MarauderYak

I find it a little ironic that Duckett complained about E 21 giving him prototype & single run rods to test & promote; and now he's doing the same thing with his rods. Perhaps his actual production rods will be nearly identical to the rods that are out there now, but it seems hypocritical. On a side note, I fished (only about 10 minutes) with a micro guide rod & was pretty neutral on it. If you have a leader knot you'll need to keep that outside the guides to flip, but the rod seemed to cast well. If I had to guess I'd say micro guide rods will be around for 4 or 5 years, but never become a major success. That's just a guess though.

I made a post a couple of months ago saying it would be interesting to watch things with Loomis this year. With accounting, shipping, and customer service being taken over completely by Shimano there is bound to be some change. The first reason, is the same thing I've seen repeatedly in this industry. Within Shimano, there is a higher since of pride in Shimano product than in Loomis. Of course they want Loomis to succeed, but for now they just don't have the same pride in a GLX as they do in a Cumara. The second factor is that Shimano has several corporate philosophies that differ from those Loomis used to have. Both companies have always strived to produce the highest quality items, so that's the positive. But I think Loomis may suffer on some aspects (other than quality) over the next year.

Actually the guides on those CarbonLite rods are pretty expensive. The reason you see so many mid/upper end rods moving away from Fuji guides is not because of expense, it's because of availability. Fuji requires orders WAY in advance, and is notoriously difficult to work with. They can slap whatever price tag on them they choose. From a manufacturing standpoint, they're just stamped stainless guides with a roll-formed, plated metal insert. Nothing special, and far from high-end. The PVD coating adds to the cost, but is most likely necessary to keep the insert from grooving for the duration of the rod's one-year warranty...although that may fall under "normal wear and tear". I'll go on record now, and predict that these guides fare no better than the ones currently in use on the Carrot Stix. You seem to be pretty sure. I'd be willing to bet you $100 if you actually are that sure. Of course you should know I've already seen 3rd party testing results for a bunch of rods (including these and original Carrot Stix) where extensive strength tests & durability tests were conducted. I also know that Stacey King has been using CarbonLite rods for almost a year, and has had no issues despite being very rough on them. And the inserts on original Carrot Stix are chrome plated steel. The inserts on CarbonLites are PVD coated titanium-carbide. PM me to work out the details of the bet. If I wanted to wager $100 on the longevity of the guides, I would just buy a Carbonlite rod and use it for a season. I honestly don't care enough to bother. I have no interest in the Carbonlite rods, and definitely no interest in the PacBay guides it's currently sporting. I offered an opinion on the rods and guides in question, and made a prediction. If that somehow offends you, I honestly don't care. You're free to offer contrary prediction, if you'd like. Welcome to America. I'm not offended, or upset. But you were telling people how guides are made & what their quality is when you don't know what you're talking about. And I'm sure you've not used a rod with these guides in the past because they are brand new. Misleading people as if you have actual knowledge of an item is NOT the same as offering your opinion. As far as your prediction... you seemed extremely sure about it, so I thought maybe you'd like to profit from your forecasting abilities.

Like Flechero said, there is a wide range of quality levels made by Fuji and Pac Bay. If you compare apples to apples their performance is nearly identical. As I stated in another thread... The reason several companies have switched some of their rods from Fuji to Pac Bay is primarily do to availability. Now that quite a few have switched over, Fuji might start working a little better with rod companies to help them meet production schedules.

Actually the guides on those CarbonLite rods are pretty expensive. The reason you see so many mid/upper end rods moving away from Fuji guides is not because of expense, it's because of availability. Fuji requires orders WAY in advance, and is notoriously difficult to work with. They can slap whatever price tag on them they choose. From a manufacturing standpoint, they're just stamped stainless guides with a roll-formed, plated metal insert. Nothing special, and far from high-end. The PVD coating adds to the cost, but is most likely necessary to keep the insert from grooving for the duration of the rod's one-year warranty...although that may fall under "normal wear and tear". I'll go on record now, and predict that these guides fare no better than the ones currently in use on the Carrot Stix. You seem to be pretty sure. I'd be willing to bet you $100 if you actually are that sure. Of course you should know I've already seen 3rd party testing results for a bunch of rods (including these and original Carrot Stix) where extensive strength tests & durability tests were conducted. I also know that Stacey King has been using CarbonLite rods for almost a year, and has had no issues despite being very rough on them. And the inserts on original Carrot Stix are chrome plated steel. The inserts on CarbonLites are PVD coated titanium-carbide. PM me to work out the details of the bet.

