Best Budget Fly Rods (Reviewed & Compared)

what's up guys welcome to another video by into fly fishing in this video we're going to be reviewing and comparing the best budget fly rods available this year let's get into it [Applause] [Music] [Applause] not all of us have a thousand dollars to spend on a luxury fly rod and even those of us who do have it might have a hard time explaining to our significant others why we spent a small fortune on a single piece of fly fishing gear after all the bills and debt are covered each month sometimes we have less free cash to spend on the things that we truly love here at into fly fishing we are firm Believers that you don't need to go into more debt to buy a great fly rod and for many of us the only option is to look for a budget-friendly fly rod that's why we've compiled this list of what we believe to be the best budget fly fishing rods on the market today stay tuned to the end of this video because we also include one rod that we don't think is worth the money if you like these kinds of lists we'd love it if you could like the video subscribe to our Channel and click the notification Bell so you'll be notified of future fly fishing tutorials Vlogs gear lists reviews and much more as you can imagine it's wildly expensive buying all the gear to review on this channel so if you can subscribe and like our video videos it'll help us to keep doing what we do there are links to purchase every one of the fly rods on this list in the video description down below those are affiliate links so they also help to keep this channel running thanks again for your support so first off let's talk about how we reviewed and tested these budget fly rods at into fly fishing we never review gear unless we've actually used it our team comprises of fly fishing guides casting instructors and competition Anglers who put every piece of gear through rigorous testing for this list of the best budget fly rods we ordered every one of these rods plus plenty of other budget fly rods to compare them and narrow them down for this list of the best budget fly rods available this year for testing we took all the rods on this list and many others to the river for a few days of fishing and comparing them we also took them to nearby Fields with targets to test their casting accuracy at different distances we fished the rods on small rivers large rivers and lakes and because we were out testing them for numerous days we were able to fish them on calm days and in the wind and when the tail Waters were pumping let's just say that all these rods have been heavily tested reviewed and compared if you want to see individual reviews for every single one of the rods on this list and many more check the video description down below so with that out of the way let's get into this list here's our list of the best budget fly rods available this year on this list you'll find fly rods ranging in price from 50 to 250 dollars you'll find individual fly rods as well as fly fishing combos that come with everything you need like a real flyline leader tippet and more you'll find that some of these rods are made in the USA but these days even your favorite fly rod companies are likely making their rods or at least most of their components overseas some Anglers freak out and boycott chinese-made rods but the fact is even if you're buying a budget version of the more expensive fly rod Brands there's a very strong chance that at least part of the rod was manufactured in Asia that's just the way it is I'm sure this video will still have plenty of comments telling me that I'm going to hell for including rods built in China but I'll just have to ignore those after testing countless budget rods I can tell you with certainty if you blindfolded even the most experienced angler they won't know if they're casting a chinese-built rod or one from the US if it's a matter of principle for you then you'll probably have to spend a bit more than the rods on this list to get a rod that's truly made in the U.S so with that out of the way let's continue with the list number one on this list is the Reddington crosswater this Rod is built like it costs a lot more than it does at under sixty dollars for the five weight nine foot option this Rod is definitely the best budget fly rod for the value on the market in our opinion and if you've been following the blog and our YouTube channel for a while you'll know that we've tested a lot of budget rods lately we really enjoyed casting this Rod is it as light as a hearty no does it have the same build quality as a Winston or Sage absolutely not but for this price it's pretty incredible that a big name like Reddington is able to put rods like this on the market we fished this Rod extensively and I have to say that we love the way that it feels in hand and how it casts we find it highly accurate up to 60 feet at 3.9 ounces it's definitely not the lightest Rod out there but the swing weight still felt really nice it's not so light that you think you're going to break it and wins but also not so heavy that it hurts your arms after a long day of casting our only issue with this Rod was that when we're putting on larger streamers and trying to cast Beyond 60 feet in the wind the rod just didn't retain the backbone as well but still it's a wonderful rod for the price and it tops our list as the best value cheap Rod available this year number two is the max catch Premiere I've probably bought a half a dozen Max catch rods over the years and the max catch Premiere is definitely my favorite when it comes to the absolute cheapest Max catch Rod it'd be the max catch extreme which we'll talk