Capt.Bob

This is why they sell most every rod they make as a bare blank. They are great rods for those that aren't sure what they want, but makes it possible for those that do to have everything their way! This is very good advice, and usually very close in cost to the factory built blank of the same quality.

If you want the cheaper of the two Fenwick, if you want the best performance St Croix. I've always said the St Croix Avid is the best buy for the buck when it comes to fishing rods period, and still believe that today, if you want the very best rods available regardless of price, I would not trade one of my Legend Elites or Legend Extreme's for any rod made,,,,,,Period, I guess in my opinion that would mean you can't find a better rod at any price,,,,,,JMO

You know it is not that much more to have it your way. If I had used a standard one piece cork handle contoured like this one,instead of built up using 1/2" different type rings, and I had went with a comparable set of guides, I would have had no more in this rod than the factory Legend Elite. The recoil guides were 100 bucks which is almost double what a good set of Sic Concept guides would have been. With a standard handle the cost would be comparable to factory. Thanks for all the kind words, I will let my builder know, I was right,,,,he is that good!

So many votes for St Croix, who am I to disagree,,, they make many great rods, and I love my 6'8 and 6'3 MXF rods. If I only had one it would be 6'6" to 7', if you got the money, Legend Elite, a little less is the Avid, and I have said many times this is the best rod for the money today in my opinion. If your on a budget the Premier is very light and sensitive and available in a power and action for anything you are likely to peruse!! But don't buy one if you don't want to buy more!!!

New rod was finally completed Friday, so I got to bring my new outfit home, after stopping by one of my Smallmouth spots a breaking it in rite. Within 1 hour if its birth it landed its first Smallmouth, a 14" on a green punkin zoom tube with a 1/16 oz tube hook. Now I'll start thinking about the new rod to put my new Ci4+ 1000FA on, gonna talk to Gary at NFC Monday???

I had 50 bucks each in these two rod's in my avitar with the cork rings, and cap, plus labor all included. I had less than the price of one in both was why I bought them. He glues up the rings in the configuration and pattern you want, then reams the inner, and turns the outer. When done these rods are perfectly balanced before the cap goes on, another plus. This is his price for anyone, my discount is I get it done in less than 2 months but at his prices he cant give discounts, if you are accepted as a customer, you all get the same price. I just had a rod built, I bought and delivered the blank and all the components to him, plus had a front cork replaced on a rod that a mouse had chewed on. When the rod was done along with a repair where he had to replace a front cork on a rod, it cost me $75.00 for the total build and the repair. I gave him $100.00 and said thanks, my wait was 5 weeks, next time my wait won't be 2,,,3,,,,maybe 4 months like others. He is busy works to cheap, and ships his work all over the world. You may want to send Mike @ DVT a message and ask as he is a custom rod builder as well as reel service. Most rods it is not cost effective to buy then alter, as there are probably rods just as good already available with the components and blanks to equal what your looking for, in this case there wasn't and I ended up with two rods, for the total cost of one rod, when all was changed and done.

Obviously they don't care if that means taking advantage of those that don't abuse the warranty also. everyone should promise the world to those willing to support them, who don't misuse their warranty but make them pay for the ones that do! Because Shimano isn't going to.

I have had in the past had this happen years ago, I put mine in my gun safe that has a dehumidifier, the following weekend it worked as good as ever. What iabass said sounds like another good option, it should survive, but if under warranty I would send it back to hummingbird, even the cheap 180 I have on the Metalmissfitt has never got moisture in it and it sets out all the time, they should be water tight unless the seals are bad, and Humminbird will fix it if it is under warranty without a charge.

