Brand Loyalty?

[Jagg]

I guess I'm brand loyal, but only because their brand "opener" models were so good and customer service was so good, I saw no need to stray a lot. That and I agree with others have said on this post about if I buy rods and/or reels from one or two companies I know exactly what to expect and how it's going to perform and feel.

I have strayed from the companies below once or twice, but end up coming back because of feel, performance and/or bad customer service.

 

Spinning reels: Pflueger. The first spinning reel I bought was a Trion and have been Pfluegers all the way since. Have tried Shimanos and Diawas of friends of mine, but don't fit my hand well like Pfluegers. They used to offer spare spools too when others didn't. That was a big selling point.

 

Casting reels: Shimanos and H2O's (Academy house brand). Shimanos are what we grew up fishing on the coast and they are basically bulletproof, comfortable and perform well. I like the H2O's because they used to have them on sale for about $25 for an $80 reel and that was hard to pass up for just trying them out. Now I like them and anything goes wrong, I can just take it back to the reel bar for a replacement. Only had to do that once so far.

 

Rods: St Croix, Falcons and old All Stars. All Stars are more for inshore fishing than anything else, but will cross them over every once in a while. When I was getting more into freshwater, and especially into bass fishing, I tried a lot of brands including All Stars freshwater stuff. All Star sold mostly heavier gear than what I wanted and the light stuff wasn't up to par. Opening models for Shimano were good, but the higher I went in models, the less I liked them. I was fishing a lot of finesse stuff  and fishing for panfish when I really started to research and ask around what others who fished the way I fish tend to like. A lot of St Croix came my way. Texas boy; never heard of them. Started to handle them in BPS and decided they were worth a try. Best spinning rods out there IMHO and I like their casting gear quite a lot too. Probably in transition from my Falcons to SC in casting gear also, but Falcon does heavier casting a little better and has their heavier models more keyed in, but that is changing.

 

Line: Berkeley although I am trying Gliss out this year and I like P-Line for the Coast.

 

Soft plastics I like certain brands for certain things. Kalin grubs. Yum tubes and craws but liking SK Rage for craws and Menace grubs more and more. Zoom and Yum worms. Z-man and BPS stick worms. Keitech, BPS and Lunker City for swimbaits/boot tails.

 

Hard baits: Pradco and Rapala. Couple Academy and BPS house brand models.

 

Jigs and skirted baits: Northstar for what I can and still looking for buzzbaits and bladed jigs. Yum right now. 

 

Mostly go with what was in my local retailers and mom and pop shops unless they weren't working for me or if I got a lot of recommendations/reviews. I like what I like but don't mind trying something better if the price is right.

[Sam]

Very loyal to brands.

 

On all levels, in and out of fishing.

 

Used to love Sears basketballs when I was growing up. Great on concrete surfaces.

 

Dixie Beer was a fun drink.

 

Bike Athletic has closed their doors.

 

Many products that I was loyal to while growing up and learning bass fishing are gone.

 

But that is life.

[S Hovanec]

I pretty much stick to one brand for each category.

 

Rods: almost all are custom St. Croix

Reels:  all are Shimano

Soft baits: most are hand poured by a friend, the rest are Jackall

Hard baits:. Smorgasbord of Rapala, Lucky Craft, MegaBass and Duo.

Hooks: Owner

Weights: my own pours.

[Jrob78]

4 hours ago, WIGuide said:

I'd say I'm in between brand loyal/brand satisfied. As far as rods go I've really come to like what St. Croix offers. I love the way they feel as well as their build quality and their customer service is incredible. It also helps in my case that their factory is about an hour and a half from my front door. For some that might seem like a bit of a drive, but when you live where I do and it's literally an hour drive to get ANYWHERE, 1.5 isn't bad at all. It allows me to put a hand on any rod I'm interested in and see how it feels. That's not possible for me with many other rods as tackle shops around me don't have much if any of a selection. In the past that had left me ordering blind and hoping the power and action were what I was looking for and with every company having their own standards when it comes to both it can make ordering pretty tough. Sticking with one brand has allowed me to know what I'll be getting even if I do just pick it out of a catalog.  

 

As far as other companies I'm brand satisfied by are Trokar hooks, Berkley (especially line), and Eco Pro Tungsen. I'm not opposed to trying something new and often do, but I find myself coming back to them over and over again. 

 

I'm a St. Croix fan also.  If I lived that close to their factory store and could handle all their rods and possibly buy blems at a lower price, that's probably all I would own too. 

[Mr. Bassin II]

On 1/23/2017 at 9:17 PM, RichF said:

Def not 100% loyal to 1 brand but I do like to stick to only a few, but that's mainly because I'm anal and like my stuff to match.  

This is me as well.  When I find something I like better than what I am currently using, I'll sell off the old and replace it with new irregardless of manufacturer.

[BigGame0892]

On 1/23/2017 at 7:07 PM, jsh32 said:

Ive been looking at Falcon. I like them and powell the most right now I think. But I have never help either of them. Next time I can get to a store that carries them, Ill try to take a reel with me and see how they feel and look and all that good stuff

Both of these companies make very good rods for the price.  For reels, I stick with Shimano.  Its what I know and I even prefer to have them all the same model, but with different gear ratios.  Little to no adjustment needed when I switch between different lures/presentations.

