The Chinese don't fish for bass. How can I get a decent bait casting rod made in the USA and where?

A guy who we fished with in Dillon, MT uses some type of fly rods from China. He's fished with Sage, Winston, et all and says the Chinese rods cast as just as well. Said they're $49.95 - no warranty but so what for the price. I'd like to cast one and see.

One-Eyed Fat Man said:

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A guy who we fished with in Dillon, MT uses some type of fly rods from China. He's fished with Sage, Winston, et all and says the Chinese rods cast as just as well. Said they're $49.95 - no warranty but so what for the price. I'd like to cast one and see.

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Now that I don't believe. I do believe the price but I also bet the Chinese fly rods are a huge piece of *****

I think St Croix makes all or at least some of their rods in the US.

All of the high end fly rods are made here or in England.

docb said:

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One-Eyed Fat Man said:

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A guy who we fished with in Dillon, MT uses some type of fly rods from China. He's fished with Sage, Winston, et all and says the Chinese rods cast as just as well. Said they're $49.95 - no warranty but so what for the price. I'd like to cast one and see.

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Now that I don't believe. I do believe the price but I also bet the Chinese fly rods are a huge piece of *****

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You'd be wrong. Orvis clearwater rods are Chinese. Echo, TFO, Redington... all Chinese. Lew's rods are Chinese. Guarantee everything less than $200 is Chinese.

I'm not sure who makes rods in China and question if that's a misunderstanding.
All the rods I know of that are made overseas are made in South Korea with in about a 5 square mile area. They are all made by the same group of people who just move from factory to factory. As the different rod makers send in orders, those factories start up and build the rods to the companies specs.

There are a couple, like TFO, who have contracted a specific factory to build all their rods and set up buying so that the factory stays active year around. This allows the factory to keep the same employees doing the same jobs. This leads to a higher quality control and gets it very close to the US manufacturing.
That all being said, I can not imagine a 49.99 fly rod that would be built to the same specs and build quality of a 499.99 rod that wouldn't be easily discernable in the first cast.

AggieChemist said:

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docb said:

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One-Eyed Fat Man said:

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A guy who we fished with in Dillon, MT uses some type of fly rods from China. He's fished with Sage, Winston, et all and says the Chinese rods cast as just as well. Said they're $49.95 - no warranty but so what for the price. I'd like to cast one and see.

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Now that I don't believe. I do believe the price but I also bet the Chinese fly rods are a huge piece of *****

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You'd be wrong. Orvis clearwater rods are Chinese. Echo, TFO, Redington... all Chinese. Lew's rods are Chinese. Guarantee everything less than $200 is Chinese.

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Yea and they don't cost $49.95 either. I didn't say you can't get a decent fly rod that is made in China, but I don't think you're going to get one for that price.

This guy was born in Missoula, probably in his 70s and been fishing all his life. I'll choose to trust him. By the way, I fish with Sage rods. Taking several to the Zambezi to fish for tiger fish in June.

docb said:

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AggieChemist said:

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docb said:

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One-Eyed Fat Man said:

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A guy who we fished with in Dillon, MT uses some type of fly rods from China. He's fished with Sage, Winston, et all and says the Chinese rods cast as just as well. Said they're $49.95 - no warranty but so what for the price. I'd like to cast one and see.

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Now that I don't believe. I do believe the price but I also bet the Chinese fly rods are a huge piece of *****

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You'd be wrong. Orvis clearwater rods are Chinese. Echo, TFO, Redington... all Chinese. Lew's rods are Chinese. Guarantee everything less than $200 is Chinese.

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Yea and they don't cost $49.95 either. I didn't say you can't get a decent fly rod that is made in China, but I don't think you're going to get on for that price.

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There's one way to find out. I'm sure this was not hand built by a craftsman in Vermont.

Piscifun Sword Graphite Fly Fishing Rod 4 Piece 9ft - IM7 Carbon Fiber Blank - Accurate Placement - Ingenious Design - Chromed Guide and Durable Rod Tube (Size: 4/5/6/7/9wt)

$46.96

https://www.amazon.com/Piscifun-Graphite-Fly-Fishing-Piece/dp/B073F71J51/ref=sr_1_50_sspa?keywords=fly+rod&qid=1582816998&sr=8-50-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyQVZTTTFBV1Y0MDg3JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTM0NDA0MUM3TUJSWlQ4QUVDTiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNzYyMjcwTTkzNFRJS0RGMkxSJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYnRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

4.5 star average with 145 reviews.

