any rod come close to g-loomis.

[yourkiddin]

i know this subject probably has been beat to death but I'm sorry. i guess I'm one of those individuals that believe in buying quality equipment when it come to household appliances and vehicles. now i have your average rods and reels. maybe $40-50 on rod and same on reels. but i guess 2 things lately got me to wondering. not really a buddy but and acquaintance bought a g-loomis rod with a shimano reel. (spinning) he let me check it out but not once did i cast it. i was truly amazed at how light it felt. not sure of cost i did the research. i guess i was just as amazed at the cost. well the next day i was drifting along the lake and a nice ranger pulled up. he dropped trolling motor, picked up his rod and casted what looked like a lizard. this thing went what appeared to be at least 40-60 yards. and looked like he put little effort into it and i saw no sinkers.

 

[vegasphotoman]

Re: any rod come close to g-loomis.

Im with ya on quality if you can afford it and you put it to good use...

I've seen fly rod/reel combos made by G-loomis pull in 50lb King Salmon in Alaska.....in the mean time I was using my Alaska buddys king rod (pretty much a surf ocean rod and like 30 lb test)

if you dont lose it or it doesn't get stolen I bet it would last you 15-30 years easy....

good luck!

 

[yourkiddin]

Re: any rod come close to g-loomis.

im not really wanting to lay that much into one. so you have to shop around. the one thats really got my attention is this skeet reese rod. he is doing a good job at promoting it. it 89.00 at bass pro. but my local bait shop has them for 79.99. about to go ahead and pull the trigger. then maybe put a plueger president on it. just hate to waste my money if this combo if it dont work out.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: any rod come close to g-loomis.

Depending on what kind of fishing you want to do and how you plan to use the rod, many companies make rods of similar quality.

$300 to $400.00 isn't uncommon, it can go up a great deal from there for some types.

As price goes up, durabilty typically goes down. Most of these companies have a replacement policy, you can replace a broken rod for around $50.00.

Shimano has some good spinning reels, they start at about $150.00 (Stradic) and go up.

 

[John_S]

Re: any rod come close to g-loomis.

After I switched to more lighter rods, went back and picked up one of my ugly stick lite combos, it felt like a brick! I couldn't believe how heavy it felt. I had never thought that for the years I used it.

I like St Croix, but I am sure Loomis are fine. My son has one of their Bronzeback rods, seems fine. Shimano rods seem to get good reviews and have lifetime warrantys in their lower end models. I have a couple of them. They don't compare exactly to the same power/action rod as my St Croixs, but appear to get good quality for price. While I like the St Croix Avid series, the Premier and Mojo lines are good, Around $100.

As far as the bass fisherman, it is more of selecting the right rod, reel, and line for the specific bait you are trying to throw. Selecting the wrong expensive rod will cast like crap, as well as selecting the wrong $40 one.

 

[JB]

Re: any rod come close to g-loomis.

I haven't handled every premium quality rod out there, but my GLoomis musky rod is by far the finest rod I ever handled.

My Fenwick rods are very good value. . .not GLoomis quality, but a lot fewer bux.

If I ever get rich again I want a GLoomis walleye/crappie baitcaster and a GLoomis bass/bluegill fly rod.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: any rod come close to g-loomis.

G.Loomis is a Shimano company, Gary Loomis (the founder) sold it to them quite a few years ago. Gary just started another rod building company recently.

 

[RicMic]

Re: any rod come close to g-loomis.

Cabelas was having a big sale last year and I bought two of their XMLTi rods, sight unseen, I was a bit concerned buying them over the internet and not handling them in person. The turned out to be just awesome rods and I ended up buying a total of six of them. They were normally $180-200 rods, but I got them for about a third of that. I wasn't sure about the titanium guides, they look like the guides they used to put on super cheap rods, but then I was at a store and LOOMIS had the EXACT same guides on their
$500+ rods. Just remember that as was said, the more expensive the rod, the more likely it is to get broken, so make sure of the replacement policy.

 

[dingbat]

Re: any rod come close to g-loomis.

G.Loomis is a Shimano company, Gary Loomis (the founder) sold it to them quite a few years ago. Gary just started another rod building company recently.

