Rod Sensitivity - old vs new

[Frugally Fishing]

My current jig rod is an older (2003ish) Loomis GL3 7'2" Heavy/Fast. This rod fishes great with my preferred 1/4 or 3/8 jigs on 15lb FC.  Are there any current rods in the less than $200 range that would match the sensitivity/performance of my old Loomis?  Reason for asking is that I'm needing to go to a shorter rod(6'6",7", 8", or 9") due to being a back of the boat, sit down down kinda fisherman these days.

[LCG]

I purchased a Daiwa Rebellion 6'10 MH-R casting rod last year that I very much like. I find it plenty sensitive and comfortable. Rated 1/4-1oz, I am also a bank / sit inside kayak angler. It's very versatile, but not a specific model for jigs.

 

Never owned a Loomis rod, but have owned many brands, most expensive being an st croix avid x. I liked the Rebellion so much I ended up buying a 6'8 ML-F spinning rod as well, 

 

Might be worth your time to check them out if you can find them locally.

[T-Billy]

Ark's 7' MH XF in either the Tharp, or Invoker Pro series is an outstanding light jig rod. It's called the hammer in the Tharp series. Light weight, very sensitive, and well balanced. Great for Jigs,Trigs, flukes, senko's... $129 in the Tharp series, $149 for the Invoker.

[r83srock]

My cousin used gl3 and st croix avid for years and preferred his avids. I have limited experience with loomis but had many avids myself. I feel the St. Croix victory is a step up over the old avid. 7’3” HXF rocks for jigs. 4.3 oz on my scale. 

[a1712]

2 hours ago, T-Billy said:

Ark's 7' MH XF in either the Tharp, or Invoker Pro series is an outstanding light jig rod. It's called the hammer in the Tharp series. Light weight, very sensitive, and well balanced. Great for Jigs,Trigs, flukes, senko's... $129 in the Tharp series, $149 for the Invoker.

I have 2 Hammers I fish Jigs and T-Rigs on. For me, the sensitivity is amazing. Not amazing for the cost of them, just amazing period. My Bud uses a Lancer Pro MH/Fast that he comments constantly on what he can feel with it. He got 2 of them for a $100. Brian. 

[Frugally Fishing]

Thanks guys.  Been eyeing the Ark rods mentioned. 

[Hytekrednek]

give Cashion rods a look. USA made, well designed, and the 2 I have are extremely sensitive, which is a requirement for me. Also check out the Edge Rods First Strike line. Gary Loomis's new company. I have several from Edge and they all are stunning. My favorite worm rod is the Edge Silver Widow 7'3'' Med.Hvy Fast.

[casts_by_fly]

Falcon expert series, head turner model. 6’10” so just above your range.  Great rod for what you’re describing. 
 

if you throw in another $50, the cara series medium heavy is a 6’8” version of nearly the same rod. I just picked up a used version (for less than your $200 mark) and it’s a great short rod. I am fishing it with topwaters and jerkbaits, but would have no problem putting a 3/8 jig on it. 

[Catt]

Diawa Tatula TTU711MHXB 7'1" Medium Heavy X-Fast

[Cbump]

8 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

Falcon expert series, head turner model. 6’10” so just above your range.  Great rod for what you’re describing. 
 

if you throw in another $50, the cara series medium heavy is a 6’8” version of nearly the same rod. I just picked up a used version (for less than your $200 mark) and it’s a great short rod. I am fishing it with topwaters and jerkbaits, but would have no problem putting a 3/8 jig on it. 

Agree. Or for like $40 over your budget a Dobyns XP 684c. 

[BrianMDTX]

Don’t know if 7’ is just too long for you. But if not, take a look at a Kistler Helium. 

[Motoboss]

12 hours ago, Hytekrednek said:

 Also check out the Edge Rods First Strike line. Gary Loomis's new company. I have several from Edge and they all are stunning. My favorite worm rod is the Edge Silver Widow 7'3'' Med.Hvy Fast.

I have several 2000ish year GLoomis rods that I still fish today. Tried the “new” (Shimano) Loomis rods and just didn’t like the feel when I was looking for a do all rod.