One-Eyed Fat Man said:

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This guy was born in Missoula, probably in his 70s and been fishing all his life. I'll choose to trust him. By the way, I fish with Sage rods. Taking several to the Zambezi to fish for tiger fish in June.

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I have 9 Sage fly rods of various weights and I did buy a cheaper 250ish TCO to keep at my ranch to fish my 2 acre pond there. The TCO is not a bad rod at all, but I still like my Sage rods a lot more.

AggieChemist said:

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docb said:

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One-Eyed Fat Man said:

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A guy who we fished with in Dillon, MT uses some type of fly rods from China. He's fished with Sage, Winston, et all and says the Chinese rods cast as just as well. Said they're $49.95 - no warranty but so what for the price. I'd like to cast one and see.

---

Now that I don't believe. I do believe the price but I also bet the Chinese fly rods are a huge piece of *****

---

You'd be wrong. Orvis clearwater rods are Chinese. Echo, TFO, Redington... all Chinese. Lew's rods are Chinese. Guarantee everything less than $200 is Chinese.

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All of those rods are made in South Korea, not China.

Yes, there is a huge difference. In South Korea you aren't told by the government which factory you have to work in and how long you have to work there.

I've got newer Sage rods of various weights but my go to for trout is my old Sage XP 5 wt. I built it myself, been broken and rebuilt a couple of times. Just like it. I have been admiring the new X rods though.

I also have a 4 wt TCR. Not very forgiving.

CT'97 said:

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AggieChemist said:

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docb said:

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One-Eyed Fat Man said:

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A guy who we fished with in Dillon, MT uses some type of fly rods from China. He's fished with Sage, Winston, et all and says the Chinese rods cast as just as well. Said they're $49.95 - no warranty but so what for the price. I'd like to cast one and see.

---

Now that I don't believe. I do believe the price but I also bet the Chinese fly rods are a huge piece of *****

---

You'd be wrong. Orvis clearwater rods are Chinese. Echo, TFO, Redington... all Chinese. Lew's rods are Chinese. Guarantee everything less than $200 is Chinese.

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All of those rods are made in South Korea, not China.

Yes, there is a huge difference. In South Korea you aren't told by the government which factory you have to work in and how long you have to work there.

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Then why did the 10' 8wt Clearwater I bought in September have a "made in China" sticker on it?

I want a new bait casting rod for bass fishing. It seems that lots of people complain that Chinese-made rods break. I remember a few years back looking at American Rodsmith rods and all the cheaper ones were Chinese made. Sort of ironic.

One-Eyed Fat Man said:

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I've got newer Sage rods of various weights but my go to for trout is my old Sage XP 5 wt. I built it myself, been broken and rebuilt a couple of times. Just like it. I have been admiring the new X rods though.

I also have a 4 wt TCR. Not very forgiving.

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The X rods are nice. I have a 4 wt, 6 wt and an 8wt. The Sage TCR sounds a lot like my Sage TCX 5 wt. I only use is for throwing streamers. It's just too darn stiff for anything else.

76Ag said:

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The Chinese don't fish for bass. How can I get a decent bait casting rod made in the USA and where?

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There are only a handful of rod companies cooking blanks in the USA. All of the USA-based fly rod companies build their own high-end rods and blanks here. However, I do believe they all make their blanks and rods on the lower end abroad; St. Croix has some made in Mexico and the others in South Korea, IIRC.

I'm only aware of a couple other companies making rod blanks here in the USA, and most of those are not building conventional rods, they're fly-rod specific.. North Fork Composites is Gary Loomis's company after he sold G. Loomis and they sell blanks while also making Edge Rods which I believe are factory-direct only and run $300+.

There just aren't many manufacturers building the blanks and they certainly aren't making inexpensive blanks. Even the volume manufacturers like Waterloo or Falcon or whomever is the flavor of the month that advertise their rods as "Made In America" aren't being wholly truthful. A more accurate statement is "Assembled in the USA from Foreign-made Components."

Frankly, the concept of a "lifetime guarantee" drove a lot of rod companies into the ground and ended up being sold to larger multi-national corporations. I used to be acquainted with the original All Star rod folks when they had their entire operation from cooking blanks to assembly up off 290 and where the be-all, end-all rods. They ended up losing so much money from people who would fish a rod for a year or two then break it on purpose and demand a free replacement. That's completely unsustainable for a business.

