dbass

Some really good points here. Mainly freshwater rods should be stored in a warm (above freezing) dry area. The reels should be removed, the rods should be stored vertically either by hanging from the tiptops or in a rack. The extreme cold does have a negative effect on the blanks make up, plus the guides finish can be effected by the cold. Lots of good reasons for not storing your expensive gear (no matter what you paid) in the extreme cold. Just my .02¢ Tight Lines!!!!

Bummer..... Don't try to bend or fix it yourself.... I agree with RW. I wouldn't accept it. IMPO you shouldn't either..... Good Luck & Tight Lines!!!!

vintagerod, Who says? The 4 people here, that might actually own one. They don't have more than a few outings use at most. Wait a couple of seasons and see what happens...I still haven't seen anything written about catches with these veggie stiks. Sorry IMPO no it isn't.

Whatever MFG. make it a 6'6" - 7' medlight/fast - medium/fast.....

All Fixed Now....

Nope sorry not me I don't take rod repairs from the internet, unless they are my own builds. Where are you located??? I have a list of rod builders that can do the work in every state of this nation. Good Luck & Tight Lines!!!!

You might try clearing your browsers cache.

Wow the SEARCH feature here sure is accurate..... Here try some reading from here in the forum.... http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1194371160/4#4 Good Luck & Tight Lines!!!!

I can tell you it will be expensive. You will have to package and ship the rod, or deliver it some how to a reputable repair shop. Then it's going to cost you around $10.00 per guide to remove old and replace the new guides.. Then it's going to cost you MSRP per guide (that price will be determined by the type and size of each guide). All of this can sometimes cost you more than a NEW rack rod. Good Luck & Tight Lines!!!!

Muddy, kind of like this, don't ya think....

As a rod builder who works with St.Croix's blank warranties a lot, IMPO you couldn't be more wrong. Don't think that after 60+ years of building quality rods, and working their warranties that they don't have a good idea of what happens on a blank failure, no matter what the angler said. They DO X ray all returned blanks/rods, and, then give their opinion on whether or not it will be replaced via warranty or retail purchase. Tight Lines!!!

Lard_Bass, Neither, the 6'8" would be great for light tops as mentioned above. But as Mike mentioned above for the slop and real rat fishin you will need something in the 7' range for distance, then for cranking all that weight (slop, fish, etc.) once hooked up you WILL need a broom stick backbone as in a Heavy. Just a builders .02¢ Good Luck & Tight lines!!!

The_Natural, No were in my original statement do I mention split grips. It was a general comment to begin with... I was using the term tip heavy 15+ years ago, a long time before split grips... Personally I don't care what Raul owns and he probably knows it. 8-)

The_Natural, Those numbers say the same thing I did.... :-? Hold the (Powell @ 8.5"), ( Loomis @6.25"), and (Kistler @8.5") in front of the reel seat, and the rods will feel neutral balanced... Move back and hold the rods at the reel seat (without a reel) and the rods WILL be and feel TIP HEAVY. twors, Good Luck in your rod search, for someone with an arthritis problem I would recommend a custom build..... Tight Lines!!!!

Jig Man Question, are you comparing spinning to spinning, and not spinning to baitcasting rods. If you are then that's were your going wrong. The tapers are different between spinning and baitcasting blanks. Also the Avid blank has thicker blank walls than the IMX. Some day it will all be clearer to the general public, that comparing blank features across manufacturers isn't comparing apples to apples, no two blanks are alike.

twors, All rods feel tip heavy without any reel mounted.... The balance of a system (rod/reel) comes from the weight of the rod (produced by the length), plus the offsetting weight of the reel. It is not easy to get a neutral balance on a rod/reel, when the only moveable piece is the reel and the reels weight. Meaning you would have to find the right weight reel to neutral balance a rack rod. The best way would be to build to your needs. About the best you can do setting up a light tip, would be to find the weight reel that will put enough counter weight on the reel seat (rear area of the rod), to offset the weight of the tip produced by the length of the rod, or you have to add a balancing system, then you are adding more overall weight to the rod.. Just my .02¢ Good Luck & Tight Lines!!!

