Purchased new from Cabela's in Jan (deal) and finally got to drop shot with it, first time out pulled on the line to unhook a bass and snap, 8" down the rod broke right off. Cabela's sez sorry, 90 day return policy, McGill Wright wants you to pay $30 to ship back to them, send additional $30 for shipping back to you after they determine it was a flaw...hmmm another $60 for an $80 rod, I don't think so. Bought my last yellow stick.
capt charlie
they are all the same color under the flashy paintjob. ;D
I did the same thing with a 7' mojo bass this year. Bought it in jan, didnt fish with it till may. Broke it doin the same thing!! on my first fish with it. St.croix wanted $20 to ship it there, and then an additional 20 to ship it back. I told them what happened and they waved the return shipping and replaced the rod for free. So.......i guess they took care of me better than McGill did u, but i would have just liked a replaced rod without the $20 shipping charge.
I was with Charlie went this happened and it wasn't a lunker that did it either. That would have eased the pain somewhat. My wife is using the rod this year and so far, so good.
When it comes to rods I have one word: Shimano. Best warranty in the business. Break it, bring it to the dealer and get a new one... really doesn't matter where you bought it either.
I own several Croix rods... love em. Broke one once... replaced for free but I had to pay the $20 shipping fee.
I also own a Palehorse rod that thedude made for me. Broke the tip off it (totally my fault.... made a 7'6" rod into a 7'2" rod). Still a great rod (dude put a new tip on it for free). He builds a top notch rod if you're interested in a custom.
ive had two of those rods broken during shipping to the gander mtn i work at , and i have had two rods come back in as returns because of the same problem, they seem hit and miss to me ive had costumers who like them and some that hate them
and i agree with waterfoul stick with shimano,st.croix, and palehorse!
I agree that Shimano makes great rods, but everywhere that used to exchange them no longer does, at least over here. BPS and Cabelas both told me i had to ship it back to Shimano.
McCarter himself :-\'
Basically for the $90, you don't buy the warranty. You want a replaced warranty? Rod is going to cost $180 now. Sound like any other companies?? You basically get a rod equal to most other companies $150-200 rods for half the price, just no warranty. Give me that over paying for two rods to get one any day.
1jav
Or, just buy a Grandt rod and get the price, quality and warranty all in one.
i wouldn't buy a high-modulus rod that didn't have a warranty. For bass fishing, high-modulus is what you want for most standard, non-moving-bait presentations as it will give you the best sensitivity and lightest overall weight (when built properly). An inherent property of high-modulus graphite unfortunately is its brittleness. They fail more than a low-modulus blank plain and simple. Companies like Loomis, st. croix, and kistler have put lot of time and money into developing proprietary weaves on the internal backing of the blanks to help add strength to the rod without adding weight - you will find these blanks are less prone to breaking. But still might. It makes sense that if you are going to spend 100+ dollars to get a warranty.
When you purchase a supposed "high modulus" rod for 80$ - the blank was probably made in china - maybe even in the same factory as other companies offerings. Its something to watch out for with the newer rods that are coming out. Seems to be a lot of flashy and colorful rods being marketed for their bling, looks or tiny guides right now. While there is nothing wrong with any of those things, they should not be the only deciding factor in purchasing a rod. You have to figure, if the MSRP on a rod is 80$ its costing the company that builds it less than 20$ in materials - maybe even less than 10 or 15.
I guess what it boils down to is - i've bought 25$ reels that have lasted me 7 years and are still going strong, i've got bargain bin baits that still catch fish, I've got a 100 pack of 4/0 hooks i bought for next to nothing that stay sharp, don't bend and work pretty well, i still use lead weights a lot too - but there's 2 things i don't ever skimp on - and that is LINE and RODS. Granted, i make them myself, but i spend around 100$ per rod in just materials and buy blanks with lifetime warranties - total rebuild cost of a broken rod (due to defect) would cost me about 20$-30$.
also - as a side note - all the higher end kistler blanks now are being made by North Fork Composites which is Gary Loomis new company.
Quote from: mikesmiph on July 14, 2010, 06:28:26 AM
Or, just buy a Grandt rod and get the price, quality and warranty all in one.
Now that's what I'm talking about! ;)
I bought a Wright and McGill Skeet Reese rod back in the spring and I don't have any complaints yet. It landed a 29lb. flat head catfish that inhaled a 5" Nemisis Sicko a couple weeks ago. It has a lot more tip than I'm used to, I have the 7'2" drop shot model, but I think if it handled that catfish, it will handle a 5lb. smallie. The only thing I don't like about it is it has a lot of tip. I have been using 7' MH BPS extreme rods for the past couple years and I'm not used to having that light of a rod. Of course my spinning reels have good drag systems and that helps alot, you just don't want to try to horse a fish with it.
I wonder if Skeet is using an 89.00 fishing rod. bet his are higher quality yellow blanks. maybe I am wrong.
going to have to borrow a Grant and compare to my Powell.