The idea that you can't get a good rod built in Asia is absurd. Sure, you get some junk but the same factory will crank out crap rods will also turn out some of the best rods on the planet. It all depends on what you want to pay.

Then, there's the question- what are you looking for in a rod? What do you consider "decent?" Do you want light weight? Do you want durability? Do you want a faster or slower action? What lures are you going to be chunking with it for bass?

I was watching some YouTube videos of bass fisherman that have a different rod and reel for each lure type. While I understand that, for the weekend fisherman without a boat like me it just doesn't make sense. I have always fished stock ponds or "tanks" as we always called them. I live in a neighborhood in Katy with two fairly large lakes I want to try them so I will cast any sort of lure. I do have several different combos but when I purchased them I didn't think much about using them for different lure types. I have accumulated them over the last several years. I've not been able to fish from a boat in a long time, now.

76Ag said:

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I want a new bait casting rod for bass fishing. It seems that lots of people complain that Chinese-made rods break. I remember a few years back looking at American Rodsmith rods and all the cheaper ones were Chinese made. Sort of ironic.

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Frankly, the vast majority of people complaining about rods breaking are making stuff up, abusing their rods, or are just crappy fishermen.

When it comes to conventional gear I've never really babied my stuff and the only time I ever broke a rod was because I slammed the tip in the truck door.

With fly rods which generally have a much less robust layup of composites all the rods I've broken but one were really my fault or a fishing partner:
- Echo Carbon 4wt: I think this was really the only one with a manufacturers defect when I snapped the tip section after one use. They replaced the tip section with no issues.
- Scott Tidal 10wt: I broke this 4pc rod on about a 70# tarpon at the first ferrule above the handle. I'm pretty sure it wiggled loose during a day of fishing and when I had the poon alongside the skiff to grab she decided to dive and the rod couldn't flex properly due to the ferrule becoming unseated and it snapped. They sent me a new section under warranty.
- Scott Tidal 8wt: 100% on me, the tip of the rod got stuck in a rod tube on my boat and rather than carefully finesse it loose I just yanked on it too hard and popped the tip guide off with a section of the rod. They replaced the section under warranty.
- Hardy Pro-Axis 12wt: I was battling about a 130-140# tarpon and we had her alongside the boat. Frankly, I was completely whupped and tried to force her head up to grab her. She decided to dive at the same time I was lifting and pulled me down hard enough to slam the rod against the gunnel and snapped the rod. Hardy replaced it under warranty.

The one other rod I've broken was Salt of the Water's TFO BVK 8wt and it was sort of his fault. He had the rod in a vertical rod holder on floor of his panga before he got it customized. We were in really skinny water and got the bow stuck on a sand bar. I was standing in front of the rod and he gunned his motor in reverse, knocked me off balance into the rod and snapped it just above the handle. Oops.

TarponChaser said:

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76Ag said:

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The Chinese don't fish for bass. How can I get a decent bait casting rod made in the USA and where?

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There are only a handful of rod companies cooking blanks in the USA. All of the USA-based fly rod companies build their own high-end rods and blanks here. However, I do believe they all make their blanks and rods on the lower end abroad; St. Croix has some made in Mexico and the others in South Korea, IIRC.

I'm only aware of a couple other companies making rod blanks here in the USA, and most of those are not building conventional rods, they're fly-rod specific.. North Fork Composites is Gary Loomis's company after he sold G. Loomis and they sell blanks while also making Edge Rods which I believe are factory-direct only and run $300+.

There just aren't many manufacturers building the blanks and they certainly aren't making inexpensive blanks. Even the volume manufacturers like Waterloo or Falcon or whomever is the flavor of the month that advertise their rods as "Made In America" aren't being wholly truthful. A more accurate statement is "Assembled in the USA from Foreign-made Components."

Frankly, the concept of a "lifetime guarantee" drove a lot of rod companies into the ground and ended up being sold to larger multi-national corporations. I used to be acquainted with the original All Star rod folks when they had their entire operation from cooking blanks to assembly up off 290 and where the be-all, end-all rods. They ended up losing so much money from people who would fish a rod for a year or two then break it on purpose and demand a free replacement. That's completely unsustainable for a business.

