Bass Boat Forums
Bass Fishing Forums => Rods => Topic started by: Jimmy RodandReel on February 10, 2015, 08:31:17 PM
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Favorite Rod brand?
And If you will please tell us why you picked this brand as your Favorite.
(hmm) (hmm) (hmm)
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I use to be strictly Loomis, because of quality, feel, and warranty. Then I met you and tried one of your rods, and now using yours and replacing the Loomis stable.
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I bought several Fenwick HMGs several years ago. They have served me flawlessly. I also have 1/2 dozen Gloomis rods that I like very well.
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I'm a hard core St Croix guy. I love the quality of their original lines. Admittedly I haven't tried any of their rod's made in Mexico so I can't vouch for them. I also love the warranty and for me they are a local company. I had a couple of Fenwicks over the years that I enjoyed too.
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I'm a hard core St Croix guy. I love the quality of their original lines.
(y) (y)
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I use the rods you built me with St Croix blanks and as you know an ancient Falcon (90's) more than any others.
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I've never spent any big money on rods. For some reason I've never bought a rod that costs more than $85. Maybe not knowing what I'm missing is a good thing, since it will keep me from spending more money (hmm)
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The majority of my rods, which aren't many, are Falcon. I've got a few from different model lines. I like them all. I also have a couple St Croix Avids. None of them are new by any stretch. My favorite rod though, happens to a Daiwa worm/jig rod that I bought back sometime back in the mid 80s. I still use it today and it is not what I would consider lightweight but I have really gotten comfortable with it. It has the eva grip which is worn but I like.
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St. Croix. I have several Premiers that are great rods, and I really like the warranty as well as the Gold Star program. I will likely upgrade to Avids in the future, but for what I paid for these rods, they are great. Most are used, and I got them for an average of 50% retail in great condition.
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I like Impulse.
1. Light and durable. That is a very rare combo.
2. The people. Lance will talk on the phone all day while he builds rods. Super nice, Christian guy too.
3. All hand made in USA. .
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I started using All-Star back in the mid 80s after a trip to Toledo Bend and fishing with them via the guide I had then. Back then they were just before getting big nationally. Boy those rods were great compared to most others on the market at that time. We started carrying them in Memphis a year or two later and of course through the late 90s they were huge sellers and GREAT rods but after the company sold out and mfgring was moved to China, they became "another name in the pile" & honestly by then the rest of the industry had "caught up" with most of the higher end/better builders. (I've still got a few old, original All-Stars that I still use on occasion. I was told those originals were Loomis blanks?) In the early 2000s I bought several Challengers because they felt like the All-Stars but someone told me that they came off the same line in China as All-Star so that explained alot. Wanna say someone told me that Challengers owner was an original All-Star owner and that was the connection later for A-S to head to China?
Then I went through a spell after that when I didn't really have a favorite brand. I think the last dozen or so bass rods I've bought were GLoomis, St. Croix and Duckett. For the $$$ I really like the Duckett's. I only buy GLoomis when I can steal them and even then they aren't lightyears ahead of everyone like they used to be & if you stay above the Mojo line or higher, I REALLY like St. Croix's and would probably recommend them the most for OTC rods. (That's today, ask me tomorrow and who knows! (giggle) ) One thing about it, when you get in the $100-$200 range, there are some REALLY GOOD options and tons of them out there today because the market is so competitive! "Back in the day" there were only 2-3 options for top quality OTC rounds and the rest were just "Walmart/Kmart type fishin stix".
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The original All Stars were Loomis blanks. Loomis was making the fly stuff and got together with Mr Kistler to supply for All Stars rods. The first Loomis bass blanks went into All Star Rods. Then the China thing happened, G-Loomis sold to Shimano in the 90s. Now Loomis is supplying Kistler rods with his blanks again through North Fork Composite. These go into their high end stuff.
The Kistler history is really interesting.
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When I started out way back I had my one ugly stick and a flip sider tackle box! (giggle) Then it quickly got out of control with more than 10 rods in the boat and another hand full in the basement!
I really liked the All Stars rods and fished a set of them for years. As I time rolled on I upgraded to mostly St Croix and Skeet Rods. I know, I know Skeet rods really! Yup, I do have to say some of them have been in my boat for 3-4 maybe even 5 years and they are on the deck every time I'm on the water.
Next round of upgrades I'm not sure what to do. In the market for a new jig rod and crankbait rod.
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Before split grips and micro guides, I pretty much used the older Shimano exclusively, and the warranty was great. I recently sent two back that I had broken nearly five years ago and they replaced them both no questions asked. Only thing is they now are split grips, not as good of a warranty, and my hand doesn't fit in them as well.
For the split grip and microguide rod I find myself grabbing the Quantum Smoke rod I have, it feels great in my hand. I really like the way the Duckets feel also. Never have really tried the Gloomis because they have always been out of my price range.
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I use to fish strictly loomis but lately I've been buying the Croix Legend Xtremes. I really like the performance and the micro guides.
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Is there an advantage to choosing one brand of rod over all others (if you are paying retail)? I have a menagerie that I have accumulated over 25 years with nearly all the big companies represented.
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Is there an advantage to choosing one brand of rod over all others.