Quote from: dartag on July 14, 2010, 08:02:08 PM
I wonder if Skeet is using an 89.00 fishing rod. bet his are higher quality yellow blanks. maybe I am wrong.
going to have to borrow a Grant and compare to my Powell.
i wouldn't be surprised - one of the main reasons Ducket left carrot sticks was that they were giving him "special" rods that were not part of the production line-up yet he was lead to believe they were.
I recently picked up a Grandt All American 6'6" Drop Shot rod. Although I've managed to catch more pike on it than bass so far (really!) It's become my favorite rig along with with my St. Croix Avid.
I was down in Alabama this Spring and talked briefly with Skeet about his rods. I also heard him at D&R Sports and felt he sincerely wants to put out a rod that is high quality and affordable in today's economy. I know nothing of making a rod blank (along with a lot of other things). Don't know if they are really worth as much as some manufacturers think they should be. I know for myself I can't afford to pay hundreds of dollars for a rod that I may step on or drop over the boat. I use my rods a lot, and even though I try to be careful, they do take some abuse.
Reese's sincerity made me a believer, and I recently bought one of his rods. So far, so good. I'll let you know how it lasts after I step on it a few times.
I see in the ICAST previews that he also has put together, with Wright McGill, a new baitcaster and spinning reel.
http://www.wired2fish.com/WhatsUp.aspx?ArticleID=4010
http://www.bassfan.com/docktalk.asp?id=7379#7379
I was going to buy a couple of those rods to try. Now I am not so sure.
BD ;D
He has a new rod with micro guides coming out and it sounded like they upgraded the blank but are keeping the price point.
Quote from: Dan on July 15, 2010, 05:22:35 PM
I was down in Alabama this Spring and talked briefly with Skeet about his rods. I also heard him at D&R Sports and felt he sincerely wants to put out a rod that is high quality and affordable in today's economy. I know nothing of making a rod blank (along with a lot of other things). Don't know if they are really worth as much as some manufacturers think they should be. I know for myself I can't afford to pay hundreds of dollars for a rod that I may step on or drop over the boat. I use my rods a lot, and even though I try to be careful, they do take some abuse.
Reese's sincerity made me a believer, and I recently bought one of his rods. So far, so good. I'll let you know how it lasts after I step on it a few times.
I see in the ICAST previews that he also has put together, with Wright McGill, a new baitcaster and spinning reel.
http://www.wired2fish.com/WhatsUp.aspx?ArticleID=4010
http://www.bassfan.com/docktalk.asp?id=7379#7379
I cant say many bad things about the Skeet Reese. I bought the worm spinner bait rod. For me it makes a better Crank rod but out side of the lack of hand space been pretty good rod so far. I would buy again
Quote from: t-bone on July 16, 2010, 10:07:22 AM
He has a new rod with micro guides coming out and it sounded like they upgraded the blank but are keeping the price point.
Quote from: Dan on July 15, 2010, 05:22:35 PM
I was down in Alabama this Spring and talked briefly with Skeet about his rods. I also heard him at D&R Sports and felt he sincerely wants to put out a rod that is high quality and affordable in today's economy. I know nothing of making a rod blank (along with a lot of other things). Don't know if they are really worth as much as some manufacturers think they should be. I know for myself I can't afford to pay hundreds of dollars for a rod that I may step on or drop over the boat. I use my rods a lot, and even though I try to be careful, they do take some abuse.
Reese's sincerity made me a believer, and I recently bought one of his rods. So far, so good. I'll let you know how it lasts after I step on it a few times.
I see in the ICAST previews that he also has put together, with Wright McGill, a new baitcaster and spinning reel.
http://www.wired2fish.com/WhatsUp.aspx?ArticleID=4010
http://www.bassfan.com/docktalk.asp?id=7379#7379
$99 on the new micro setup. technically they should be cheaper though, micro-guides retail 10-15$ less than the same guides in a standard configuration.... the cost difference to a bulk manufacturer i'm sure is much less drastic - however, it should still be cheaper.
What are the benifits of having micro guides? Just curious, do you guys like them?
primarily cost and weight reduction. they weigh less than a recoil guide and cost much less. when setup properly on spinning or casting setups they will increase casting distance due to the fact the knock out pretty much all the non-forward moving momentum (waves/line slap) in the line as the line passes through them. Think of it like shooting a BB through a 12 gauge barrel compared to shooting a bb through a BB gun barrel. Downsides are that they don't pass knots very well if you using a leader and at times they can clog with cottonwood fuzz (or whatever that stuff is in the spring). I've not had too much issue with that however. I've been using them on a spinning rod as well as a couple baitcasting setups for 2 seasons now and really like them. When done correctly on a spinning rod, they really cast a mile.
