I am thinking about getting a 10 wt. flyrod for the coast. Has anyone tried the temple fork rods, and is that the best bang for the buck. I am thinking in the $200-$300 range. Hopefully more toward the $200.

david

you cannot go wrong with Temple Fork. There are probably some other good rods out there but the TFFs are a sure thing.

In your price range, the TFO TiCr is probably the finest rod you can buy. It goes for around $220. Some people don't like the real fast rods though, in that case you might try their Professional rod for $150.

Does the professional series have good enough hardware for use in saltwater. This rod will be used for saltwater mainly, and I don't fish the coast all that often.

I don't own a Pro Series but the hardware should be right, the reel seat is aluminum uplocking with fighting butt, some of the lighter rods in the series (not the 10) come with braided graphite. But the 10 has the right hardware. There are a lot of West coast striper fishermen that swear by the TFO Pro.

Really you oughtta cast the 10 wt in both series to try and determine what you want to cast. Think about whether you'll be throwing 2 dozen sight casts a day, or whether you'll be blind fishing the rod all day.

Go with the TiCr to sight cast, put a clear bonefish or tarpon taper line with it, take a serious look at a graphite composite reel like the Okuma.
There is no 10 weight made suitable for blind casting all day.

I would agree: you aren't going to want to blind cast a 10 weight for very long. If you are looking for an inshore rod, I wouldn't even go with a 10 weight. A 7 or 8 would be all you really need. Especially if you are going to be doing a lot of casting. When I am blind casting the coast all day (such as the upper coast where you have deeper murkier water) I will opt for the 7. Even going to an 8 wills start to wear on me after awhile. But I have never found the need for anything heavier on the coast (inshore, bay, marsh fishing).