Ah the wait is over, and I although we couldn't do everything I wanted to, it turned out better than I would have dreamed. My build this year I wanted 1) a 6'6" MLF for Walleye rigging, and light (1/4 oz and under jig's) , and using it for Smallmouth as a light and weightless plastics and finesse work in lakes. 2) I did not want to go over 7" long with the handle but balanced rite at the line pickup. 3) sensitivity very important. 4) tip speed for hooksets on fish with hard mouths with this action and power. 5) no EYE bling like fancy wraps and lace or extra inlays. Well as soon as I seen it I was impressed. My builder "I thought" put just enough eye appeal without adding anything unnecessary to give it some great aesthetics! We did accomplish what I wanted the rod to do. It is extremely fast and sensitive. He had to add a little more rubberized cork to the handle to balance the rod where I wanted with the 1000FG in place. It was a 3.2 oz finished weight and 9.7 oz with the reel in place. But I have to say weighing almost Identical towhat my 6'3" MXF w/1000FJ Stradic on it does, this rod feels much lighter faster and is more sensitive if that is possible. The best part, for no eye candy to speak of, the cork is used to add weight for balance while giving it some eye bling, but the subtle petite harvest gold wraps with the pastel green I thought made the rod pop without adding weight, the hookeeper and label along with the first guide up from the reel seat, which received 2 wraps, and the next guide 1 wrap, and nothing after that. that was the end of any bling built into the rod. My ugly duckling if you will. Regardless how little eye candy he did on the rod, the real smile came when about an hour after picking it up and about a half dozen cast in the river above the rifles a 14" small mouth inhaled a 3" tube w/a 1/16 oz weighted tube hook and put the first bend in the rod. I was assured this was my goal and it did the job admirably. The new addition: He utilized the full advantage of the blanks taper by not skimping on the # of guides to cut weight. I am sure not everyone's color preference, but it is exactly what I wanted, subtle and just enough to slightly add a little eye apeal, without screaming BLING,,,I am happy with his choice of where and how much. With the light Sustain being 1/2 oz over my 1000 FA Ci4+ and the balance point here we did manage the 7" handle length, and the balance point is virtually the same place with the 1000FA Ci4+ in the seat. I have several custom rods but I think this has to be one of my favorite. When I started having rods built I was more about LOOK at ME, lace and wraps and inlays, and bright colors. I will say they are still nice rods, but I have a few that would have had more performance and less weight, with better components if I had not played as much on the it has to look fancy. This rod is far from fancy, but I think my builder put together as a high a performance rod as possible on this blank with comfort and ergonomics the top priority. This will be a pattern closely followed for the next rod, and as I am getting older and realizing a lot of techniques are more fatiguing than I prefer today, I am thinking about parting with several outfits. But I always see a new one I should have had. ,,,,,,a LF maybe for the Ci4+,,,,, lighter and shorter maybe,,,,, hmm. time will tell. Till I have some more water time on this rod I have plenty of time to think that over, but for now, I got Walleye and Smalmouth that need tamed with this one! My Thanks to K.R. he never ever has let me down.

You must not read any post all the way. I said I am not making these statements. Those are the findings of Gary Loomis, and St. Croix tech's, not me, (and I am quite certain they have tested their findings in their own labratories, which Gary Loomis in more than one video has has shown the closed door to, and stated he will let NO ONE IN because of the research they do in that part of his facility)!! This! As I stated not my opinion,,,,there's! I am not the failing to understand. If this was a fact I would have no problem with the way they are handling it. But unless you have other sources that say they changed the new policy, it is a fact that 1) "any rod to be covered under their warranty cannot be replaced over the counter, and now has to shipped to them!!! That waqs not the deal they made with these people at the time they took their money!! 2) The other thing they said is lifetime, not since we changed our policy, now you get a replacement and after a year that is no longer under our coverage, unless you kept the reciept we told you that you don't need!!! also not what the customer was told at the time they took their money!! I have no dog in this fight, and like I said, it is absolutely wrong, many will still benefit because they will continue to abuse it. I see many intentionally breaking a rod and having it replaced just to keep another years warranty. I hope I'm wrong, but this type of customer I am sure is what caused this breach of their contract to begin with. Those that don't abuse it are the ones that will pay for trusting and complying with the agreement between Customer and Company, at the time they made the purchase.

