Loomis or not

[Kush]

After many arguments with Madam Moneybags I am allowed now to go and get a new Bream rod. I have about $500 to spend and have heard only good things about Loomis. How do the others compare, Ian Miller etc.

Kush

[Bear]

Kush,
As biased as I may be, the Black Diamonds are well worth a look. Steve Ross was the man behind the Loomis Bream rod here in Aus and was the assembler for Loomis in Australia for many years b4 going out on his own.

Let me know if I can help out.

The SJR720 IMX is a TOP quality rod for breamin, particularly for HB chuckin. You can downgrade to the GL2 which is not so stiff and is highly capable of use with both SP and HB. They'd be my suggestions for Loomis.
The Strudwick range of rods is great. The new TPS is rapidly becoming a VERY popular rod.
The Black Diamond range are also good. As bear said...Steve knows his DohDohDohDoh, and it shows in quality rods!
I suggest you find people who have these rods and ask for a chuck of each. It all depends on how they feel in your hands.
All these rods should be inside your price range.

HTH

Dave

Mate, in that price range go for Black Diamond or Loomis they are simply the best, I use Black Diamond and they would be my first choice, I also own 12 Loomis rods so you know what my second choice would be lol.

There are other good rods on the market, but if you can afford it, then by the best

Cheers Samurai

Kush, where do you live?

Samurai

[dantheman]

Try them all out see which one you like best,,
just keep an open mind, get a few diff opinions,
cheers Dan

[Richo]

I agree get ahold of them all at some stage and have a cast, one just may feel better than the others. Im a fan of them all Struddie, Loomis and BDiamond, they`d be the 3 Id be selecting from.

cheers

[Mick]

As the other guys said, have a play with as many brands and models as you can. I currently use struddies and diawa rods but have had the opportunity to play with a number of other rods in the past including different loomis models, BD, Remington and Bream Busters.

The pick of the bunch was easily the Bream Busters with a few others following close. I know struddie are bringing out some new models paticularly aimed at bream spinning and I'm looking forward to their release.

Good luck with your choice.

[peter bear]

i had my first play with my new breamreaper over the weekend, all ican say is SENSATIONAL casts a SP and HB with no effort what so ever .
my loomis is now my backup rod .

good hunting kush on a new rod ,with that sort of money you have a lot of choises.
peter.

[Mossops Morgan]

Kush,
In your price range I would check out CBR841 Spin. It is an awesome rod and is brilliant for both hardbods and softies. They retail for around the $400 mark. You would have no trouble catching bream bass flatties trevors queenies jacks squire etc etc. And always remember with G.Loomis you get your Lifetime Expediter Warranty plus one of the best rods in the world.

Jay(MOSSOPS)Morgan

[Strewth]

Have an IMX 842-2 (made up as a light baitcaster) and a GL3 842-2 (as a spin stick). Great rods. Can throw SPs or harddbodies all day and 7' is a nice length. Handled everthing from 53 cm Bass to 45 cm Bream with no dramas.

Haven't seen the BD range, so can't comment.

Strewth

[wandtheswan]

be sure to check out the Daiwa Heartland Z range also. the guides on them are awesome
But yeah, find something you are comfortable with
cheers

I'll agree, the Heartlands are great rods...
beware though...the lack of warranty may sting when the inevitable happens!

Dave

[tryhard]

What I want to know is how you managed to get $500 out of madam moneybags - a few tips wouldn't go astray !!!

[chris_lemess]

Kush - it's the same old story. You ask this question, about a specific rod brand, and you're inevitably subjected to bias from long-time users, sponsored individuals etc.

This is all well and good and every scrap of information is definately usefull, but the best thing is to go out and play with a few yourself. I've sold rods to many a people, and it's crazy that people come in and despite it being the first light bream rod they've felt, say "oooh yes this is nice" and snap it up straight away. You really do need to compare. And that can mean a fair bit of travelling around. Perhaps the best way to decide is to head to one of the BREAM rounds and ask to feel and play with a few of the rods. I'm sure most people would oblige.

For $500 you should be able to get a very nice custom rod built; with "awesome" (as wandtheswan calls them) guides - ie. standard framed Fuji SiCs or higher - plus you can have top Fuji componentry throughout the rod as well. You'll tend to find that off-the-shelf rods often lack quality in the componentry and charge an arm and a leg for relatively simply components, whereas when you buy the bits and pieces yourself or through a rod builder you get a better deal. (Having said that; rod builders often charge an arm and a leg for labour, which puts many people off: also the fact that you can't try before you buy, you just gotta trust 'em!)
The advantage of doing this is that you can select a quality blank (Loomis offers some great ones even in the lower-end GL2 range) that is perfect for the job you want in terms of length, action etc (easy after you've tried plenty of built-up rods from different manafacturers), and select exactly how you want it built; eg. so you don't end up with a foot of useless cork sticking out the back of your reel seat on a supposedly single-handed flick rod.

Well when put on the subject of rods I do tend to ramble on, but I hope this has helped in some manner; remember to try plenty of rods - do some fishing with them, and don't succumb to the first nice *expensive* rod you try.

I'm sure you'll get plenty more recommendations of everyone's favourite rod brands; in terms of blanks, check out the full Loomis range, GraphiteUSA, Rainshadow, and any other high quality graphite blanks.

Good luck - remember, don't play around with that sort of money. I blow heaps on my gear, but a fair bit of thought goes in first, and I tend to try and work it out for myself; although others' opinions do often help!

cheers