I have a z-bone with micro guides and I really love it. They don't look like they should work and seem counter intuitive. One of benefits is that you'd have a hard time bending or breaking them if you step on them. Putting them in a rod locker is easier too. The was sometime similar announced at Icast this year - I think it was called microwave guide, made by the wavespin guys. Similar concept but different implementation.
the microwave is on the new castaway rods for this year. Its a funky looking spinning guide - basically a normal sized spinning guide with another much smaller guide on the same frame and positioned about a 1/2" in front of it. On micros setups for spinning rods - you still need at least 3 normal sized spinning guides to transition down to the micros. You have to do this because of the way the line archs off the spool of a spinning reel. The larger guides take the line down slowly to the point that i will easily pass through the smaller guides without slapping the blank. You don't have this issue on casting rods, so there is no reason to use anything other than the smallest guides along the entire length of the rod. In fact, think of the winding eye on your baitcaster as the first guide on the rod. Its about 2-4mm. There's no reason to go to a large double footed 12mm guide from that - might as well stick with 4mm.
Anyway - the goal behind the microwave is to help transition down to smaller guides. Kind of works like a spin-cast reel to tame the line coming off the spool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ayCppxL-x8
Skeet seemed believable when he said he uses the same exact rods as people buy and why he does it.
Regardless, when I need a new rod the past few seasons, I buy Grandt Rods (http://www.grandtrods.com). They support this site and have provided some great discounts to fellow members at the shows. They have a huge variety of fishing rods for many different techniques and types of fishing. I know who makes them and where they are made. I have 4 so far (or maybe 5, I forget since I'm slowly replacing older rods as they break or I need something new for an application and I have MadWags CRS disease).
Lifetime warranty with just the shipping cost for replacement. If you bring it to one of the shows you can get it replaced there and save the shipping.
if you want to buy a rod that will last a lifetime... buy Grandt. the ONLY way you will have to pay to replace it is if you lose it in the lake. Hands down, the best warranty in the business. I did it because I'm hard on rods. I just broke my Shimano, which is a great rod also, but I have to pay shipping. I'd rather just take it to the show and replace it free. Also, Grandt does not have a "limited" lifetime warranty. They don't care if its a manufacturer defect or if I just made a stupid accident, the replace it.
Frank
And that my fellow anglers is a huge difference. Grandt's warranty is "Unconditional" Not to mention that the rods are well constructed to take the abuse we anglers dish out.
well you should be able to take your broken shimano rod to any certified dealer and get a new one, i believe its called "destroyed on site" the dealers used to take the butt of all the broken rods they recieved and send them in to shimano for credit, but i dont think they dont have to do that anymore
i went to the outdoorsmen in jenison with a fellow angler that broke his cumara and they just gave him a new one no questions asked
It is at the dealers discretion. They do not have to exchang the rod. They can tell you to deal with Shimano.
I think you are going to start seeing alot of changes in the warranties of alot of the companies. I know G. Loomis just changed up there warranty just recently. Probably cost you $150 to get a replacement. Of course not so sure many people are buying them now that Gary is out of the picture.
Warranties are a sticky subject when it comes to rods in my opinion. In my opinion some anglers abuse the good warranties that are out there. Which is why you pay the price for the rod in the first place. Do you know how many guys I know who fish with nice rods and break them accidentally on purpose every couple of years so they can cash in on the warranty.
I would almost bet that if you bought a Palehorse rod from thedude and broke it...he would be able to pretty much tell you how you broke it just by looking at it.
Most rods will break in the first outing if it is a manufacturing defect, first fish, or rock what ever hits first :) . And most of them will break in the top 12 inches.
Any time you order a rod and it gets shipped to you I would advise the first thing you do is spool it up and flex the rod. Sometimes weird things happen in shipping. Conveyors can do a reel number on a rod with no tell tale sign of damage to the packaging.
Just my two cents
I played around with the skeeter yeller rod, it seems to have an ultra light backbone. Nothing against the rod if thats what you like, I just like shorter hooksets.
As far as warranty - I broke 2 shimano Crucials this year and they were replaced over the counter by my friends there ... I think if you develop a relationship (i.e. spend time in the aisles of BPS and are recognizable) and if you are nice, the managers have no problem going through the hoops (and there are hoops to make the BPS over the counter warranty work) to replace your rod.
With Grandt its automatic so I tend to agree - spend > $150 on a rod that has the best quality and the best warranty - I have replaced Grandt and then Shimano 3 times ( I am hard on these fellas) over the years .... so thats < $50 each for these super awesome rods and they become a better value each time I get em replaced........
PAy for quality - pay for the warranty - its worth it.
Mojo
Quote from: Mojo on August 09, 2010, 06:48:02 PM
I have replaced Grandt and then Shimano 3 times ( I am hard on these fellas)
You could break an anvil with a rubber mallet. I think you break at least 1 rod every trip... ;D
He has a way with the fishin' rods. I think that's what he told me earlier today...?
Quote from: SethV on August 09, 2010, 08:22:37 PM
You could break an anvil with a rubber mallet. I think you break at least 1 rod every trip... ;D
Funny thing is ..... you arent far off from the truth .......
Grant it if you beak a Grandt rod your wish will be granted and your rod will be replaced by Grandt. HUH! ???