If it is less than a year old they will probably exchange it at BPS. If not I had my St Croix Legend Elite fixed locally for $12.00 by a local rod builder. If it is the first as in tip top most tackle shops can fix it on the spot. around 5 bucks most places.

Like has been said, a cracked guide is likely from it contacting a hard surface, and shouldn't be a consideration of the quality of any rod. I had a rod fall over I had leaning against the boat in a parking lot and broke an insert, it was a $340.00 rod and no way a faulty component. You can contact St. Croix and no one will take care of their customers better, but I would just fix it myself like Snookers said, but I would do it just have it fixed sooner as I doubt the eye would cost much or have it done, $5.00 seems to about the going rate at most tackle shops.

This is exactly why they are. To many Mike Iconellys wanna bees, high sticking and lifting fish in a boat and things like this, along with 50 lbs. braid and locked down reels, the point you make about not giving a D**n. This should be obvious by the number of members on here using the same rods and having no problems. I believe Shimano rods and the less expensive ones are the ones those that abuse their rods are breaking the most. I also believe those buying the top end more expensive ST, Croix, G. Loomis (a now Shimano company) and NFC, that are willing to pay these higher priced rod's also take much better care of their equipment, and do it for the performance, not just a warranty, than those buying the cheapest rod possible to get that Lifetime Warranty. You sir I believe are 100% correct on that point. Yes the materials are better and will take more with the higher priced rods, but all will fail prematurely when abused. Like I said early in this post, if St Croix would discontinue their Lifetime policy, I would be hard pressed to buy another brand, because I know what I am buying what I think is the best for what I want it to do. I doubt the ones this new policy affects are buying theirs for the same reason.

I won't try and prove anything, I am simply going to believe what the tech at St. Croix has told me, and what Gary Loomis explained in a video explaining how and why his new NFC rods are built tested and expected to be used, I certainly hope you do not believe pounding on an anvil has anything to do with fishing. Your comments about me being a Shimano basher is kinda funny also, my wife wishes I I would black flag Shimano. I currently own 3 Symetry's, 2 Stradic MgFB's, 2 Stradic FI's, 3 Stradic FJ's, a Stradic Ci4+ a Saros, and a Calcutta, I own them because I feel they are better than any other reel for my needs near there cost! I choose to own Lew's reels for casting reels as I believe in 60 years these are the best reels close to their cost at what they are designed for, Rods I use and choose the same way! I don't feel that way about Shimano Rods, but am not bashing. The facts are the rods they are no longer warranting, and refusing to back a warranty after customers have paid for it is not acceptable, it is failing to fullfill a contract they made with individuals for monetary gain!! PERIOD! If you bought one of their reels and they said we changed our mind, were not going to warranty them anymore, would be the same thing, By the way we'll fix it cause its a week old, but now it falls into our no warranty plan,,,,,,,,,this is more sensible than comparing a anvil to a fishing rod,,,,,Please? You compare it to building airplanes if it makes you feel like you know more than those designing fishing rods, your entitled to your opinion. Kinda like the ridiculous video thinking every rod would break at the same point, or whatever the point in breaking one rod is, but will assure you if they would have stopped 2" before the rod broke and continued with the same test over and over, it would have eventually broken at a reduced amount of flex. When a composite is chosen it is expected to do it's job within a range, and "GOOD RODS" like Gary Loomis explains in his goals for developing a rod, is to come up with a taper and a materiel, that when a finished taper is chosen will be on the edge for the purpose it is design for, and do it enough times before fatigue takes it's toll, to offer outstanding service for the average fisherman, wanting the highest performance possible. The closer it is to the edge breaking while still being able to do it's chosen job, the lighter, the more sensitive and the higher performance it will deliver, and why rods for different applications are designed with different tapers, thicknesses, and materials. There are a lot of folks on forums that post on what they see, read and think, fine. I will believe what those designing the materials and proving decade after decade, even offering lifetime warranties know what their doing. These are not comments I make or think, these were straight from those making them. like anvils being compared to fishing rods, I won't compare airplanes or the materials made for them to fishing rods either. I am quite certain The rod's I use do not use aircraft quality composites!

