Economy rods

[Trout.vs.Bass 0]

Well your going to laugh when i tell you this but my fly rod is the 30 dollar shakespear rod at walmart. The line sucks but the rod is alright and the reel is surprisingly would be a good bass reel. The reel i use now my grandpa gave me his reel that he used about once in 1961. Your thinking how does this guy even catch fish well i catch a lot of fish with my crappy set up, but if i had better gear i would not miss as many fish in small creeks. I have plenty of nice flies because i use my spending money toward fly tying stuff and not good fishing gear lol. So i am looking for a nice 3wt rod for under 150 bucks. I could go a few dollars over but i cant afford anything over 180 dollars. Any good suggestions to what i should get would be helpful.

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

Steeldrifter makes great rods at affordable prices check him out here http://www.midwestcustomflyrods.com/ or his blog http://midwestcustomflyrods.blogspot.com/

[agn54 0]

Steeldrifter makes great rods at affordable prices check him out here http://midwestcustomflyrods.blogspot.com/

 

ditto on what riffleriversteelheadslayer said, Steve makes incredible rods at an amazing price.

[Johny Utah 0]

I have a martin 9' 5wt fly rod that goes for about 40-50 bucks i believe. I use it for my nymph fishing often. I love it. The fish dont care how much you spent on your rod

[NJFlyMAn 0]

Yes I would recommend getting one from steeldrifter. I had him make me a fly rod last year and it fishes great. Never had a problem with it.

 

[NJ All Day 0]

Don't be ashamed for your old rods. I have a rod that fish from 1960's the reel is an original also. I use a Cabelas Three Fork Combo in 3wt it came with a mighty fine reel and fishing line all for $75 and I then bought some better line for it. But I love it, it works great I usually fish for gills with it and have caught multiple 3 pounds bass with no problem. But I sometimes use it for small stream fishing. And I also would say to check out Steeldrifter.

[Chase Creek 0]

Ditto on Steeldrifter. Have never heard a complaint from any of his customers. He has posted pix a lot here, and they sure look great. I think Steve is a craftsman from the word go.

[Tybugs1 0]

There are alot of options out there. Like Johny Utah---the fish don't know the difference Buy what you can afford and have fun!

[EatFish16 0]

A Drake rod would be good, they are in your price range and I personally love them.

http://www.russellsformen.com/quarrow-drake-big-horn-5-weight-graphite-fly-rod-and-reel/p/QUA-4319/

[Old Hat 0]

Which ever direction you go I recommend putting an effort into casting the rod before you buy it. Just my .02 into buying a new rod. Expense means nothing whether you pay $50 dollars or $1000 it has to feel good in the hand. Like everyone said, the fish really don't care but you have to enjoy fishing it.

[largemouthTLOCD 0]

My 6 wieght fly rod and reel with line only cost 35 buck and it works great. I've caught slot redfish and 5 lb bass on it so there is no problem with cheap fly rods.

[blakejd 0]

Several rods come to mind. Everyone seems to be mentioning they're really cheap rods but I'm guessing from your post your looking to spend a bit closer to your price of 150. probably something between 100-150. I would look at WW Griggs for the cheaper end, then TFO and St Croix. I'm partial to St Croix myself and then they are the best bang for the buck generally speaking. I have a 4 wt st croix rio santo that is a great rod for the price with a mod action that has nice presentation ability. I just looked and they don't make a 3 wt but its something to consider.

[flytire 0]

i second the idea of casting the rod BEFORE you buy (kinda hard to do with a custom builder). head out to your local fly shop and cast the demo rods. its the ONLY way you are going to know if a particular rod is RIGHT FOR YOU.

 

most manufacturers today have rods that are within your 150-180 dollar price point

 

some of the online fly shops have their own line of fly rods but you would still have to cast them to know for sure

 

i use several different brands of fly rods so it would be foolish of me to recommend a rod for you

[s fontinalis 0]

Just this summer i bought a new 5wt rod from Albright Fly Fishing.

I based my purchase on the great sales they have periodically - typically 70% off the MSRP listed on the site.

I got my rod for $188.70, shipped.

I decided on this rod, the A5-NS, based on a review of its predecessor the A5, by yellowstone angler, where it rated around 5 or 6 out of 10 rods, mostly higher end G Loomis, Winston and T&T.

 

Taking rod out, it cast like a dream. Great a medium to long distances and the casting was effortless.

The rods loads brilliantly and is accurate.

 

If you're really shopping around and can wait for Albright to have their next blowout sale, which typically occur every couple months (if you sign up for their emails you'll find out when it starts, i say at least give them a look.

[jhammer 0]

I had an old Shakespeare fly rod that was the $30 Wally World combo but it was around 5-6 years old. I put an old Scientific Anglers reel and new line on it. That combo caught more fish than any of my other rods combined. I took that thing everywhere.