Rank the rods?

[OFG]

I'm shopping for a fast action, light/med rod.Setting the Loomis GLX as the standard .....how would you rank the following rods? Loomis IMX, St. Croix Legend, Cabela's XML and Bass Pro HM 85?

[skr]

I haven't used the last two extensively, but I like my Legend as well as my GLX. They are in the same ball park as far as $$$$ so they should be close. St. Croix has a 6'3" 4-10 lb ln wt. that I love for back trolling. I have a 721 for jigging that is hard to beat(just a sweet rod)IMHO. I have used the Cabelas rod(not the top of their line) that for the money I thought was a good rod.It was in the $90 range. Have a feel of the rods and see what you think!..... For what its worth, I have broken my fair share of rods, both Loomis and ST. Croix, both were good to work with as far as replacement of the rods. Not sure on Cabelas and Bass Pro on their policy. pete

[Fritz]

I have used many of the st. croix rods, From musky to walleyes and had been a big fan of them. I have had my share of breakage problems, on fish.(no car doors or stepping on them) The breakage problems promted me to find a new brand of rods. I bought a clearance rod at BPS 5 years ago. It was a HM 85 / Pro qualifier. I now own 5 HM 85 rods and until some thing goes wrong with them I will continue to buy them. They are lite, very durable, Very sensative, and the weight balance system that screws into the handle is a excellant adition to the rod. The pro-qualifier rod was reintroduced to there line this year. My fishing partners and I were very pleased to see that, and promptly ordered 8or 9 more between the 3 of us. They arn't cheap, $119.95 Plus $10.00 for the balance kit, I however am very impressed with them. If you buy from BPS they also offer a HM 85 rod from there walleye angler series. (Parson and Kavijas are in the add and were advisors on the developement of them) These rods are $99.95 and are also very good. I've got 2 of them for verticle jigging. If you go this route don't change your mind and buy a IM 8 rod for less money, stick with the HM 85s. Hope this helps. Ryan Relien

[Den]

A fish broke the rod?? many rods??? i have used many different kinds of rods, Croixs, fenwicks, shakespeares, shimanos, and even my grandkids snoopy rods, and never saw a fish break a rod. been using the croixes for 25 years, and many of the others listed, and have never had a fish break a rod yet, something is wrong with this picture . i am not trying to start anything, but i just havent had a fish break a rod on me. good luck and good fishin.
Den

[TomPGrouse]

The only St. Croix I have broken is when my 9 year old son stepped on the tip of my rod after I set it down on the bottom of the boat to net a 26 inch walleye for him! Great rods.

[Strong Fish]

Got to agree with you on that. Never broke a rod on a fish or even seen it happen. Even pulled as hard as I could for over 3 hours with a jigging rod on a 90lb sturgeon and couldn't break the rod. Must be using 20# line on a 6# jigging rod or grabbing the blank in the middle and pulling. Maybe I've just been lucky to this point.

[Juls_WI]

Eight pound Dog Fish on an ultrlight...broke the top 5 inches off the rod. It happens. Not often, but never say never..;-)

Juls

[the legend]

Any rod will break if given the opportunity!!! Once a crack (Weak point) is started ,which could be caused by just hitting the edge of the boat,it's what they scientifically call crackwave propagation!!!!!

[Northern Manitoban]

Have caught hundreds of trophy fish and have never had a fish break a rod,i have never broken a rod myself.Have seen other people with fish on that did have there rod tips break,and you know why? there drag was so tight that what else you think is going to happen.FISH ON.

[jhsny6]

Fenwick makes very good rods and I've used them for years and am very happy with them. The price is very resonable also if you compare them to G Loomis or ST Croix

[Fritz]

I also am not looking to start anything with you, however I have broke 5 St. Croix rods on fish. Three on musky, these were the premier series and I have broke two legend series on walleyes. Two of the musky rods were while using mono line, one was while using tiger braid spectra line. Both walleye rods were in cold weather with mono line. I also now a very popular guide from vilas county in WI. who will no longer use St. croix rods because of the problems he has had. I realize that many fisherman have had great success with these rods,and I am happy for them. My intent of sharing my experiance is not to ruffle any feathers or sway anyones opinion of st. croix rods, I realize that my experiances are not a common occurance but In this case I must be the exception to the rule. Good luck with all your purchases. Ryan Relien

[Fin Addict]

If you're breaking that many rods, something major is wrong. Years ago I was breaking a rod about every other month. I then noticed a spot in my rod locker that was scuffing the rods. (They all broke in the same place)The scuff area weakened the rods and they would break on the first real solid hook-up. Fixed the problem in the rod locker and I haven't broken a rod since. I have also seen many rods broken while casting from shore for salmon in the fall. Line that is rated beyond that specified on the rod, big fish and either a poorly set or poor drag will do in the best of rods.

[Fritz]

I should also clarify that this was not in a short period of time. The five rod that I broke where over, about, 10 years. I did however do two of them the same day. I was working at a sport shop in northern WI. at the end of 80's and early 90's and could buy musky rods for half price. I bought quite a few St. crpix rods and still have a few of them that I use. I was fishing muskys about 30 hrs. a week and doing a bit of guiding for people staying at the campgrounds my parents ran in the summer. I have boated over 300 legal sized muskys since 1984 when I started musky fishing. since that time I have gotten very serious about walleye fishing and have been guiding on the winnebago system for sevaeral years for walleyes. I participate in a few tournament annually for walleyes and previosly participated in musky tournaments with a fair amount of success. I am mentioning all of this to try to emphasize that I didn't just start fishing. I feel I have a good Knowledge of how a rod and reel work. I understand the importance of a good drag and why the proper line size is important. I can assure you that these rods were set up properly, the drags on the reels were in good working order. All but one of the rods broke between the first and second eye. (starting from the bottom) All the rods borke on the hook set. I only rod that I feel may have been my fault was a musky rod that was rigged with a no stretch line. Other than that rod I don't have a clue why they broke. This will be the end of my posts about these rods, I wish everyone continued success with the entire St. croix line of rods. Good luck this season to all. Ryan Relien# 538