about a little bit later in this video but I still think that the premiere is a worthy upgrade you can get this Rod by itself for around 60 bucks or the full combo for under 180 dollars and to be honest this level of fly rod has no business being this cheap love or hate rods made in China this one is a great rod for the price it casts well it's surprisingly powerful in all the different weights has a decent cork handle and surprisingly high quality componentry including a fast action im8 graphite blank I've personally been fishing this Rod as my backup rod for years and no it doesn't even come close to comparing it to my sage R8 but it's still a great little rod for beginners if you're on the fence between the extreme and the premiere I'd say go for the upgrade it's not much more but it's absolutely worth it for the improved blanks and materials of the premiere it's worth noting here that while maxcatch says they have a lifetime warranty we've heard complaints that they don't fulfill their warranties that's just a quick heads up number three on this list is the Orvis encounter the Orvis encounter fly fishing combo would have topped this list as the best fly fishing combo in the budget category out there but the max catch Premiere just comes with so many extras and it costs so much less you can't buy the Orvis encounter Rod without the real and line package but overall this is easily one of the best budget fly fishing combos you can buy as a beginner and unlike the max catch if you buy the Orvis encounter fly rod you'll get the limited Orvis warranty which covers the tip of the rod but that's more than we can say for most of the rods on this list if you want the whole Rod to be covered under the warranty then it might be worth upgrading to the Orvis Clearwater or one of their more expensive rods three members of our team have this Rod combo and between us we cover just about every weight offered by Orvis and have fished them for many years and the good news is that all of them are still going strong so that says something about the durability and the quality of this cheaper Orvis Rod the rod casts beautifully especially with lighter flies at shorter distances up to 50 feet and casting at longer distances or with low larger flies or an overly windy condition the Rod Power breaks down a little bit but it can still get the flies out there with relative accuracy number four is the Redington path 2. when we were testing all the rods for this list of the best budget fly rods we were constantly amazed that big Brands like Reddington are able to produce great rods like the Reddington path 2 at the sub 200 price point it's going to be hard to beat this brand when it comes to producing high quality lower price rods by a reputable name in fly fishing we loved casting the Reddington path particularly with no wind on a slow-moving River and up close we have to be honest that while the path and cross water are in a similar price point we found that the path had a harder time mending line in fast-moving water and lost a bit more power on longer casts this is a Common Thread through many of the rods on this list and that's simply because Rod makers can't produce insanely high quality blanks for less than a couple hundred bucks it's just not possible when testing and comparing rods for a list like this we had to take that into consideration but I'd still say that the Redington path is up there as one of the best budget fly rods for the price number five is the Reddington original fly rod when we were fishing and comparing all the budget fly rods for this list our favorite Reddington was definitely the cross water so we couldn't help but to compare all other readingtons to that one especially considering how cheap the cross water is when it comes to cast ability accuracy and power the Redington original just lacks a little bit of backbone that the cross water and path both have but still this is a great Rod the original has some great component trait it's relatively light and casts very accurately at shorter distances but for us we just felt that the crosswater was a better value better casting rod but for those of you who are Readington original Die Hard fans this Rod is a great deal and that's why it makes our list of one of the best budget fly rods number six is moonshine's The Drifter 2. if you've been following our blog and YouTube channel for a while you'll know that we're huge fans of moonshine the Moonshine Drifter is their cheapest option so you know that it has to make our list of the best budget fly rods not only is there warranty and after sales service miles ahead of many other lower end fly rod companies on this list but they also ship their rods with an extra tip section which is something that all of us here at into fly fishing believe that more Rod manufacturers should do coming in at around 180 dollars this is definitely not the cheapest rod on our list but you have to consider that it comes with moonshine's warranty and you get that extra tip section out of the box which is easily worth 50 to 80 on its own we're not usually big into medium action rods but this one is the exception at shorter distances and casting smaller flies this Rod is super accurate and you can hit your spots even if your casting stroke isn't timed perfectly we fish the rod in small to medium-sized rivers and had no problem casting dry dropper rigs dry flies and even smaller streamers into the wind when we up the fly size to a six or larger streamer pattern and try to punch it out the medium action broke down a little bit and the casting became a little unruly but if you cast smaller flies to trout in small to