 

I looked at the Gary Loomis signature rods, and even tried to order an Edge rod over the phone. What I found was astonishing!

Near less than 1 out of 5 stars, questionable quality reviews and customer service being a O! They never responded to emails or would not answer the phone, or return a voice message . Let alone trying to return or get service for any issue that may arise, I moved on.

 

American Made with superior quality and unquestionable customer service look at KISTLER

 

 

2 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

Don’t know if 7’ is just too long for you. But if not, take a look at a Kistler Helium. 

 

[Hytekrednek]

The 5 Edge rods I have are great. Extremely sensitive, good looking, feel great in hand. The service I got was good, no complaints here with service. I did have to wait about 2 months for one of the rods, but I was told that up front. The others all came within 2 weeks. Their service may have been poor in the past but my recent experience was good.

   I looked at GLoomis nrx+ and a couple others. I did not like them and thought they were over priced for what they are. I did find a GLX pro spinnerbait rod I liked alot and purchased, but the rest of gloomis rods left me unimpressed, especially at those prices.

[Gnarwhal]

I think Edge has turned the corner on their customer service after going through a bad patch.  I ordered a rod on 5/31 and received it 6/7.  Rod was packaged in an extremely stout tube.  Can't wait to fish it, feels fantastic in hand.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

The St Croix mojo 6’8” mh fast is on sale at TW for $140. A better rod than the gl3 and under budget

[badfish79]

Im not familiar with the GL3's tier level, but if a Mojo is a better rod than it, there has to be a bunch of rods in the $200 range to choose from.

[Boomstick]

On 5/6/2023 at 6:16 AM, r83srock said:

My cousin used gl3 and st croix avid for years and preferred his avids. I have limited experience with loomis but had many avids myself. I feel the St. Croix victory is a step up over the old avid. 7’3” HXF rocks for jigs. 4.3 oz on my scale. 

My kid has the Full Contact Finesse (the 7'3" H/XF) and the Marshall (MH/F). Both are great rods for the price and I prefer them to my Avid X too.

[rangerjockey]

Those older GL3s were some good rods. Pretty darn close to IMX sensitivity.

If you wanted to step up to a GLX then yes, you'll feel a difference. But compared to the average

$150 dollar rod of today I don't think you'll gain anything, and you will give up Loomis quality.

[FishTank]

My sort of second hand experience with the GL2 and GL3 line has not been the best. My usual fishing buddy has a collection of these. I have fished most of them by just having them around me on his boat. To me they were a mistake by Loomis as they feel nothing like their IMX, GLX, or Bronzeback rods of the same era. I also believe the St. Croix Avid was a far better rod.

 

Over the years the rod blanks have stiffened, the cork is falling out, the rod guides on a few are either gone or cracked. They didn't have much sensitivity to begin with. Now, they have none. He also misses fish constantly.  They also do not load correctly, making casting accuracy and distance an issue. My IMX and GLX rods from the same time frame look and feel like they did when I bought them 15-20 years ago.

 

I asked a Loomis rep about his issues with these rods and all he said was.... They are an embarrassment to the Loomis name. Please send them in for warranty.  

 

Pretty much any rod around the $200 range would be better but as others have stated the St. Croix Mojo would be a good choice.  It will come pretty close to the look and feel of the GL3.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

I've still got a GL2 and GL3 that are 20+ yrs old.    Look and perform the same today as they did 20 years ago.   

 

I'm not a rod snob when it comes to sensitivity, I don't need NRX+/Conquest to feel fish bite, I've caught a bunch of toads this Spring on a IM7 Graphite from Daiwa made 25+ years ago.   Where I'm a snob is on technique specific moving bait rods.   

 

Don't fix it unless it's broke friend, the monkey is loud and persistent, but old stuff catches fish just fine.  

[FishTank]

8 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I've still got a GL2 and GL3 that are 20+ yrs old.    Look and perform the same today as they did 20 years ago.   

 

I'm not a rod snob when it comes to sensitivity, I don't need NRX+/Conquest to feel fish bite, I've caught a bunch of toads this Spring on a IM7 Graphite from Daiwa made 25+ years ago.   Where I'm a snob is on technique specific moving bait rods.   