The idea that you can't get a good rod built in Asia is absurd. Sure, you get some junk but the same factory will crank out crap rods will also turn out some of the best rods on the planet. It all depends on what you want to pay.

Then, there's the question- what are you looking for in a rod? What do you consider "decent?" Do you want light weight? Do you want durability? Do you want a faster or slower action? What lures are you going to be chunking with it for bass?

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I'm sure you can get some nice rods made in China these days. I remember the old All Star rods were the bomb when they first came out, then I feel the product eventually became just a run of the mill rod when the rods started coming from China. Seems like the same thing happened to CastAway rods. My worst experience personally was with a bunch of Laguna Graphite rods. Looked nice and very light. Those rods ended up breaking like a dry twig. Frankly, I think it's hard to find a really nice rod at Academy these days. But luckily there are some really nice rods still available. The G Loomis GLX, NRX and even the IMX graphite make really nice rods. I'm thinking these are all still made in the USA.

76Ag said:

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I was watching some YouTube videos of bass fisherman that have a different rod and reel for each lure type. While I understand that, for the weekend fisherman without a boat like me it just doesn't make sense. I have always fished stock ponds or "tanks" as we always called them. I live in a neighborhood in Katy with two fairly large lakes I want to try them so I will cast any sort of lure. I do have several different combos but when I purchased them I didn't think much about using them for different lure types. I have accumulated them over the last several years. I've not been able to fish from a boat in a long time, now.

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It's almost like you are saying you can walk right out of your house and enjoy fishing without worrying about the social and geopolitical impact of where your fishing pole was made. I think you may have this whole thing figured out.

76Ag said:

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I was watching some YouTube videos of bass fisherman that have a different rod and reel for each lure type. While I understand that, for the weekend fisherman without a boat like me it just doesn't make sense. I have always fished stock ponds or "tanks" as we always called them. I live in a neighborhood in Katy with two fairly large lakes I want to try them so I will cast any sort of lure. I do have several different combos but when I purchased them I didn't think much about using them for different lure types. I have accumulated them over the last several years. I've not been able to fish from a boat in a long time, now.

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Just buy a $50 All Star Classic at Academy and you'll be fine. It won't likely break unless you do something stupid to it.

Maybe but I've not tried these lakes before. I am not sure of walking the banks because many houses back up to the lakes. I don't want neighbors hassling me. Some have boats but only electric powered. I do not live on one of the lakes. I do see people fishing but I think only about half of them live in the subdivision. Picking up a new reel this week and I want to try it out. I was thinking about a new rod for it but that may be cost prohibitive.

docb said:

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TarponChaser said:

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76Ag said:

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The Chinese don't fish for bass. How can I get a decent bait casting rod made in the USA and where?

---

There are only a handful of rod companies cooking blanks in the USA. All of the USA-based fly rod companies build their own high-end rods and blanks here. However, I do believe they all make their blanks and rods on the lower end abroad; St. Croix has some made in Mexico and the others in South Korea, IIRC.

I'm only aware of a couple other companies making rod blanks here in the USA, and most of those are not building conventional rods, they're fly-rod specific.. North Fork Composites is Gary Loomis's company after he sold G. Loomis and they sell blanks while also making Edge Rods which I believe are factory-direct only and run $300+.

There just aren't many manufacturers building the blanks and they certainly aren't making inexpensive blanks. Even the volume manufacturers like Waterloo or Falcon or whomever is the flavor of the month that advertise their rods as "Made In America" aren't being wholly truthful. A more accurate statement is "Assembled in the USA from Foreign-made Components."

Frankly, the concept of a "lifetime guarantee" drove a lot of rod companies into the ground and ended up being sold to larger multi-national corporations. I used to be acquainted with the original All Star rod folks when they had their entire operation from cooking blanks to assembly up off 290 and where the be-all, end-all rods. They ended up losing so much money from people who would fish a rod for a year or two then break it on purpose and demand a free replacement. That's completely unsustainable for a business.

The idea that you can't get a good rod built in Asia is absurd. Sure, you get some junk but the same factory will crank out crap rods will also turn out some of the best rods on the planet. It all depends on what you want to pay.

Then, there's the question- what are you looking for in a rod? What do you consider "decent?" Do you want light weight? Do you want durability? Do you want a faster or slower action? What lures are you going to be chunking with it for bass?

