$300-$400 rods, which to avoid?

[alanhore]

I have owned most of these rods over the last 10 years or so. Love my Loomis rods. Dobyns balance great but I cant seem to feel as much with them. The St Croix are also great built rods But just never did it for me. The Kistlers are close to the Loomis rods in feel but when the two I broke in one year were replaced they were sent down the road. My vote is to Buy a Loomis NRX in the weight range you need and give it a shot. The NRX 893, 873, and 894 are some of my favorites.

[Bonanza]

How do you decode the NRX numbers?

[kercha83]

sorry to hijack this thread but for all those guys saying "get a custom rod, they're way better", so are you guys saying that for under $200 i can get a rod a sensitive as the NRX?

[dwmgg17]

Lot of info in this thread but so many opinions are quite different from others on the same item.

[dblume]

St. croix. Warranty is still great.

[ColdSVT]

Avoid boat cleats, doors and ceiling fans lol
Oh and strap em down while at speed...seriously there are a pile of awesome rods in the 200-300 point

[buster502]

Is this based on current information? Kistler did have some issues with their Helium LTA rods years ago. Nothing I’ve heard of within the past, what, 10 years?

Bottom line, Kistler makes a great rod. Their Z-bones are second to none. I have a lot of them. Several of my buddies have ended up buying some after handling mine.

i got tuned up for about 1600.00 worth of the kistler rods one time,trey said it was my fault they broke, then later came out with he got some bad blanks,but never honored the bad rods i bought,i would never buy a kistler rod again,i feel like he knew the blanks was bad but to each his own

[River-Bandit]

i got tuned up for about 1600.00 worth of the kistler rods one time,trey said it was my fault they broke, then later came out with he got some bad blanks,but never honored the bad rods i bought,i would never buy a kistler rod again,i feel like he knew the blanks was bad but to each his own

You broke $1600.00 worth of rods at one time ???? do tell

[River-Bandit]

Avoid boat cleats, doors and ceiling fans lol
Oh and strap em down while at speed...seriously there are a pile of awesome rods in the 200-300 point

[buster502]

You broke $1600.00 worth of rods at one time ???? do tell

the rods broke about 6" back, all in about a 6 month period,so do tell

[River-Bandit]

How do you decode the NRX numbers?

First two numbers are the length in inches and the last number is the rod power

[basscat21]

sorry to hijack this thread but for all those guys saying "get a custom rod, they're way better", so are you guys saying that for under $200 i can get a rod a sensitive as the NRX?

I believe the intent is over 200 to go custom. Not under.

[River-Bandit]

the rods broke about 6" back, all in about a 6 month period,so do tell

nothing to tell on my part , you are the one with the broken rods,,,, how did they break? what were you doing ? setting the hook , boat flipping ? how many rods did you break , what series were they , how many years ago ? how old were the rods when you broke them ?

[250bassFL]

the rods broke about 6" back, all in about a 6 month period,so do tell

[buster502]

nothing to tell on my part , you are the one with the broken rods,,,, how did they break? what were you doing ? setting the hook , boat flipping ? how many rods did you break , what series were they , how many years ago ? how old were the rods when you broke them ?

this happened 10 plus years ago

[cneubass79]

the rods broke about 6" back, all in about a 6 month period,so do tell

That is weird all of them breaking in the same spot. I’m guessing these were Z-bones if you paid that kind of money for them and I think they were released about ten years ago. I have a couple of the Z-bones from the first year they were released and I still use them all the time. I’ve had a couple issues with two custom built Kistlers, one had a broken ceramic eye and the other the had the recoil eyes and the glue had leaked in between the recoil guides. They took care of both of them the second one went back twice but in the end it was taken care of. That will always be an issue when you have a rod custom built. They can’t just send you another one of the shelf but it’s also built exactly how you want it. I will say the blanks on the Z-bones are top notch and better than anything I have ever used. Never used an NRX but I bet they are comparable.

[TOUCH OF CLASS]

Ugly stick number one rod sold!

[basscat21]

Ugly stick number one rod sold!

Truth!

[OverTimeAgain]

Honestly..


Shimano owns G. Loomis. Shimano makes an incredible rod. Daiwa makes a good rod. Megabass makes a good rod.



You don't have very many high end rod manufacturers in your list man.


You will get $350 value from the Shimano expride. The most sensitive rod I've ever used is an old Shimano cumara.

[RazorCat]

St. Croix. And while I love my Legend Elite for bottom contact baits, I’ll stick to their Legend Tournament series going forward. Superbly built, super sensitive rods that can be had around the $250.00-$300.00 mark.