There is a lot of false speculation being spoken here, according to Gary Loomis, and St. Croix reps, both toting engineering degrees in composites, and both well regarded in what they do. According to them a rod can be put on a stress machine and taken to a limit just before breaking points. Some will take many more repetitions than others to that point, depending on material, thickness, and the taper they are made with some will even take the limit more times than the same testing in an exactly same dimensional blank. But they have said just because a rod will take the stress, and it is not taken close to the max at anytime, it is wearing on it, the more times you stress a rod by bending it by any amount, you are stretching (making it longer) the top side of the blank and compressing (shortening if you will) the bottom of the rod, this constant stretching and contracting of the material is like any other material, it wears on it. So if you catch 7 lbs. bass all the time, and another guy never catches over 2 lbs bass all the time, his rod is going to outlast yours. Plus according to the proffesionals, the same specs on different blanks are not allways the same, because some rods can take all the 5 lbs fish you can catch the exact same kind of rod on a different blank, can fail much sooner doing the same duty, just not right away. I was also told by a St. Croix rep, that is why some blank with one material will get a lifetime warranty and some blanks made with different won't. They expect each to take so much stress before it weakens it, in other words wears out!! But like they said every rod even built identical will have some variance. So a 5 year rod is ecpected to get as much use by the "AVERAGE USER" in that amount of time, the Lifetime blanks can take much more of this stretching and contracting of the material without taking a toll, but without abusing the rod it will take it's toll eventually!! That is what the folks with degrees making these rods say, not me. So a guy that fishes in Florida year round 4 or 5 days week is going to have the same warranty the guy that fatigues his rods 7 months out of the year 2 days a week,,,,,to say one should have the same time to take it's toll on a rod is ridiculous, same as saying I only fish 2 days a week so your stuff should last as long as mine when you fish 5 or 6 days a week?????? Shimano played the high profit game, charging extravagant markup's on their rods made in China, hoping few would hassle with the warranty and they could smile all the way to the bank with outrageous profit's, now they have to balk. This because they, in no way, with the rods we are referring to here, have anywhere near the technology, or the engineering in them, let alone the cost of materials or labor to build them, that Gary Loomis and NFC, or those now managing G. Loomis for Shimano, or St. Croix does in the rods they back with lifetime warranties, but they responsibly offer lifetime warranties that are real, and they expect their customers to use them, as they pay extra for them every time they buy one of these elite blanks.

I use mine on a Legend Extreme 6'10" MXF, where and how you fish should determine the rod you use it on. I like the Extra Fast action but many prefer the slightly slower Fast actions, either would be good choices.

That's thinking to rational,,,,

The teem Lew's Pro is a totally different reel. It is their high dollar finesse reel. The BB1 Pro and original BB1 are both primarily made for casting and retrieving crankbaits and the such. It is not nearly as good at finesse fishing where extremely sensitive feel, and the use of light weight lures are common. I would never use my Team Pro to throw cranks if I had a BB1, and would never use a BB1 for weightless plastics and finesse work if I had Team Pro. They are both nice reels and an do excelent job of what they were intended for.

X2 the warranty they offered for a rod at an inflated price should be a contract between them and the person they promised it to that was willing to pay for it. But doesn't surprise me, for the past 5 years shimano customer service has been in high speed reverse! It started with reels, and some small inexpensive parts that failed often, they used to just send me without a charge, now if it was a 2 dollar part the reel pit is they want 3 or 4 dollars to ship it also. This is very true, but only about some rods. I assure you the very finest rods with the highest performance in the world carry lifetime warranties, and most like NFC, G. Loomis (owned by Shimano now), and St Croix, say right in the warranty it is "against factory defects". I am sure that their are those who try to tell them it wasn't their fault. But on the best rods in the world the companies even then replace them for a very reasonable price. Shimano tried to sell rods like you mentioned, made in china by companies that make no namers, and inflate the price ridiculously, claiming no fault or questions asked warranty, for rods that can't come close to rods that are world class, and it drew many who bought it strictly for the warranty regardless of performance. I am not saying they were junk rods, but I am saying there are several companies doing this and selling rods that while nice, are nowhere near as good as it get's! I would never buy a rod just for a lifetime warranty, every rod I own I would buy again without the lifetime warranty, if those rods are so great why would you spend money for a rod that didn't do everything as good as they do. I think this is the kind of thinking that ruined the policy, to many claiming they did nothing and getting something for it. Many of these same models sold 6 or 7 years ago for less than 50 buck's on flea bay, but didn't have a lifetime warranty then, this should tell the fan boys something also,,,,,,but know Shimano spelled it out for you,,,,,again!

