Bob Summers leads the way since, as an employee of the Paul H. Young Co., he built some of the finest rods that came from that shop. But of course there is no price reduction on R.W. Summers Co. rods, or those made by Summers while at the PHY Co. I have cast one rod built by John Pickard, a Midge which in comparison to my Midge built by PHY was slightly less powerful in the butt, and slightly more delicate in the tip. I preferred my Midge, but the difference was slight enough to be a matter of personal taste rather than a great discrepancy in performance. I have no experience with John's other rod models. A lower cost and possibly very satisfying rod would be one made by R.W. Lancaster. I have no experience at all with his rods. However, I have interviewed a man who at one time owned twenty-five original PHY Co. rods, plus he also had Lancaster building PHY-style rods to his specifications. This client was extremely happy with the rods that Lancaster built for him, and his recommendation makes me hope that I'll someday get to cast one or more of R.W. Lancaster's rods.

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