Gary's new company is North Fork composites. Don't make rods, only blanks. I have built up 2 NF blanks for personal use. They are step up from the Shimano Loomis blanks.

Don't buy a rod based on the perceived guide quality. Guides are cheap and easy to change.

Beware of "Concept" rods. Many advertise but I've yet to see a "Concept" wrapped factory rod. They use "Concept" guides then wrap the rod in a conventional configuration and pawn it off as Concept.

St. Croix's, nice rods but the quality of their cork is much to be desired. Lots and lots of filler (colored patches)

Don't buy a high end rod without first using a couple different designs and manufacturers. If there is one thing I?ve learned in the rod building business is that everyone has a different idea of what the perfect rods feels like. And even then, things change as you gain experience or perfect your technique.

A Rod needs to be matched to the duty at hand. A high end rod designed to 1 oz crank baits will not be very happy throwing 1/8 oz spinner baits. I could find you 25 low cost blanks that would cast the 1/8 oz spinner better under the circumstances

 

[starcraft1982]

Re: any rod come close to g-loomis.

just a side note on the skeet reese rods mentioned.i was at my local rod repair person(i looooove stepping on my rods for some reason!)and he told me he has fixed more loose eyes/windings on those than any other three rod makers combined!he said the blank quality is good,but they put cheap eyes and use cheap winding material and cut corners to get to the under $100 market.just beware.thats all.

 

[yourkiddin]

Re: any rod come close to g-loomis.

thanks for all the info. i guess really what im wondering is do you think spending that kind of money on those quality set ups have any better casting distance. i went out today with a guy i met couple weeks ago. every reel he had was the 5500 series. i think abu garcias. and i have a quantum e400 that i have had for probably 10 years. and i was out casting him. i also have a shimano corlious. its a little loud but still out cast him. but we were casting crank baits. but i know none of mine will cast those lighter lures like top water top baits very far without getting bird nested. i think i need a really good spinning real to accomplish that. i look at that quantum energy about every day.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: any rod come close to g-loomis.

I wouldn't say as general rule you would be able to cast further based on the cost of the rod, the overall feel and performance of the rod is what you're paying for.

With bait casting reels the cost will have more of and effect, it should both cast and feel better as the price goes up.

On a spinning reel the cost may not effect the casting distance a great deal, it will increase the quality and feel, including the drag.

Casting distance depends on the rod design (may be unrelated to cost), the reel, line weight, type of line and the lure weight. Change even one of these and it may ruin the whole package.

 

[-DannyBoy-]

Re: any rod come close to g-loomis.

If you want to cast a light lure farther with baitcasting tackle you need a long rod, 7 or 7'6", lighter line (14lb or less), and you need to be able to cast overhand efficiently. I don't know what your abilities are but I can tell you that with my best rig I can cast a solid 15 feet farther overhand vs. side-arm with a Scum Frog, which is very light.

If you're wanting spinning tackle, again get a longer rod and use lighter line, but I'd look into getting a magnum spool which like it sounds, has a bigger circumference spool and allows the line to come off easier. Kevin VanDam makes a good model for around 100 dollars.

There is a lot of great advice on rod selection. Nothing beats G-Loomis in my eyes, quality or warranty. But if you don't want to drop 300 bones or more there are alternatives. I bought the highest quality spinning rod Scheels makes 2 years ago and it is STELLAR. I've heard they are made by St. Croix but not sure if that is fact or not. Anyways, they have a no questions asked return policy. If it breaks in any way you can take it in and they just give you a new one of equal value. I think BPS has a similar policy with the XPS rods...I think.

 

[dingbat]

Re: any rod come close to g-loomis.

There are many good comments here and I'll pass on a few of my own.

Here are the top 10 things you can do to increase your distance:
1. Practice
2. Practice
3. Practice
4. Practice
5. Practice
6. Practice
7. Rod
8. Rod
9. Rod
10. Reel

Your technique is the hardest to perfect but the one that pays the biggest dividends.

Generally, I spend twice as much on my rods than I do my reels. A good rod will make a junk reel look good. A junk rod will make even the best reel look bad.

I could write a novel on reels. Rarely, if ever, does price reflect the quality or performance of a reel. I?ll leave I here.