I hate em, I have one rod with split grip,,,,a 6'8" MXF LTB I bought fore 50 buck's to throw in the back of the truck under the cap so I always had a pole with me and didn't worry about hurting it. (If anyone has a full grip Legend I would be willing to trade ya) Every other rod I own is a full Cork, there mat be an accent of foam unfortunately, as my preferred material is cork. I have two Legend Extreme rods I bought new with split grips and before I used them they were off to my rod builder for full cork handle's. The split grips just feel like something never got finished, and frankly I personally think most offer a cheap unfinished look. I do own rod's capable of proving the split grip does nothing to increase sensitivity.

That is one SWEET PAYBACK any parent would,,,,,, or if you will, "should",,,,, catch an emotional moment from!!! "CONGRAT'S" on a job well done DAD!! They don't do it on their own!!!

I use a Stradic 1000 with 10# Sufix 832, I believe this is their lightest in the 832 lineup, but would not want any thinner if it wasn't, I usually use 2-4 foot of Seaguar Abrazx 4# joined with an improved blood knot. I will go to 6# Abrazx if I am targeting fish on the edge of weeds that could get me in to the weeds. I use the same size reel and line on my MLF and MXF finesse rods, I just go to 6# or 8# on those for Walleye and Smallmouth Bass.

It will be a piece of cake from now on, you got good advice from DVT as long as you take heed and keep that schimatic handy,,,,BEFORE YOU START....

I don't know what age has to do with wanting someone to like you. When I was in my 20's and 30's I was young and bullet proof 6'2" 220 lbs. no fat, and climbed the steel setting Iron like a squirrel every day, drank almost all night, and wishing we could work over time everyday, I loved it. Back then my attitude was what you see is what you get and aint much you can do about it if you don't like it. Today and after a 42' fall head first in 1991 bust'n me up pretty good, and full of arthritis, I still have to say what you see is what you get, the thing is if you don't like it today, I have to introduce you to my wittle fwiend!! didn't have to worry about take'n an azz whippen back then and I asked for one often, but I have,,,,mellowed if you will,,,,,and I definitely ain't taken one today! So yes Mac you don't have to change to free yourself from worry of who likes it!! The thing about make'n it to the crapper,,,,,it's funny how it works, I had problems a couple times after all nighters and being hungover 100' or more in the airthe next day, was pretty young then. Today I don't pull all nighters, and dang sure don't get that far from a crapper, problem solved, amazing but it doesn't mean I'm getting younger!! I geuss this just goes to show you can be full of Chit at any stage of life, some younger,,,,some older,,,,,then their are those of use that have been full of chit for long enough to have figured out how to master the daily hassle of dealing with it!!!!

That LXF would make a great Perch rod for bottom weighted standoff rig's on Erie. Like you said, there just another rod in a matched length, power, and action, to suite what is general for most users, and will perform quite well at that technique. I have found some that I prefer slight difference in for me. It is like prosumer digital SLR cameras, they have icons for different photo situations, as well as M,Tv, Av, and so on, The Pro models don't have the icon programs, but they certainly are capable of taking every bit as good a picture in any environment the cheaper models can! Same with fishing rods, I use em for what they work best for, my LTB Topwater pulls extra duty for finesse rigging and jigging when I am on foot with only one rod.