cadman Posted January 29, 2018 Posted January 29, 2018 G Loomis, baitcasters St Croix, spinning 4 Quote
Super User Boomstick Posted January 29, 2018 Super User Posted January 29, 2018 I buy mostly Daiwa Tatula rods, it's just hard to beat them for the price point. I do like St. Croix, and G Loomis rods as well. 1 Quote
RB 77 Posted January 29, 2018 Posted January 29, 2018 GLoomis and Shimano for fresh and Batson and Calstar for salt. 1 Quote
Super User NYWayfarer Posted January 29, 2018 Super User Posted January 29, 2018 I like, in no particular order: Abu Garcia Powell St Croix Denali Fenwick One three fishing 1 Quote
Chance_Taker4 Posted January 29, 2018 Posted January 29, 2018 I have switched a majority of my rods to Kistler and will finishing switching this year. Great rods and they have actions and powers I have never heard of or knew that I needed. lol 1 Quote
fishindad Posted January 29, 2018 Posted January 29, 2018 Falcon: casting St Croix, Dobyns: spinning 1 Quote
ClackerBuzz Posted January 30, 2018 Posted January 30, 2018 15 hours ago, ww2farmer said: Aside from the custom rods I had built to the specs I wanted them built to, my current favorite off the shelf rods are: Daiwa Abu Garcia Berkley I find those brands offer a good "bang for the buck" ratio. While not as finely built and crafted with top notch components, or as "nice" as Loomis, St Croix, etc....the performance of "budget" rods now-a-days is closing the gap on some of the premium rods. That's a huge plus for someone like me, who, for reasons only known to god, is very rough on rods. Sure, the warranties on the high end stuff is usually great, but breaking a couple $200+ rods a year is a tuff pill to swallow, breaking a few $75 rods a year is still not desirable, but easier to stomach. I can't thank you enough for pointing me to Daiwa Aird X rods. I had a enough of 'quality rod companies' last year. Dobyns refused to back a Champion rod that broke during a forward cast and made me pay $90 replacement (on top of $30 to ship the rod to them for 'inspection'). I was responsible for breaking a Powell endurance and had it replaced with a 3D Max that was horribly unbalanced. I requested an exchange and the owner of the company got so offended which ended in the most disrespectful email I've ever received. I was fed up with these companies and knew there was something better. A week later I came across a post of yours praising the Aird X. $55? I'll give them a try. these rods are a-m-a-z-i-n-g. they are light as a feather and as balanced as a St croix LTB or Champion Extreme....at only a fraction of the cost. I agree the gap is closing and nothing could make me happier. I'm done with the primadonna niche brands. fyi: Daiwa Aird has a 1 yr warranty. For a few dollars more you can get a 5 yr warranty with the Tatula XT and S Casting. 2 Quote
SoFloSully Posted January 30, 2018 Author Posted January 30, 2018 25 minutes ago, ClackerBuzz said: I can't thank you enough for pointing me to Daiwa Aird X rods. I had a enough of 'quality rod companies' last year. Dobyns refused to back a Champion rod that broke during a forward cast and made me pay $90 replacement (on top of $30 to ship the rod to them for 'inspection'). I was responsible for breaking a Powell endurance and had it replaced with a 3D Max that was horribly unbalanced. I requested an exchange and the owner of the company got so offended which ended in the most disrespectful email I've ever received. I was fed up with these companies and knew there was something better. A week later I came across a post of yours praising the Aird X. $55? I'll give them a try. these rods are a-m-a-z-i-n-g. they are light as a feather and as balanced as a St croix LTB or Champion Extreme....at only a fraction of the cost. I agree the gap is closing and nothing could make me happier. I'm done with the primadonna niche brands. fyi: Daiwa Aird has a 1 yr warranty. For a few dollars more you can get a 5 yr warranty with the Tatula XT and S Casting. You could’ve sold me on this one. I might have to go pick one up to see for myself. 1 Quote
Hulkster Posted January 30, 2018 Posted January 30, 2018 my top 3: 1. G. Loomis 2. Loomis 3. 1 and 2 2 Quote
ClackerBuzz Posted January 30, 2018 Posted January 30, 2018 44 minutes ago, SoFloSully said: You could’ve sold me on this one. I might have to go pick one up to see for myself. I haven't pushed them to their limits yet (yanking on a snagged lure with braid mainline like an idiot; too much drag set with braid etc) but i'm pretty sure ww2farmer middle name is torture test so I'm confident they will fair well. 1 Quote
bigfruits Posted January 30, 2018 Posted January 30, 2018 Megabass, Loomis, St. Croix. Would love to try a Kistler 1 Quote
LxVE Bassin Posted January 30, 2018 Posted January 30, 2018 St Croix hands down. Daiwa has served me well too. 2 Quote
Yudo1 Posted January 30, 2018 Posted January 30, 2018 I like Loomis, Megabass and Kistler not in any particular order. I would be happy fishing exclusively with any one of these brands. 1 Quote
Super User DogBone_384 Posted January 30, 2018 Super User Posted January 30, 2018 Abu Garcia and Kistler. 1 Quote
ZebcoZak Posted January 30, 2018 Posted January 30, 2018 I have slowly migrated pretty much 100% to Fenwick. For the price I have a hard time justifying anything else. I use several Aetos rods and they are awesome. I have never fished with one of the 400-500 dollar rods, but for what I do I don't know if I ever will. 1 Quote
Super User DogBone_384 Posted January 30, 2018 Super User Posted January 30, 2018 12 hours ago, bigfruits said: Megabass, Loomis, St. Croix. Would love to try a Kistler Sign up for Kistler’s newletter. They’ll send you discounts/coupons. Their current incentive is 20% off your order. Quote
punch Posted January 30, 2018 Posted January 30, 2018 There's just WAY too many quality rod brands these days. It's really difficult as a consumer to pick something. 3 hours ago, ZebcoZak said: I have slowly migrated pretty much 100% to Fenwick. For the price I have a hard time justifying anything else. I use several Aetos rods and they are awesome. I have never fished with one of the 400-500 dollar rods, but for what I do I don't know if I ever will. My only complaint about Fenwick is IF you send back a warranty rod.. they make you ship the busted rod to Canada. Shipping a tube to Canada is expensive. Quote
ZebcoZak Posted January 30, 2018 Posted January 30, 2018 22 minutes ago, punch said: There's just WAY too many quality rod brands these days. It's really difficult as a consumer to pick something. My only complaint about Fenwick is IF you send back a warranty rod.. they make you ship the busted rod to Canada. Shipping a tube to Canada is expensive. Interesting. I actually haven't ever had the need but that is a bit of an annoyance.... Quote
punch Posted January 30, 2018 Posted January 30, 2018 4 minutes ago, ZebcoZak said: Interesting. I actually haven't ever had the need but that is a bit of an annoyance.... Yeah, it REALLY sucks. You get a "free" replacement on an Aetos but gotta spend like 50-60 bucks sending the old rod to them. They will not reimburse you either. Pure fishing has offices in the USA, but their warranty program is run out of Canada. This is literally the reason I'm not buying anymore Fenwick in the future. Quote
Super User Paul Roberts Posted January 30, 2018 Super User Posted January 30, 2018 There are many really good rods out there across all brands and price ranges. 2 Quote
Super User S Hovanec Posted January 31, 2018 Super User Posted January 31, 2018 1. St Croix 2. Rodgeeks 3. Batson 1 Quote
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