medium-sized rivers or lakes then this Rod is a great option number seven is the pacifund sword or pacifon or a piece of fun however you want to pronounce it this is the cheapest rod on the list and it's pretty hard to beat when you're in the market for a cheap rod and we mean Bargain Basement cheap then the pacifund sword is definitely the one you want the surprising thing aside from the Rod Tube this thing isn't built with overly cheap feeling components when we first got the Pacific sword in the mail and opened it up we were immediate immediately turned off by the Rod Tube this thing comes in a flimsy clear plastic case that looks more like something you get a cheap poster or a map in our first impressions were not good so when we headed to the river to fish the sword we didn't expect much but surprisingly this Rod performed extremely well in almost all conditions that we threw at it wind fast water big flies it did it all okay was it as good as the Redington crosswater the Orvis encounter or the Moonshine Drifter no but it did well and it costs a lot less than all those rods like many rods on this list the accuracy is great at Short distances and the blank is actually very high quality for the price we don't even know how pacifund is building High modulus graphite rods for under forty dollars if you're brand new to fly fishing or you're looking for a last minute backup rod and don't want to spend hardly any money then the pacifund sword will be your best bet number eight is the eagle claw feather light we've had the eagle claw feather light since around 2017 and it's still going strong at six foot six inches this Rod is much shorter than the normal Rod length of nine feet and with a mixture of graphite and fiberglass in the blank it's not your average construction material either the moderate action of this Rod takes some getting used to but once you get it the rod is super fun to cast with when you look at this Rod out of the box the guide wraps and the cork handle don't look that great but we can assure you that this Rod can last plenty of hard fish Seasons because we've had it for quite a few already this is definitely the best budget fiberglass rod on the market and if you've ever wanted to try casting a more retro style Rod but you don't want to break the bank on a bamboo or fiberglass Rod then this is the one for you number nine is the wild water fly rod kit the wild water fly rod kit may have come in a little later on this list but it's probably one of our top three picks out of all the rods that we tested we love the sexy matte black finish and high quality of the blanks but what we love even more is wild water's limited lifetime warranty on their rods for 35 dollars you can send any part of the rod in for repair for the lifetime of the pro product that's pretty amazing in the budget fly fishing gear category when we took the wild water fly route out on the water for testing and review we were just impressed by the casting ability of this kit Wild Water says it's a medium fast action Rod but I'd say it's a bit closer to the medium side which means you'll lose a bit of power on high winds and at long distances but we actually love the swing weight and feel this Rod at close distances number 10 on our list of the best budget fly rods available this year is the Redington Wrangler trout XL the Reddington Wrangler trout XL is a bit more pricey than some of the other readingtons on this list but with the exception of the crosswater we think that the increased price is well worth it for an extra 50 bucks you really get a better Rod this thing has more backbone than the original and the path and is able to deliver flies with ease we also fished it on a day when the river was pumping at well over 700 CFS and we were still able to make massive men's and keep the fly drifting naturally if you're looking for a beefier budget fly rod from the six-way 8 and up then I'd say that the Redington Wrangler XL is our Top Choice overall now as promised in the start of this video there's one rod that I say is not worth it and really it's still a great kit it's just not worth it when compared to the upgrade and that is the max catch extreme while the max catch extreme is actually a great setup for the price I honestly think it's worth the 50 upgrade just get their more premium package you just get so much more rod for that alright guys that's it that's our list of the best budget fly rods available this year remember there are links to purchase every one of the rods that you saw on this list in the description down below and as always those links do help to support the channel so we appreciate it if you click on them and purchase through them if you like this video please give it a thumbs up and leave a comment down below and don't forget to hit the Subscribe button and the notification Bell so you'll be notified next time we come out with new Gear reviews gear list like this one or fly fishing and fly tying tutorials until next time tight lines thank you [Music]

Channel: Into Fly Fishing

Views: 107,553

Keywords: best budget fly rods, best cheap fly rods, best fly rods, best fly rods for the money, bust affordable fly rods, best value fly rods, best price fly rods, best fly rod for the price, best bang for your buck fly rod, ultimate budget fly rods, list of fly rods, list of budget fly fishing rods, best budget fly fishing rods, best cheap fly fishing rods, best value fly fishing rods, best fly fishing rods for the money, best fly fishing rods, fly fishing gear, budget fly rod review

Id: -dK2QuinTw4

Length: 14min 56sec (896 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 13 2023