 

Don't fix it unless it's broke friend, the monkey is loud and persistent, but old stuff catches fish just fine.  

I will be fishing with my buddy this weekend.  I will take some side by side pics of his rods. Maybe it's the way he stores them but his rods have definitely seen better days. I think to me it's the frustration of him missing fish. I can hand him a 20 year old Avid spinning rod and he turns into KVD. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

1 minute ago, FishTank said:

I will be fishing with my buddy this weekend.  I will take some side by side pics of his rods. Maybe it's the way he stores them but his rods have definitely seen better days. I think to me it's the frustration of him missing fish. I can hand him a 20 year old Avid spinning rod and he turns into KVD. 

Oh I'm sure if I started using NRX+ or Conquest level bottom contact rods, I couldn't fish with my old junk ?

 

That's like fishing with new Zillions, they ruin you.  Fishing equipment is very much about "you don't know what you're missing out on, until you do" type thing.   

 

I've got a couple of limited edition GLXs, but have never owned NRX/NRX+/Conquest rods. 

[FishTank]

4 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Oh I'm sure if I started using NRX+ or Conquest level bottom contact rods, I couldn't fish with my old junk ?

 

That's like fishing with new Zillions, they ruin you.  Fishing equipment is very much about "you don't know what you're missing out on, until you do" type thing.   

 

I've got a couple of limited edition GLXs, but have never owned NRX/NRX+/Conquest rods. 

 

When I bought my first GLX (783c),  I thought nothing could be better and then I got an NRX. After I recovered from the throat punch my wife gave me, I started down a rabbit hole and moved into the dog house. Been there ever since.

 

As far as the old rods I have goes, I like my old GLX rods better than the new GLX's. The one GLX I didn't care for was their crankbait series.  They were too sensitive and not enough bend to pin fish the way I like. There new IMX Pro rods are better IMHO. 

 

 

[rangerjockey]

49 minutes ago, FishTank said:

My sort of second hand experience with the GL2 and GL3 line has not been the best. My usual fishing buddy has a collection of these. I have fished most of them by just having them around me on his boat. To me they were a mistake by Loomis as they feel nothing like their IMX, GLX, or Bronzeback rods of the same era. I also believe the St. Croix Avid was a far better rod.

 

Over the years the rod blanks have stiffened, the cork is falling out, the rod guides on a few are either gone or cracked. They didn't have much sensitivity to begin with. Now, they have none. He also misses fish constantly.  They also do not load correctly, making casting accuracy and distance an issue. My IMX and GLX rods from the same time frame look and feel like they did when I bought them 15-20 years ago.

 

I asked a Loomis rep about his issues with these rods and all he said was.... They are an embarrassment to the Loomis name. Please send them in for warranty.  

 

Pretty much any rod around the $200 range would be better but as others have stated the St. Croix Mojo would be a good choice.  It will come pretty close to the look and feel of the GL3.

 How does a rod blank stiffen over the years ? 

[FishTank]

6 minutes ago, rangerjockey said:

 How does a rod blank stiffen over the years ? 

No clue. I would think the opposite would happen. 

 

My fishing buddy thinks I out cast him and catch more fish because my reels are newer, even though I upgraded most of his old Curados with new spool bearings and serviced them.

 

He is set in his ways so to prove a point, I swapped reels with him, a Shimano Core 101MG, for one of his Curados. I put my Core on his 783C GL2 and his Curado on my GLX 783C.  We both used the same Texas rigged senko with a 1/8oz bullet weight. His reel had 12lb mono and my reel 12lb FC. I could out cast him with GLX and the Curado every time. We then swapped set ups and he could out cast me. The GL2 rod in question just doesn't load correctly anymore. I have no explanation for it.

 

With his Curado on the GL2 and all the effort he has, he might get 40' at the most. With same senko and 1/8oz weight,  I can easily get double that with the Curado and the GLX. 

 

The sad thing is, at the end of the day his shoulder is toast from using these rods. I can watch him load his arm instead of the rod all day long because of how stiff the blank is. This is the reason I bring the extra St. Croix Avid spinning rod. Once his shoulder is done, he'll start using it.