nosy, I would have just not answered. Personally I think it's a good and legitimate question, but I could have predicted the responses.

For me, I buy what I consider "good enough". I don't spend eight hours a day tying dozens of flies. If I do one a month, that's highly productive! I have to take that into consideration when I buy anything.

[flytire 0]

If my questions seem too intrusive or just plain nosy, or otherwise in poor taste I apologize

 

 

 

my statement has nothing to do with anybody's posts. it just a general statement

 

however there are folks that snub their noses and ridicule people who do not buy the same uber highly expensive equipment as they do (I'm not saying anybody here does that but if you've participated on various fly fishing forums long enough you will know what I mean)

 

I don't need $$$$$ equipment to have fun on the water. after all, isn't that what we are all after? fun

 

oh and I bought a $49 cabelas branded fly line that casts as good as a $$$ scientific angler, rio etc fly line would. I wouldn't consider that skimping just being frugal :)

[Bryon Anderson 0]

 

oh and I bought a $49 cabelas branded fly line that casts as good as a $$$ scientific angler, rio etc fly line would. I wouldn't consider that skimping just being frugal

 

Flytire I agree with you there -- especially when you consider that when you buy Cabelas branded line you are in fact buying SA (they make all of Cabelas lines now), just at a much more reasonable price. I recently bought a WF7F and WF8F in their premium lines and they cost me less than $25 apiece.

[hairwing 0]

A discussion of Fly-Fishing economics and the sport of Fly-fishing itself is something I always try to separate... the economic part of the equation always spoils the whole value of the sport for some but somehow the economics comes up. So be it.

I can remember not too long ago that one rod and one reel was what every fly fisher owned and the discussion was more "what ya get 'em on " then your equipment, but it has changed. We have as a group became specialists.... a rod for this, a rod for that, and the el als to match. We bought into the salesmanship and in my opinion we have too much stuff, but I ain't a gonna argue....I got all the junk too. Mea Culpa...I don't agree with myself owning all this stuff and if I had do-overs, I'd be back with one outfit for my needs.

I say buy whatever you want and know you aren't a better fisherman for it....your just strokin' your ego, but don't forget the real reason your fly fishing.

".....like drinkin' whiskey out of a tin cup"! YMMV.

Carry on "Tackleholics" .

[Bryon Anderson 0]

 

I can remember not too long ago that one rod and one reel was what every fly fisher owned and the discussion was more "what ya get 'em on " then your equipment, but it has changed. We have as a group became specialists.... a rod for this, a rod for that, and the el als to match. We bought into the salesmanship and in my opinion we have too much stuff, but I ain't a gonna argue....I got all the junk too. Mea Culpa...I don't agree with myself owning all this stuff and if I had do-overs, I'd be back with one outfit for my needs.

This is undoubtedly true, and truer still is the statement that most of us own way more gear than we need. But then again, as JSzymczyk pointed out a few posts back, probably none of us "need" to fish at all, so based on that even one rod, reel or whatever is more than we "need".

 

The truth, for many of us (and this definitely includes me), is that we simply like our gear, our "toys". Certainly the fly tackle industry has driven lots and lots of spending on gear that we could easily have done without, but you can get into a chicken-and-egg debate there--which comes first, supply or demand? They wouldn't have made all that stuff if they weren't pretty sure we'd buy it. Did they take advantage of that situation? Hell yes they did (and continue to do so), but isn't that what capitalists are supposed to do?

 

I think there are other factors that have led to the explosion of so many new kinds of "stuff" for us to buy. For one, people are fly fishing for many more different species and in very diverse environments now than they were even 20 or 30 years ago. For the longest time (as I understand it), fly fishing was considered a way to fish for trout or salmon, and not much else. Maybe the odd bass or bluegill. Turn on a fly fishing show on tv today and you might see people fly fishing for carp, pike, musky, stripers, pirhana, bonefish, permit, barracuda, tuna, dorado, sharks, billfish--you name it. You can't do all of that with a 5-weight; not very well, anyway.

 

I say let 'em keep cranking out new gewgaws every year--every time something new comes out, the regular old stuff that works just fine gets a little cheaper.