This past winter I bought a pair of fly rods. I really did not need either of them, but for several reasons I wanted them.

The first one was a Sage XP model, a model that is no longer produced. New, XPs were expensive rods that good flycasters (not me) could use to heave fly lines for long distances. I had once owned an XP. A fishing guide needed some money to buy a new bow for archery hunting, so he sold me the XP and another rod at reduced prices. However, after only a couple of years, he wanted the XP back. He said his father had been ill and had recovered. The father wanted to use the X...