Yes AND No........ The advantage to staying with one brand is the familiarity of the rods. Most major brands keep their handles pretty much the same, save the length. Much like using the same reel/brand/model so you hand becomes more in tune with the rods your using.
Disadvantages................Your limited in the scope of what that brand offers. .........A med/hvy fast action St.Croix will not be the same as a Loomis med/hvy fast and they will not as a MHX of the same class and so on.
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I use a lot of Megabass, because the are pretty awesome. I also have some Loomis IMX and GLX. 13 Omen, Smith Ltd. I'm also using some Jigging Master and the new Storm Gomoku jig rods. Most of my Fly rods are Sage.
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I use Skeet Reese rods for heavy stuff. AL Rig, magnum cranking, etc. And Carrot Stix for lighter stuff - worms, light wire jigs, shaky heads - the tactics where feel is important. I've got a couple of Duckett's that I really like, but I'm not ready to replace all of the other stuff in my box with 'em yet. And I've got a couple of old All-Stars that I still circulate into the rotatioin too.
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I really got back into fishing when I retired three years ago. I have a few different rods. Fenwick, Loomis IMX, Powell Tri Max and Rapsody rods. I like the Rapsody spinning and casting rods as they are very light weight, well made and well worth the money.
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I think I'm too OCD to have that many different brand rods lol.
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I think I'm too OCD to have that many different brand rods lol.
(giggle) (giggle)
And yes I'm the same way. (yes)
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You're trying ain't ya @Jimmy RodandReel. I'm chasing you all over these boards this morning. (giggle) (giggle) (giggle) (giggle)
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You're trying ain't ya @Jimmy RodandReel. I'm chasing you all over these boards this morning. (giggle) (giggle) (giggle) (giggle)
(stirthepot) (stirthepot)
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I am quite partial to "Falcon Rods" I really like the feel and sensitivity of these rods. Ive broken a couple of tips and the have replaced them without question, which is also a huge deal. I also have a couple of "Duckett Micro Magic" rods that I like but I don't feel the have real great sensitivity so I use them for spinner and crank bait fishing where a light feel isn't quite as important.
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Ive got a mixture. But have been slowly getting more and more ALX rods. If you've never heard of them check them out. Really nice rods and made here in USA. Also some Tatula Rods. Their Frog rod is my favorite frog and swim jig rod Ive used. Also got a megabass orochi xx perfect pitch thrown in there.
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I'm in need of new rods, lol
Best rod I have is a pfluger, with the reel it was like 100 bucks for the combo, they about 8 years old as. Why? Because I started fishing for bass 8 years ago and didn't know how to use baitcasters, I figure I try it before buying more expensive/ quality rods, but they refuse to brake, and they still perform well.
Can't wait till I try a quality combo :)
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I have a little of every thing my first duckett rod snapped in half on the first fish..took it back and second one works great......but ,I'm a st Croix rod guy...I have a few and like them a lot
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As with my reels, my rods are also a mixed bag of brands. I have Abu Garcia, All Star, Berkely, St. Croix and even one old Bass Pro Spiral Graphite! There are a couple other brands in there too, but I can't think of them off the top of my head right now (nope)
I personally never spend big bucks on rods, and the budget rods seem to work for me.
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Same here. I never was a high dollar guy. But recently i have had the fortune to use hotel rewards points to offset the cost of what i consider expensive. Up until this year the most expensive rod i had was the good ole lightning rods. I had broke one of my 7' med heavy lrs chucking a giant spinner bait. The reel i was using is a brand new revo sx. So i decided on a new higher end rod. Well i went to the local shop here and handled several and settled on the new sc3 mojo bass 7'1" med heavy. I know. i know its not a $400 shiloomis. But at 130ish it felt nice in my hand and balenced out well with my new reel ( the shop owner let me try on my reel on different rods). Also for 10 more bucks i could have had the American made premier but the mojo just felt better. I have had it out twice and caught about 10 fish with it and love it. This combo is so much lighter than the lr black max combo i was using and far more sensative. After using it for most of the day the the lr felt like fishing with a baseball bat. Dont get me wrong i love the lrs, but i believe i may have opened my wallet up to a lot of pain and suffering lol.
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The Mojo Bass rods are very nice for the money. I own one that's a medium heavy spinnerbait rod. I use it mostly for jig fishing, but I do throw some heavier spinnerbaits in it and it works well for both. That rod is actually one of my more expensive rods. :nod:
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Most of my rods are of 2 brands: Gloomis and Fenwick. Lately I have picked up some All Pro, B and R Outlaw and some rods made on Falcon Lowrider blanks. I like them all. But my favs are the Gloomis.
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I don't have a brand affinity, I have a performance affinity! I don't care what name is on it, what color it is, and to some extent what it costs, if it does exactly what I ask of it, it's worth what ever I paid for it.
That said, I've found some brands that just don't meet my standards, but believe it or not, I've got a couple no-name discount house rods that were definitely miss-labeled for $5 each that outperform for what I ask of them a $300 stick.
Just because the MFG labels it doesn't mean it's what you can use it as, I disregard the labels and look for what it does and how it feels, not how some one wants to tell me to use it as.