American made rods

[MattVT18]

I'm finally retiring my black and gold Tatulas. I have 3 Exprides that I really like and might get more of them to round out what I need. I've really had it on my mind to move to American made rods. Local availability and a couple of my most trusted online shops have narrowed the choices down to Cashion, ALX and maybe Hammer. One of the local shops said Cashion has discontinued the Elite series and highly recommended the Icon. I have a Cashion Elite 6'9 topwater rod I use for smaller crankbaits and poppers and like it. No experience at all with ALX or Hammer. I've read several threads about ALX but almost nothing about Cashion or Hammer. I should note that Cashion is the only one of the three that I can actually put my hands on, none of the close by shops have ALX or Hammer. Any input would be appreciated.

[Revofisher]

i have had a few hammer rods in the past i got from the tackle trap and they were good rods light and nice tapers on them. have also had a bunch of alx rods and they are great for the price and lineup they have on their rod series. enox being their most sensitive series and zolo being the workhorse series in my mind i have not tried any below the zolo line of rods but they are nice and well balanced great reel seat and a pleasure to fish with. the few hammer rods i had used the winn grip material and it took me a sec to get used to it i still prefer cork but it wasnt bad its grippy for sure. I havent used a cashion and im sure they are good rods i really dont want to knock on a rod i havent put to the test or at least fished with a few times but some of the ones i have held jut felt a tad tip hvy without a reel on them. like i said though havent fished them they might be great just need more feedback from someone that uses them. I would also look at the jewel virtus rods if you get a chance they are american made and fish very well also they are newer but they are showing up at more dealers ive noticed.

[RFeyoMN]

No experience with Cashion Rods. The Hammer rods I've had have seen limited use, and all have broken. After once through replacement, I just throw them away.

ALX makes a great rod. I have 4 Zolos, and all seem exceptional...performance and build quality. Of your 3 choices, i'd definitely go with ALX.

[ECobb91]

In what you’ve listed, ALX would be my choice. Great products and great customer service.

Cashion has amazing blanks but their quality control isn’t as good as other companies (misaligned guides, sloppy epoxy application, some exposed threads, etc). They’re good rods just if you’re picky I wouldn’t suggest them.

my first choice would be St Croix. All rods starting at the Avid are made in Wisconsin. I’m a St Croix fanboy and even now that I build my own rods, most of the blanks I use are from the St Croix factories.

[heelamonster]

I just did the same thing, switching over to American made rods. I went a couple of different routes - mixing ALX, Alpha Angler, St. Croix and used NRXs. Might as well spread the wealth! It is difficult not being able to handle the rods before using them - I had owned ALX before and was able to see the Alpha Angler in person at the Classic. That said they all make great rods and if you're not in a hurry you can research and pluck the gems from several different companies. I don't have any experience with Hammer but agree with the statements above on Cashion, and I could probably overlook those QC issues but I didn't like the grips at all either, just personal preference. The ALX and Alpha Angler rods are phenomenal for the price - I moved from a Daiwa Steez AGS to an ALX Skipper and couldn't be happier.

[86 inches]

I'm an ALX user and would recommend their rods but if you are looking at St. Croix then you might want to go thehookuptackle.com. They have a sale going on right now.

[JohnD.]

St.Croix and Cashion roll their own blanks.

[MattVT18]

Thanks for all the replies...I somehow missed St. Croix in my original post. My favorite local shop has up to the Victory line. Might give them a look as well.

[ss30378]

I did the USA made only swap about a year ago and have all Edge rods now. If you ever make it down to the Scottsboro AL/Lake Guntersville area let me know and you can try them out. I have a custom rod on a delta blank, and have multiple of the first strike, black widow and silver widow lines so there's a little bit of everything.

[MattVT18]

I did the USA made only swap about a year ago and have all Edge rods now. If you ever make it down to the Scottsboro AL/Lake Guntersville area let me know and you can try them out. I have a custom rod on a delta blank, and have multiple of the first strike, black widow and silver widow lines so there's a little bit of everything.

Thanks, I might take you up on that. I'm not down there much but my wife has family in the area so we travel that way occasionally.

[buzzzzbait88]

Thanks for all the replies...I somehow missed St. Croix in my original post. My favorite local shop has up to the Victory line. Might give them a look as well.

Just a note that not all St. Croixs are made in America. The victory is and is an awesome rod. If you're interested in higher end ones, your local shop might be able to order them for you even if they don't carry them.

[Boat4Life]

I plan to swap over to Made in the USA Rods very soon, So far I found some info: American made rods include Cajun Rods(Ohio), Lamiglas(Washington), Pride(Texas), and G-Loomis. St Croix and Falcon offer American made in their top priced rods. Still waiting to hear back from Castaway Rods.