Sorry, I miss-understood. I have never held one so i'm no good for you. Good Luck & Tight Lines!!!!

Why don't you just move up to the new 08 Avid 6'6" Medium Heavy??? AC66MHF lure rating is 3/8 - 1oz. If you want to go up in the St.Croix® ranks try the 4C66MHF OR 5C66MHF Legends Just a thought..

Yea I understand RW. But comparing the medium spinning blank to the medium heavy casting blank, i'm not positive but i'll bet the blank taper between the two is different, or the guide placement might have something to do with it. I can stated for sure, that I can take 2 of the exact same blanks and measure them, and find they are not identical. In the custom building world, we never expect 2 of the same blanks from the same manufacturer to be identical. That's why we have to spline each, and, static test each one for guide placement. Just some thoughts.. Tight Lines All!!!

Clicking around on that page brings me some more questions.. MBR844C, Length: 7' Power: 4 Pieces: 1 Casting GL3 Matte Black 7' 12 - 20 1/4 - 1 Fast Heavy MBR845C Length: 7' Power: 5 Pieces: 1 Casting GL3 Matte Black 7' 12 - 25 3/8 - 1 1/4 Fast Heavy I guess the point i'm trying to make is, the EC70MHF is not going to be as stiff as the Loomis 4 or 5 power Heavy.It really confuses me when I see comparisons made like that.

RW, I am probably wrong here but isn't that MBR844C nothing more than a MagBassRod 7' HF casting. I was always under the assumption that the last digit in the designation meant power rating. IE; 2=medium, 3=medium heavy, 4=heavy, 5=magheavy, etc. set me straight RW....

I am currently building on one of the new Avid blanks. The difference between the new and the old rods is the blank finish. The old models had a matte carbon finish, the new blanks have a carbon pearl gloss finish. As far as the guide counts, that sometimes depends on the length of the rod blank, but mostly how many guides it takes to keep the line up off of the rod blank when it is under a fighting load. Just my .02¢ Tight Lines!!!!

Dave, Builders have known for a long time, the manufacturers cannot take the time to spine a rod, it cuts down on production times. Hell I use a thread finish that takes a minimum of 8 hers to cure to touch, most all large manufacturers use an ultraviolet triggered finish that takes 10 minuets to cure. Also look at the grips manufacturers are using they are preformed, they don't have a lathe turning cork anywhere in the plant, even those that are now producing split grips Ha Ha what a joke they are nothing more than foregrips cut to be used as split grips. All in the word of production times....There have been some strong threads on the rod building forum, many of the old timers have started placing guides on the curve of the blank, and stating that finding the spine of a rod isn't as necessary as once believed. But the threads are mainly from builders, trying to figure out how to place the guides on the spine of the blank, when there is a dogleg or curve in the blank. The answer is usually don't worry about spining the blank, just put the guides on the curve, that it usually runs only a quart turn off of the spine. I sometimes think that is were the turn natural curve came from. IMPO the only natural curve that I have ever seen on a rod blank, was when I took posession of a bent, or, crooked rod blank. IMPO it is still a necessity to spine a rod to get the full impact of the spine in the rods setup. I have been building and finding the spine in all my custom builds for 15+ years now, and will continue to do so.. Hope this answered your question and doesn't confuse. Tight Lines All!!!!

Here try this link.. American Rodsmiths Good Luck & Tight Lines!!!!

Because the eyes are on the spline of the rod, it's natural backbone. No twist. Actually the spine has nothing to do with the backbone of a rod. That is found in the taper of the rod blank when rolled. I have posted this before and will again here... Spine: Or "Effective Spine" is an effect created by several manufacturing anomalies. The result is that the rod blank will favor bending along a particular axis when load is applied. Spiral Wrap: A method for taking the line to the bottom of the rod on conventional casting type rods. Results in a rod which will not twist under load and is inherently stable.