Randy Price

If I'm on the water all day then the weight of the rig is important.

When I was younger I couldn't afford nice gear. Now that I'm in my late 50's I can and I appreciate it. No, I do not necessarily catch more fish but I like the lightness and sensitivity of my SC Legend X spinning rod and the smoothness of my Shimano Stradic. I say buy what you can comfortably afford and enjoy it. Life is too short!

I'm a SC fanboy admittingly and have/or did own rods in all their lines. Like an earlier poster said the Premier Line and up are made in WI. I also was told by a SC employee that the Premier's are better made than the Mojo's but that may be just employee job saving talk too. The new/newer Mojo Bass rods are made with SC III which is a more sensitive blank than the SC II. I owned a MB casting rod in the past (it was the 68 Wacky Style rod) and it broke near the tip and it was less than 1 year old. SC did take care of me and I replaced it with an AVID X (now out of production). In all honesty it was probably my fault that it broke (in the way I landed the fish) but I've never had another SC rod break in over 20+ years. I do like supporting American jobs in WI and stop by the factory annually on my musky fishing trip. I think they make an excellent product in almost every price range and they have excellent CS.

I have a coworker selling a Caius 150 HGB LN for $ 50.00. Are they a pretty decent BC? Any of you use one? TIA..Randy

If the rods are not too badly damaged I repair them and buy an inexpensive reel put it on and give them to poor kids.

Hate to hear about the end of the AVID line. The SC AVID was the first "real nice" rod I ever had. I topped it with a 2000 Shimano Stradic FG (I believe) and caught many fish with it. I was very proud of that rig!

I bought a Fury 703 last year and returned it for a Mojo Bass. IMO the Mojo Bass was much more sensitive that the Dobyns. Plus I would prefer a rod made in Mexico than China.

Almost all of my rods NOW are SC Legend Tournament or higher. As a kid and young adult I had one Eagle Claw fiberglass casting rod and caught a ton of fish on it. I like the higher end rods for their lightness, sensitivity, and quality components but I do not know that I would go so far as to say I catch more fish with them.

Back in '07 three friends and I went to Sandy Beach Lodge a fly in fishing camp in Red Lake, ON. We were fishing on Trout Lake and were preparing for a shore lunch on a remote island when out of the woods appears a black bear. We didn't have any weapons but the bear didn't seem mean. We assumed he/she smelled our delicious shore lunch of flesh caught walleye, fried potatoes with onions and pork and beans. The bear just laid down and watch us eat. After we were done we made a pile of all the left over food and slowly got back into our boats. The bear got up and finished up our leftovers. The bear could have been one of our pet dogs. It was obvious it didn't mean any of us harm but it was still a little scary.

I can not speak to the MGL but I have a Curado 200K and have been very pleased with it. I'd buy another today if I needed one if that helps.

I, like the OP, grew up w/o a lot of money. My first rod and reel was a Zebco reel and a no name rod. I fished with it until I started mowing lawns and then bought a Daiwa Goldcast Spincast GC 80 reel and a Eagle Claw fiberglass rod. I fished with that until I was an adult. In 1998 I started a new job and my new boss was an avid fisherman. He owned a cabin on Lost Lake in St. Germain, WI. He introduced me to SC rods (AVIDS) and Shimano Stradics. I was never the same after that. He also introduced me to musky fishing which I look forward to every fall. He passed away a few years ago at a very young age. I can't look at a SC rod with a Stradic on it and not think of him.

I travel for work and have often wished that I could have brought a good quality rod with me. Have any of you guys/gals used one of SC Avid Trek Series? I've had a lot of experience with their regular Avid rods but was just wondering if the "feel" is the same? Thanks, Randy

MF to me is the most versatile. Funny growing up I used one rod for EVERYTHING and do not believe I missed that many fish.

@heartpats, I believe I got the 68 or 610 MHF.

I'd recommend the SC Victory rod and either the Daiwa Fuego LT or the Shimano Saraha or Nasci if your budget can afford it.

My understanding on the head gasket issue is that in 2012 Subaru started using a different material to solve this issue.

I've mentioned this before but I stop by the factory store at least once a year. Over the years I have bought several B Stock rods and with the exception of the S engraved (now it's a B )in a couple of places on the rod I could not tell a difference between it and a "perfect" one. The blemish's are so minor that I have never been able to find them. SC used to sell C Stock rods that had been factory repaired after someone broke the tip of the rod off but they no longer do that.

I needed to purchase a new small/midsize SUV last fall for work. I had bought my son in college a Rav4 a year earlier and he has been very happy with it so I almost bought myself a new one. However, last November new Rav4's along with pretty much every other new SUV was hard to find OR the dealer wanted $ 3K-5K over MSRP which I wasn't willing to do. My oldest son bought a 2021 Outback last March and has been very pleased with it so bought a 2021 Forester Sport. I only have 6K miles on it so far but the more I drive it the more I like it. Gas mileage has been decent and my dealer has been awesome. This is my first Subie but have a couple of co-workers that will not buy anything else.

Has anyone else noticed that Cabela's/BPS is out of stock on many mid-priced Shimano/Daiwa spinning reels? I live almost equally from the Cabela's Hoffman Estates Ill, Cabela's Sun Prairie Wis, and Gurnee, Ill BPS stores and they do not seem to have much in stock.

I believe that many of the BPS spinning reels are made by Daiwa. A couple of years ago I purchased a Johnny Morris Platinum spinning reel that was being clearanced out for Black Friday. I've been happy with it although it's not as smooth as my Shimano's.

@heartpats, got you. I wasn't knocking Dobyn's rods BTW I was just disappointed in the Fury line.

Are you settled on a Dobyn's? The reason I ask is that last year I bought a Fury 703SF and was disappointed with it. I returned it and bought a SC Mojo Bass and have been very pleased. I'm not trying to make this a SC vs Dobyn's just my experience.

To answer your question no. I'm like you I prefer to touch/examine the actual item that I'm going to purchase.

Has anyone used one of these? I am looking at the 68 ML spinning model.

Primarily SC because I think they make a great product and I usually stop by their factory once a year on the way to my musky lake. If I have any warranty issues I prefer to take care of them in person.