I would never be able to read it with that annoying guy chewing on tin foil in the screenshot.

For the manufacturers, no

But for publishers, who wouldn't want to see just how effectively a person can push the boundary?

Besides it might be the first sign of sanity my woman sees in me yet

Publishers care about paid advertisers, not readers. Readers are just a means to the end: $$$. In today's media market...where free access to content is king and paid advertisers are dwindling...the magazines only care what R.L. Winston, Far Bank, Simms, Orvis, et al are willing to pay for. So Robin hit the nail on the head. Rod mfgs have all added low-end consumer (LEC) rod offerings beginning at about the $100 price point in the past several years due to the chunk of their business they saw migrating to TFO, Echo, and a few others. The big box retailers like Cabela's, Orvis, LL Bean, and BPS have known for a loooooong time that you can sell $100 fly rods like hotcakes. But the pro shops and name brand rodmakers had to be convinced, and Rick Pope obliged them. But have you noticed that you rarely see ads for Orvis' Clearwater line, Sage's price leader, or St. Croix's Rio Santo? You don't see articles on things that aren't in the ads. You see ads for the newest high-end rods. Why? Margins...that's why. It costs a few bucks more per unit to make a rod you can sell for $700 than it does to make a rod you can sell for $100. If you're going to spend money pushing your brand, you use the high-end products to do it to drive more sales where your margins are best while keeping your brand front and center. Besides, studies show clearly that consumers who are driven by price are not nearly as responsive to advertising as people who are not driven by price. So the ads for high-end products are simply a better short-term investment than ads for price leaders. The ONLY exception is for the retailer, who gets great mileage out of price leader advertising to bring shoppers into their stores, where they inevitably buy other stuff, too.

You asked, and there's my answer. That's why you are unlikely to see a combo shootout feature article on $100 (or less) complete combos. a) they sell themselves, and b) there is ZERO return on investment (ROI) for the advertisers. The entire rodmaking industry would go berzerk on a major publisher whose editor made such a decision. It's all about the Benjamins.

Back in the early days of TFO, I did a feature "shootout" on sub-$200 combos. In those days, that was a narrow field! I got a lot of support and enthusiasm from BPS, Cabela's, Redington (which had just been acquired by Sage), Orvis, TFO, and Rebrod/Global Dorber. Rajeff was just thinking about low-end fly rods in those days. I put together a good test and wrote a thorough feature article. NONE of the publishers wanted it. BUT it was gobbled up by a bunch of on-line publications, although admittedly for considerably less than the mainstream mags pay for content.

Publishers care about paid advertisers, not readers. Readers are just a means to the end: $$$. In today's media market...where free access to content is king and paid advertisers are dwindling...the magazines only care what R.L. Winston, Far Bank, Simms, Orvis, et al are willing to pay for. So Robin hit the nail on the head. Rod mfgs have all added low-end consumer (LEC) rod offerings beginning at about the $100 price point in the past several years due to the chunk of their business they saw migrating to TFO, Echo, and a few others. The big box retailers like Cabela's, Orvis, LL Bean, and BPS have known for a loooooong time that you can sell $100 fly rods like hotcakes. But the pro shops and name brand rodmakers had to be convinced, and Rick Pope obliged them. But have you noticed that you rarely see ads for Orvis' Clearwater line, Sage's price leader, or St. Croix's Rio Santo? You don't see articles on things that aren't in the ads. You see ads for the newest high-end rods. Why? Margins...that's why. It costs a few bucks more per unit to make a rod you can sell for $700 than it does to make a rod you can sell for $100. If you're going to spend money pushing your brand, you use the high-end products to do it to drive more sales where your margins are best while keeping your brand front and center. Besides, studies show clearly that consumers who are driven by price are not nearly as responsive to advertising as people who are not driven by price. So the ads for high-end products are simply a better short-term investment than ads for price leaders. The ONLY exception is for the retailer, who gets great mileage out of price leader advertising to bring shoppers into their stores, where they inevitably buy other stuff, too.

You asked, and there's my answer. That's why you are unlikely to see a combo shootout feature article on $100 (or less) complete combos. a) they sell themselves, and b) there is ZERO return on investment (ROI) for the advertisers. The entire rodmaking industry would go berzerk on a major publisher whose editor made such a decision. It's all about the Benjamins.

Back in the early days of TFO, I did a feature "shootout" on sub-$200 combos. In those days, that was a narrow field! I got a lot of support and enthusiasm from BPS, Cabela's, Redington (which had just been acquired by Sage), Orvis, TFO, and Rebrod/Global Dorber. Rajeff was just thinking about low-end fly rods in those days. I put together a good test and wrote a thorough feature article. NONE of the publishers wanted it. BUT it was gobbled up by a bunch of on-line publications, although admittedly for considerably less than the mainstream mags pay for content.

So basically what your saying is flyporn likes mfgrs more than us. Shame

I think I am going to have an order a 3wt from Cabellas. I thought about picking up one of their $89 ones the other day but the line is not that great. So for a $100 I can get one with better line plus the price of backing.