Just checked, and that pricing was just a mistake. If you want a higher priced one, better get it fast. They are supposed to be on sale for $20 off.

Actually the guides on those CarbonLite rods are pretty expensive. The reason you see so many mid/upper end rods moving away from Fuji guides is not because of expense, it's because of availability. Fuji requires orders WAY in advance, and is notoriously difficult to work with.

A) Sorry if I started this in the wrong area, but I come to this section more than any other. I stated that "Iaconelli leaves Daiwa", but I should've just said they parted. I believe that Daiwa actually made the decision.

Soon to be press release... "I am excited to announce that we have signed BASS Pro Mike Iaconelli to an exclusive contract with Abu Garcia and Spiderwire. This is in addition to continuing our current Berkley line and bait sponsorship and aligns with our Pro strategy of securing the top athletes across all product categories Mike Iaconelli is one of the icons of the bass fishing world and has amassed over $1.6 million in career winnings along with being a BassMaster Classic Champion in 2003 and Angler of the Year in 2006. This opportunity was identified and cultivated by Grass Roots Marketing Manager, Tammy Cox and through her hard work, finalized the deal right before Christmas. " Might find a closeout on Daiwa Iaconelli rods soon.

I think Shimano should've "thought race cars" when they named it. Cumulus are the big puffy coulds, and the word comes from Latin meaning "heap" or "pile". Might be a super-awesome rod, but the name doesn't match. Doesn't matter at all, but it actually makes me chuckle. ;D Wow, love the rod, what is it? Oh, that's the new Shimano Pile.

Rumor is someone new just bought the rights to start making these again. Of course they'll be made at a different place then the old BB1N reels.

Actually quite a bit changed. Over the last year and a half they've undergone a very extensive retraining program on rod building. They've taken on the European market. They've eliminated the normal G Loomis sales reps as of a few weeks ago. They've also moved everything except production over to Shimano locations/systems recently. I'm not going to guess about what Gary thinks of any/all the changes, but there are a lot of changes.

I was casting one of the new Carrot Stix yesterday. I was trying braid w/ some different knots to the fluoro leader. It doesn't like any of the knots if you just drop the lure/weight, but a double uni knot will cast through the guides. Since I didn't have the same rod with larger guides, I couldn't tell exactly how the micro guides compared for casting performance, but I did seem to be getting plenty of casting distance. For me, the micro guide thing is still in the "hmmm" category (neither for or against them).

That Silstar info was true a long, long time ago, but not any more. Shakespeare actually filed suit against Silstar like 15 years ago when they broke ties.

I have a friend who works at the Incheon Banax Factory and he says they make pure fishing reels.... i might have to ask him to take me on a tour... But banax is the largest and best renowned reel company in Korea.... their own line is all manufactured in the plant in China... the only stuff they produce in incheon is OEM's for other companies. Maybe the two companies are related or my friend is blowing smoke up my arse.. but he said he could get me an employee discount on any pure fishing reel I wanted... but i don't like pure fishing.. but I am buying all of the Banax Bait-caster line just for the collection I'm actually not 100% sure right now if Banax still makes some reels for Pure; they may very well. I just know they don't make any of the Revo line, or any upper end Pflueger reels. And now that you mention it... I'm almost positive that the engineers at the company that DOES make the reels in question split off from Banax some time ago. I know they split off from one of the big factories.

Can you identify the company? Or do you have a confidentiality agreement? Is there a web site? Inquiring minds would like to know! take it from here: http://www.banax.co.kr/eng/com/com0104.asp These guys are obviously not producing Pure fishing products. There is nothing in the Banax line of reels that I saw that even remotely looks tooled anywhere close to a Revo or Patriarch. They do have a reel that looks similar to the BPS KVD sig reel. Ding, ding, ding. They DO make quite a few Quantum reels.