[NYWayfarer]

I am brand loyal until I find another brand I like

 

 

[A-Jay]

I'm definitely Quality Loyal ~ Many Brands have it.

 

I'm faithful to the Brands that I have tried and found to have the Quality I need & like.

 

A-Jay

[Bait Runner]

I don't only buy one brand of anything, really. Although, I feel more closely associated with certain clothing brands than I do anything in my gear set up. As someone who tans faster than is probably scientifically normal, I need some lightweight, UPF protection style shirts that are going to block the sun.

[mllrtm79]

I suppose I am rather brand loyal, depending on the product involved...

I have more Abu rods/reels than any other, mainly because of the quality/price, but my favorite spinning reel is a Lew's. 

I am cheeeeep, but I was given a Huk fishing shirt by a customer (they had sponsored something down in OC MD) and have since added them to the list of brands I like (now I have another shirt, a sweatshirt, and even a pair of their boxers). 

Gammy hooks mostly, Suffix line mostly (other than backing), and GYCB. 

If I am turned onto something that works well most of the time I stick with it, not chasing the next new or improved thing more than brand loyalty.

In bowling it is Ebonite, I have only bought one ball other than an Ebonite in the past 12 years or so. 

[Chris186]

I try to be, but for me, not the brand. I like Lews reels and Megabass rods, but I'm actually going to try a Hammer rod and see what happens. I need to replace 3 rods this year, and at $285 a pop, I'm  Looking for a less pricey alternative to the Orochi XX rods I have. 

[.ghoti.]

I am a bit brand loyal in some things. With one exception, all my casting reels are Diawa. I just prefer their centrifugally activated magnetic braking system. It works for me, so I've stuck with it. The odd man out is an Abu Record 50. A good friend of mine gave it to me, and it is my beast mode reel for anything big.

 

Spinning reels are Diawa and Pfleuger.

 

Rods, several each Diawa, St Croix and Setyr, with a few one-offs. It wont be too long and all my rods will be one brand. Mine. When I get my planned quiver of my own builds finished, I will be selling off most of my existing factory sticks.

 

Line, it used to be exclusively Trilene XL. But, when they screwed up the formula a few years ago, I started looking for a replacement. Have yet to make that decision.

 

Plastics, Rage Tail, and GYCB far outnumber all others, but I have a few items from other brands I continue to use.

 

Crankbaits are a totally mixed bag. More Rapala than any other.

 

Jerkbaits are all either X-Raps or Pointers.

 

Spinnerbaits are a mixed bag with a strong preference for Sieberts double willow. Love those things.

 

Terminal tackle is a mixed bag. More Gammy and Owner than any others.

 

The one and only Megastrike.

 

 

 

 

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

I see the logic in the uniformity line of thought but I think you lose out to some degree as no one can be all things. Each brand/ line has models that excel at certain things and others that , not so much. 

[BrianSnat]

For spinning reels I'm pretty much all Shimano, except for 2 UL Pfleuger Presidents.  I like the Quickfire trigger and as far as I can tell Shimano is the only mfr. who offers it, so Shimano it is.    Baitcasters I search for good deals, so I have Diawa, Lew's and Shimano.  Rods, again it's more about finding the right rod at the right price.  I have Shimano, Berkley, St Croix, Bass Pro Shops and Fenwick rods.

So I'm basically only loyal when it comes to spinning reels and that's because Shimano has a feature I like.

[Airman4754]

I have rods from a lot of the major manufacturers, but most of my rods are Phenix and most of my reels are Lew's.

 

Finances had no impact on this. After a long period of trial and error with many different brands that was what I liked using the most for my fishing style. Those aren't overly popular brands and aren't super high end, but that's not always a factor.

[RB 77]

I'll admit it, as far as reels go, I'm a posse member. Haha. Rods are a little more all over the place. G Loomis, Shimano, and Falcon make up the bulk. I has some other stuff in the arsenal as well. Saltwater sticks are all Calstar and Batson.

[JDNKC]

Shimano on reels.  I know others are good, but I have all shimano.  Rods I have duckett and shimano, but have switched to Gloomis and probably won't go back.  As for line, I am very partial to Seagaur, but would like to try sunline.

[PatrickKnight]

95% of my fishing is done with spinning gear:

Reels: are all Shimano because the line lay is better than any other brand I have tried (I might give a high end Daiwa a try this year)

Rods: I am not really loyal but I have been very impressed as of late with Fenwick they seem to give you a lot for the money

Line: Power Pro

Lures: whatever catches the fish

[DubyaDee]

I'm not very brand loyal, but I am very loyal to keeping a setup within that brand/region. For example, I picked up a Shimano poison adrena and needed to pair it with a shimano metanium. My daiwa spybait rod needed a diawa reel and some jdm flouro. It matters more to me mentally than anything. 

[Steveo-1969]

I guess the only brand loyalty I have is with fishing rods. But it's easy because I only use 3 rods:  a baitcaster I only use 6 days a year on vacation, another baitcaster I use the majority of the time and a spinning rod sprinkled in here and there. If I was to buy another rod it would only be this brand.

 

For everything else fishing related all brands are fair game.

[crypt]

reels I like Abu Swedish reels, older models. rods a mixed bag until few years back when I started making my own. about half of my rods are of my own making. line,trilene big game for mono.power pro for braid.mixed bag for terminal tackle, always tweaking it to try and get it right. that'll never happen!