Who made who?

[Shorelunch]

I was wondering, who makes GLoomis, Shimano, Berkley, Fenwick, St Criox, etc rods? Is it a few companies or many? Gander Mountain, Galyans, etc then bid out their specs to the comapnies to make their house brand, correct?

It's a interesting industry.

[rebs]

the galyans brand rods are gl loomis blanks
I don't know about the rest

rebs

[steve(IL)]

Are you sure?

[Fred_G]

Berkley, Fenwick and Abu Garcia rods are made in Korea with materials shipped from the states.

Fred

[Mattman]

G. Loomis and St. Croix both roll and build their own rods. Both also farm out work to other secondary companies like Gander Mountain, Cabela's, Scheels and other small "chains". Regardless of what any salesman from the "chains" tells you, the blanks the "chains" rods are built on ARE NOT the same as the actual blank manufacturers proprietary blanks. Why would G. Loomis take a blank that they can sell for $150 and sell it to Bob's Pretty Good Rods for $50 and let them slap their name on it and sell it for $75? And then have all Bob's salemen telling everyone that their rod is a Loomis for 1/2 price? It does Loomis no good. It doesn't help their name or their reputation or their profit margins. The chains put out bids. Just for a construction project. Who can deliver the specified product at the lowest price, with the highest quality, on time.

Who else rolls blanks? Shikari, All Star, Graphite USA, Rouge, Rainshadow, Pacific Bay, Lamiglass, Seeker, Amtak, Quarrow, Orvis, R.L. Winston, Sage. Just off the top of my head. There are others and a few Mom & Pop outfits too. Some have their niche. Fly rods, saltwater rods, freshwater rods, all rods, just blanks, just finished rods...

Most of the really highly mass produced rods like Berkley are rolled and built overseas. Cheap labor. There are many nice blanks made overseas. Some is crap, but most are pretty good. Cheap labor is why the prices are lower.



Better to have and not need than to need and not have!

Matt Davis

[Mattman]

In addition;

Many companies make too many blanks in a run or have blanks that don't meet certain critera but the blanks aren't in the category of blemished. They can still be considered firsts. The manufacturer then sells a group of these blanks to a distributor, who signs an agreement to not release the name of the manufacturer. No Name blanks. These are then available to the custom builder through the distributor. I've bought several No Name blanks and there are some real gems out there. I've cut some down for Laker ice rods and Walleye ice rods. I've made full length rods. And, while its a pig in a poke, you can sometimes get a blank that's a really nice blank. I've bought No Names for anywhere from $6 to $15.

Then every company has blanks that have a scratch or a twist or a crook in the blank and it can't be sold as a first and it really can't be sold as a No Name first either. Most companies don't let their blems out. Too many pitfalls. St. Croix used to (as late as 2 years ago) sell their blems at a place in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. There is quite a controversy over this because on another message board a rep for St. Croix vigorously denied that this was the case two days after a really good fishing buddy I had just been on a Steelhead trip with, picked up 10 blanks (for $10 a piece) from the denied location. Some do make it to the marketplace and are sold as blems. This can be risky for the builder. What looks like a cosmetic scratch could actually be damage to the fibers and your blank will fail. But it could just as easily be OK. And you've just gotten a $125 SCV for 10 bucks!




Better to have and not need than to need and not have!

Matt Davis

[Koldfront Kraig]

I have made a half a dozen rods using st croix factory seconds from Thorne Bros. They have a bunch of seconds you can look through. They run about $15.00.

[What?]

>Berkley, Fenwick and Abu Garcia rods are made in Korea with
>materials shipped from the states.
>
>Fred

Fred, your information is incorrect. Why do you think this is so?

[billybobgates]

Southbend makes GLoomis rods, Zebco makes St. Croix, and ChefBoyArdee makes All Stars.....

[Fred_G]

I know this is correct because my sister works for Pure Fishing. Has for 30 years. Berkley, Fenwick and Abu rods have been made overseas for many years. This doesn't mean that the quality is any less. It's simply a matter of economics.

Fred