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I'm sure you can get some nice rods made in China these days. I remember the old All Star rods were the bomb when they first came out, then I feel the product eventually became just a run of the mill rod when the rods started coming from China. Seems like the same thing happened to CastAway rods. My worst experience personally was with a bunch of Laguna Graphite rods. Looked nice and very light. Those rods ended up breaking like a dry twig. Frankly, I think it's hard to find a really nice rod at Academy these days. But luckily there are some really nice rods still available. The G Loomis GLX, NRX and even the IMX graphite make really nice rods. I'm thinking these are all still made in the USA.

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You've always been able to get good rods built in Asia whether it's from China, Taiwan, Japan, or South Korea. The issue is expecting a $30 Berkley Lightning Rod to perform like a $300 rod from Asia.

All Star had to go abroad to be manufactured because they were hemorrhaging money like crazy. People were purposely breaking their rods and demanding replacements. When they tried to walk back their guarantee to prevent this, people went on to the next flavor of the month and did the same thing. So they sold themselves to a multi-national which basically just bought the brand and the distribution network so the original owners could capitalize on what value was left. Manufacturing goes overseas and perception drops. All Star rods are still a good value IMHO.

Personally, I think people get way too caught up in all these supposed characteristics and benefits of high-end rods. I get the value of having a lighter weight rod when you're wading all day or chucking & winding lures. And maybe something really sensitive when fishing really light finesse stuff for bass. People are free to spend their money how they will but two things I really learned when I started kayak fishing and then moving to fly fishing were that having a metric crap-ton of gear was not only not necessary but often detracted from my ability to catch fish because I was too worried about the gear and not finding the fish.

As for those really lightweight rods snapping, that's pretty inevitable. Graphite cloth is graphite cloth. Sure, there are varying modulus which relates to the shear strength and weight of the cloth. To get a rod that's both light and responsive you have to build a blank that has thinner walls. Thinner walls = more likely to break.

That being said, the vast majority of rod breakages are caused by three categories:
1) unseen damage to the rod; ie- breaking of microscopic graphite fibers by banging jig heads off the rod, or the rod off of other hard surfaces. This causes weakening of the rod blank walls until it snaps.
2) carelessness; ie- slamming the rod in a car door or ceiling fan or whatever
3) poor fish-fighting technique; ie- high-sticking and the like

Those Laguna rods snapped because they weren't built worth a crap. I saw around 6 of them snap with guys just fishing with them. Not shut in a rod locker or misuse. Probably why I think the company is no longer in business.

docb said:

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Those Laguna rods snapped because they weren't built worth a crap. I saw around 6 of them snap with guys just fishing with them. Not shut in a rod locker or misuse. Probably why I think the company is no longer in business.

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They're still in business and doing just fine. Laguna Rods

There may have been a batch of bad blanks they got and missed in QC but rods don't just randomly snap while fishing. You may not have seen it but when you're building really lightweight rods that are still sensitive and rigid enough to fish effectively they require substantially thinner rod walls. So all it takes are jig heads banging off them hard enough a couple times or over-lining them or high-sticking them and they get weak spot and break. It's way more on the fisherman than the rod.

The idea that most rods break because they aren't built worth a crap is as absurd a myth as the claims somebody's Pappy saw a black panther down in some holler in Cass County. In reality, the cheapest rods are usually the most durable- mainly because they're heavier with a ton of epoxy in the blank and a fiberglass/graphite composite. But, they're also less sensitive.

People just don't want to admit they screwed something up. Nearly 20 years in and around the rod-building industry has convinced me of this.

TarponChaser said:

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docb said:

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Those Laguna rods snapped because they weren't built worth a crap. I saw around 6 of them snap with guys just fishing with them. Not shut in a rod locker or misuse. Probably why I think the company is no longer in business.

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They're still in business and doing just fine. Laguna Rods

There may have been a batch of bad blanks they got and missed in QC but rods don't just randomly snap while fishing. You may not have seen it but when you're building really lightweight rods that are still sensitive and rigid enough to fish effectively they require substantially thinner rod walls. So all it takes are jig heads banging off them hard enough a couple times or over-lining them or high-sticking them and they get weak spot and break. It's way more on the fisherman than the rod.

The idea that most rods break because they aren't built worth a crap is as absurd a myth as the claims somebody's Pappy saw a black panther down in some holler in Cass County. In reality, the cheapest rods are usually the most durable- mainly because they're heavier with a ton of epoxy in the blank and a fiberglass/graphite composite. But, they're also less sensitive.

