Shimano has some new bass rods out... Cumulus... haven't seen a price yet.

[fish.shimano.com]

6'5" medium power, fast action - 1/4 - 1/2 oz lure - 2.75oz finished
7'1" MH power, Xfast - 1/4 - 3/4 oz lure - 3.5oz finished

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That's pretty light for factory sticks. They look like they'll price out higher than the Cumaras with the Ti Fuji SICs. I'll guess $279 for list price on the 6'5" model. It really depends on where they are made. They also seem to be targeted to the JDM with all the shorter lengths, only a single rod that is 7' or longer.

$350 for casting and $400 for spinning.

Good custom builders should have no trouble meeting or beating those weights for rods of similar construction. The nice thing about the ever increasing price of commercially produced rods, is that gets the fishing public more used to seeing those higher price tags. After awhile, the same money for a truly custom rod doesn't seem so bad.

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Tom, you are correct. with the retail on some of these commercially produced rods hitting the $400 range, plus, it really opens the door for custom builders to market their rods. It is a lot easier to compete with a $400 rod than to try to compete with a $125.00 rod.
However, we do still have to produce an excellent product, to show our customers that we have a better product. With that in mind, if we work with our suppliers, provide good quality, we can compete with the big name mfrs.
there are some nitches they cannot react quick enough to fill. Also some specialized rods we are building, with some of the designs, and componants, they wioll not be able to duplicate til a future time. And at a higher price still.
We will see some customers shaking their heads at these high prices. We are seeing this now. When we can build for $100 or more less in some cases, all the better for us.
And our customers are the real winners. That is one of the best things we can produce! Quality at a fair price.

Kyle Robinson

Kyle - you are right - but it's also hard to compete with "Over the Counter Lifetime Warranty "

Now I'm not crying about it, so don't think I am.

Granted the customer is paying the price for that, but there's more to it than most folks consider. There's little to no wait time, convenience of buying anywhere and exchanging anywhere, etc.

To a touring bass fisherman, sometimes that one favorable trait is enough to stay in production rods. Think about it... if I'm 500+ miles from home, and my best technique rod for that Tournament breaks in practice or day one of the Tx... I just find a store nearby carrying them and swap the broken for a new. Little to no equipment downtime and equipment can make or break getting a check.

Just a thought that I'm not sure many people focus on, but I have heard several times from my client base.

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There are many different reasons to buy or build a custom rod, just as there are many different reasons to buy or build a custom car or house.

I believe what makes a rod custom is your interaction with the client to uncover his or her specific desires. It is a self-indulgence that I hope many people get the opportunity to enjoy.

Thanks for sharing your valuable information. I will never become a custom rod builder for a living, but I truly appreciate the craft.

Regards,
Rick

Yes, the one single thing as consumer that I would value in the Shimano rods is their no questions over the counter replacement. The concept is just very attractive for guys who put the money out and know they'll always be covered. That's one area where as a custom rod maker, it's hard to compete.

mo

The Shimano warranty policy is hard to compete with, but in this case how many stores will have rows of $400 rods on the shelf to give out for warranty?

I happen to know someone in management at a major US rod company. He was working with a buyer from one of the large chain sporting goods stores, and the buyer told him they didn't want to stock the super high end rods, because once rods got over $300 they just did not sell.

Not a ton of guys will pay that much for a rod no matter how nice it is. Some yes - but no matter how you slice it, it's a small market.

If in fact, the weights given are accurate, they’re impressive. Most of my rods are in that weight range and in looking at their pictures, I think some “reverse engineering” is called for. Unless the blank itself is extremely light, the grips must be a low density EVA. The guides and wraps certainly aren’t lightweight.

Those same statements about pricing were made many years ago ,when Gary Loomis first started selling high end valued rods at G*Loomis.

Bob McKamey
bobm@mudhole.com

Fishing is far from the only sport suffering from advertising inflation. Avid golfers eagerly pay $300+ for a revolutionary new and improved driver and often own several drivers. The amount of money they spend on equipment has little effect upon their game.
Today nearly every major reel brand offers a spinning reel nearing $1,000 in price, and their rod pricing/marketing isn't far behind. It's hard to tell how much these corporations are relying upon the spectacular profits produced by these high-end products to stay in business. I wonder if they aren't comitting the same error as airlines that relied upon first-class ticket profits to remain solvent.

Phil Ewanicki Wrote:
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> Fishing is far from the only sport suffering from
> advertising inflation. Avid golfers eagerly pay
> $300+ for a revolutionary new and improved driver
> and often own several drivers. The amount of money
> they spend on equipment has little effect upon
> their game.
> Today nearly every major reel brand offers a
> spinning reel nearing $1,000 in price, and their
> rod pricing/marketing isn't far behind. It's hard
> to tell how much these corporations are relying
> upon the spectacular profits produced by these
> high-end products to stay in business. I wonder if
> they aren't comitting the same error as airlines
> that relied upon first-class ticket profits to
> remain solvent.
I doubt any of the big boys make a high percentage of their profits on the very expensive stuff whether they are big manufacturers or retailers. The margins may be very good, but the volume just isn't there. Check out the GLX or Steez rods at Cabelas or BPS and note the turn over. It's not much. I've seen the same 4 Steez rods at the Cabelas up the street for at least 6 months and probably much longer. I'm sure there are exceptions, but I'll guaranty BPS makes a bunch more money selling Extreme rods and reels than they do selling all their high end stuff.

We can all name several fishing tackle companies that have thrived for quite a while by selling (and sometimes manufacturing) low volume, high mark-up products. Posts on this site devote discussion to such high-end products far out of proportion to their sales volume. Perhaps excessive concentration upon extra-high mark up products is a mistake for corporate tackle marketers/makers. It certainly was a mistake for domestic automakers.