[MattVT18]

I'm most likely going to pick up a St.Croix Victory Grunt (7'1 MH f) and a Cashion Icon 7' H F worm and jig rod. The rods I use have morphed from the 7'ers of years ago into 7'3-7'6 range. I still like a 7'-7'1 rod, they just feel right. These will primarily be swim jigs, pitching jigs texas rigs to light/moderate cover.

[buzzzzbait88]

I'm most likely going to pick up a St.Croix Victory Grunt (7'1 MH f) and a Cashion Icon 7' H F worm and jig rod. The rods I use have morphed from the 7'ers of years ago into 7'3-7'6 range. I still like a 7'-7'1 rod, they just feel right. These will primarily be swim jigs, pitching jigs texas rigs to light/moderate cover.

I have the grunt and love it! I think it would make an awesome light Texas rig rod and swimjig rod, but so far I've used it for spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and threw a weightless senko on it last weekend. I think the rod could really do about everything, Minus heavy cover

[AAtwofour]

I plan to swap over to Made in the USA Rods very soon, So far I found some info: American made rods include Cajun Rods(Ohio), Lamiglas(Washington), Pride(Texas), and G-Loomis. St Croix and Falcon offer American made in their top priced rods. Still waiting to hear back from Castaway Rods.

Falcon went away with US made rods 3-4 years ago. The Cara T7’s were the last ones. All China rods now

[ECobb91]

I plan to swap over to Made in the USA Rods very soon, So far I found some info: American made rods include Cajun Rods(Ohio), Lamiglas(Washington), Pride(Texas), and G-Loomis. St Croix and Falcon offer American made in their top priced rods. Still waiting to hear back from Castaway Rods.

St Croix is American made starting at the Avid ($200). It’s their mid level rod not top of the line

[MattVT18]

For the St. Croix guys - is the Victory worth the money over the Premier? LTB over Victory? I owned a few Premiers 30 years ago and my son has a couple of Triumph series spinning rods I picked up on clearance a few years back. Done know much about the brand.

[ECobb91]

I say yes.. the premiers use SCII graphite while the victory’s use SCIII.. what I would suggest is getting the best rod within your budget as each step up is an improvement that’s noticeable.

Generally speaking:

SCII (triumph, Premier, BassX) tends to have a softer action, and isn’t as sensitive as SCIII. Triumphs and Premiers make great rods for walleye and trout because they are more forgiving for slinging live bait and softer mouths. The bassX are just rebadged pre-2016 Mojos. They are a bit stiffer than the premiers and are great budget rods. I’ve built quite a few rods using SCII blanks (RodGeeks C2) and they are great.

SCIII (Mojo, Victory, Avid) will be crisper and a bit more sensitive than the SCII rods. Imo they are the best bang for the buck when it comes to rods. In fact, the 6’9” AvidX is my ideal unicorn rod and the one I always compare my custom rods to.

SCIV (LTB) are lighter and more sensitive than SCIII. I’ve used some older ones and they were great and imo were definitely better than the Avids..

SCV (Legends) are their flagship blanks. I’m too poor to fish them so I can’t offer much advice or experience there.

[Basswhippa]

Jewell baits Virtus are American Madrid. They apparently used to make Caras for Falcon. They have skills.

[LegendX]

I say yes.. the premiers use SCII graphite while the victory’s use SCIII.. what I would suggest is getting the best rod within your budget as each step up is an improvement that’s noticeable.

Generally speaking:

SCII (triumph, Premier, BassX) tends to have a softer action, and isn’t as sensitive as SCIII. Triumphs and Premiers make great rods for walleye and trout because they are more forgiving for slinging live bait and softer mouths. The bassX are just rebadged pre-2016 Mojos. They are a bit stiffer than the premiers and are great budget rods. I’ve built quite a few rods using SCII blanks (RodGeeks C2) and they are great.

SCIII (Mojo, Victory, Avid) will be crisper and a bit more sensitive than the SCII rods. Imo they are the best bang for the buck when it comes to rods. In fact, the 6’9” AvidX is my ideal unicorn rod and the one I always compare my custom rods to.

SCIV (LTB) are lighter and more sensitive than SCIII. I’ve used some older ones and they were great and imo were definitely better than the Avids..

SCV (Legends) are their flagship blanks. I’m too poor to fish them so I can’t offer much advice or experience there.

Good information, but not exactly true anymore.

Victory is SCIII+ which is a combination of SCIV and SCVI, it the lightest rod of the group you mentioned and at $200 gets compared to rods almost three times its retail.

Legend Tournament was released at the Classic this year with a new blank material, SCIV+. Not a light as Victory due to the higher end finishes but is getting reviewed as one of the finest rods Croix has ever made and in some cases the spinning rods are getting reviewed as the best on the market.

I was part of the testing team for each of these series.