People just don't want to admit they screwed something up. Nearly 20 years in and around the rod-building industry has convinced me of this.

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I get your point on the things that cause rods to break. Trust me I've been fishing for a very long time and have broken rods all kinds of stupid ways. It happens. But I've never seen a bunch of rods snap like these did. They used to have these at BayFlats lodge and when I inquired about their experience they said the same thing happened to the Laguna rods they had. I was told it was a bad batch of blanks. Whatever it was I don't care. I moved on and just use G Loomis rods like I use for my bass fishing.

76Ag said:

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I want a new bait casting rod for bass fishing. It seems that lots of people complain that Chinese-made rods break. I remember a few years back looking at American Rodsmith rods and all the cheaper ones were Chinese made. Sort of ironic.

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Castaway Skeletons are made in their shop in Cypress/Houston. Go by their store with some cash and they'll usually cut your a deal on a great rod or two.

RO519 said:

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76Ag said:

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I want a new bait casting rod for bass fishing. It seems that lots of people complain that Chinese-made rods break. I remember a few years back looking at American Rodsmith rods and all the cheaper ones were Chinese made. Sort of ironic.

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Castaway Skeletons are made in their shop in Cypress/Houston. Go by their store with some cash and they'll usually cut your a deal on a great rod or two.

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Do they cook their blanks there? I thought they just assembled the rods in their shop out of components sourced elsewhere.

https://usamadeproducts.biz/outdoor-recreation-fishing-gear-fishing-rods.html

Consider having a rod custom made.

Why the F is everyone talking about fly rods in a thread about bait casters?

I like fly rods, too. In fact I was planning on taking my Orvis fly rod down to the lakes but it's not heavy enough if I hook a bass. It's only a five weight. I'm probably out of practice with it now, anyway.
I think I will just go get one of the rods Bass Pro Shops has on sale this week. It's close to home and Academy doesn't have the selection they do.

76Ag said:

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I like fly rods, too. In fact I was planning on taking my Orvis fly rod down to the lakes but it's not heavy enough if I hook a bass. It's only a five weight. I'm probably out of practice with it now, anyway.
I think I will just go get one of the rods Bass Pro Shops has on sale this week. It's close to home and Academy doesn't have the selection they do.

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A 5wt is plenty heavy for bass in most cases. The 5wt is my go-to for pond-hopping but will go up to a 7wt if I'm throwing big deer-hair poppers.

You'll have a lot more fun pond-hopping with that than a baitcaster. Take your 5wt, stuff some leader material in your pocket and a small box with some bream bugs and wooly buggers and you're set.

All Star rods went to crap when the guy using other peoples money told Gary Loomis he felt he could make blanks just as good for less. G. quit selling him blems and he found out quickly he didn't know squat about making blanks.Several other peoples lost money.

The only thing I know about cheap tackle is you can go thru five of these in about ten minutes via 5 grand kids and about 25 piggy perch.....but they had fun.



https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/shakespeare-navigator-6-ft-m-spinning-rod-and-reel-combo#repChildCatid=5060589

AggieChemist said:

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CT'97 said:

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AggieChemist said:

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docb said:

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One-Eyed Fat Man said:

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A guy who we fished with in Dillon, MT uses some type of fly rods from China. He's fished with Sage, Winston, et all and says the Chinese rods cast as just as well. Said they're $49.95 - no warranty but so what for the price. I'd like to cast one and see.

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Now that I don't believe. I do believe the price but I also bet the Chinese fly rods are a huge piece of *****

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You'd be wrong. Orvis clearwater rods are Chinese. Echo, TFO, Redington... all Chinese. Lew's rods are Chinese. Guarantee everything less than $200 is Chinese.

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All of those rods are made in South Korea, not China.

Yes, there is a huge difference. In South Korea you aren't told by the government which factory you have to work in and how long you have to work there.

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Then why did the 10' 8wt Clearwater I bought in September have a "made in China" sticker on it?

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I did not realize that Orvis had anything made in China. If they do then I bet it's to have parts made in China with assembly in the US. But TFO, ECHO, and I'm pretty sure Redington all have their rods made in South Korea.

meggy09 said:

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Why the F is everyone talking about fly rods in a thread about bait casters?

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Because the first comment was about a fly rod and I didn't even see the original question. I'm guessing I'm not alone.