Can you identify the company? Or do you have a confidentiality agreement? Is there a web site? Inquiring minds would like to know! It's an engineering company based out of Korea, with a factory in China as well. They don't have a web site. They are very well known within the industry, but their name wouldn't mean anything if you don't work with sourcing goods. I wouldn't give the name out myself, but if you know anyone working for a retailer that sells these reels, the name of the company is on the case packs the reels are shipped in.

That Banax info is outdated. Banax does still make a lot of different reels for a lot of companies, but the upper end Pure fishing reels & BPS reels are not made at that factory. I've been to the factory that makes them recently. The Korean factory was just built a couple of years ago, but they've been making reels for quite a while. They've produced Pflueger reels for a long time, BPS reels for nearly as long, and helped Abu develop the Revo before they were part of Pure Fishing.

You're asking "The Sheriff of The Shimano Posse " if he's serious. Rooster, RW is not kidding. He has made that comment a number of times. He has the right to be wrong just like the rest of us. The fact that BPS buys from an outside source and has their Logo applied seems to be a point of contention. It makes no sense to me, as I have said several times. : Whether you buy BPS stuff or not makes no difference to me. I don't make a nickle one way or the other. I do think it is a LEGITIMATE option. 8-) The only time BPS "slaps" their logo on a reel is when you see the reel co-branded. For example, the KVD signature reel is made for BPS by Quantum & is an exclusive. Pretty much all retailers work with exclusive items that they can promote. But for reels like the Pro Qualifier, Extreme, etc, BPS does the same thing many companies do with fishing gear. They find a manufacturing facility, work with engineers to design platforms, decide on the specs they want, work with field testers & pros, work out the cosmetics, then have it produced. It's the same process that Abu Garcia, St Croix, Shimano, Quantum, etc. use to have their products made. Even if the company owns the factory it's the same process. The only difference is that they control the production schedule. No one ever says Shimano slaps their logo on a Cumara just because Shimano doesn't own the factory where they are made.

The same factory that makes the BPS Extreme reels also makes the Revos, several Pflueger reels, and reels for other companies as well. You will find some parts interchange and others will not. Abu, BPS, etc own the tooling for their own frames, but since all these companies are working with the same engineers, the reels tend to end up with a lot of similarities. Most every company out there uses factories that they don't own. Even the almighty Shimano uses an outside factory to make their higher end rods.

Perhaps you didn't notice it was free shipping. And MORE importantantly, it states the "max drug is 4 Kg". That's alot of drugs.

Said this in another thread, but I fished with one of these a few months ago when it was in the prototype/testing phase. I was very impressed. If the production rods are as nice I'll be getting a couple. When it comes to far exceeding current technology, I'm guessing the engineer(s) were some advanced life form using their intergalactic spacecraft design degree to advance the sport of fishing

I've held them. They look good, but they feel heavy, and the actions feel deadened.

I've used a F500 a couple of times. It takes a little getting used to. You thumb the spool itself instead of the line. I actually got to where I sort of like that though. I'd say my only complaint was pitching distance. Even with the reel as free as I could get it I could pitch further with both my Johnny Morris, and my old Curado. But I could see someone wanting the reel if they did a lot of short pitching into heavy cover. It's just not a reel I'd buy for myself.

I fished with a buddy who had several of these rods when they were still in the prototype phase. I loved them, but he actually wanted the handle to be bigger. Personal preference I guess. As far as performance, they are VERY light, and I thought the action was spot on for what I like. I was fishing a light jig on a 6'9 MH XF, and was extremely impressed. The rod loaded & unloaded exceptionally well considering the jig was at or below the minimum lure rating. The rod had good sensitivity, and I only caught 2 fish over 2 lbs, but it handled them well. I was told these production rods are slightly different though. They added a little more graphite to the butt section, and added that cross hatch on the grips. I'm planning on picking up a couple in Jan, but doubt I'll have a chance to try them out right away.