2007 Rod Choice??

[mattrd]

Hey guys I was going to get a couple of new rods for this upcoming muskie season and thought I'd get a little input from some of you out there. Between a St. Croix or a G-Loomis which one would be best? I'll probably go with a 7 to 7 1/2 foot rod. Any feedback would be great.

[MuskieMojoTackle]

All rods in my boat for 2007 will be Professional Edge Custom Rods.

Keith can build whatever action you are looking for, and the pricing is VERY competitive with stock rods. He is even cheaper in some cases.

[RK]

Hiya -

Luke beat me to the punch. I've had Keith from Professional Edge building rods for me for the last couple of years, and they're outstanding. Mine are built on Diamondback blanks, but he has several other blanks he builds on too in a range of prices. As Luke said, some of his custom rods are cheaper than off the shelf production models. Plus he's just a nice guy to work with...

If you bass or walleye fish, you should check out his Diamondback spinning and casting rods too. Wow are they awesome...

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Scoot]

RK,

I spoke with Keith per your e-mail info. I can't say anything about his rods (given that my dad's a custom rod builder, I'm pretty well taken care of in the rod department), but I'd have to agree that he sure seemed like a nice guy. He sounded quite pleased that you were spreading the good word about his rods, lures, and character. Guess I can't say that I blame him!

[Dano_the_jigasaurus]

Does Keith make all his rods with those large handles (fat cork)? I guess that was the thing that made me apprehensive to purchase one of his rods b/c I am unsure that I would like such a big handle. Any opinions?

Dan

[Dano_the_jigasaurus]

Does Keith make all his rods with those large handles (fat cork)? I guess that was the thing that made me apprehensive to purchase one of his rods b/c I am unsure that I would like such a big handle. Any opinions?

Dan

[RK]

Hiya -

He can make them with standard cork too. I have some of each...

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Scoot]

You can narrow the cork to your liking with sandpaper too. Very easy to do and you can custom fit it to your hand.

[cjac]

Keith is making noise with rods he's building using the XXXH St Croix blank for the heavy rubber baits....on my purchase list for sure. Very reasonable and well constructed. He's also using the big St Croix Bass Tourney series blanks too, I think the one I saw was a heavy bass swim bait blank? Stretched out to 9 foot, pretty sweet. By the way, he's got some pretty cool new topwaters....the "Krook"...I stole one of those. Really, I paid for it.

I have a new Thorne Bros stick waiting to get used, had a heavy Avid blank stretched to 8'6" for throwing big stuff, bulldawgs, double 10s, 10 inch Weagles, etc.

Can't wait.....Chris

[BrianLucky13]

Scoot, does your dad make 8.5 footers????

[Scoot]

Sure. He can make ANY rod you can find in a store. The best way for you to order a rod from him (or any custom rod builder) is to find a rod you like the action of in a store, write the brand and model number down, then have him build one from that exact blank. Typically he can match or orten beat the store bought price, but you'll end up with exactly the product you want- the foregrip and back cork will be to your specs, the guides will be the style you request, you'll get the color thread you want, you can get your name on it, a muskie decal (or whatever decal you'd like- he's got a topless mermaid one that some guys get a kick out of ).

All this info is true of my dad, but is also true of any good rod builder who's been doing his craft for a while and is good at what he does.

[MuskieMojoTackle]

Anybody looking for a rod for tossing Pounders or Mag Dawgs next season should check out the video we shot at the Milwaukee expo last weekend with one of Keith's rods. Unbelievable!!

If you want to see it, get a hold of me in a private message and I'll direct you to it.

[esox49]

RK,

Or anyone else, what is the main difference between Keith's custom rods and a custom rod built at Thorne Bros? I was looking at getting two custom rods built this year and was wondering if there was any quality issues between the two.

[RK]

Hiya -

Boy - hard to go wrong either way Esox49. Bill and Lonnie at Thorne do awesome work.

Keith learned to build rods from Gregg Thorne. Gregg and his brother Paul started Thorne Bros., and Gregg is about as good as it gets as far as rod builders go, so Keith learned from one of the best. Gregg is now with Cortland - the company that makes Diamondbacks.

Seriously - can't lose either way.

Luke - Keith told me about lifting the bucket full of water. That's nuts... Guys will be swinging fish over the side like bass

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[MuskieMojoTackle]

Quote:

---

Luke - Keith told me about lifting the bucket full of water. That's nuts... Guys will be swinging fish over the side like bass

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

---

It was nuts. That rod loads like none other I have ever handled. And it still has a fair bit of action in the tip for a rod that is so heavy. I cant wait to toss mine.

[cjac]

Quote:

---

Luke - Keith told me about lifting the bucket full of water. That's nuts...

---

Anyone smaller than Luke would probably not have been able to get the bucket off the ground, that's how cool it is to see! Seriously, I'm not sure I could even get it off the ground.....

Regarding the rods: I just picked up my latest rod from Thorne, I had an Avid Heavy blank made into an 8'6" version. Couldn't be happier, anyone making rods has to be good, as the word on craftsmanship, good or poor, spreads quickly. I've seen a couple "basic model" price quotes from Keith, very well priced.

Chris

[Professional Edge]

To bad you couldn't see how purple Mr Mojo's face was when the bucket was coming off the ground.

The owner of the stick was standing behind the camera watching. Sure he thought we were crazy. For those that throw big baits---which is not me---it is a very nice stick.

Thanks for the nice comments.

Keith

[74mph]

I have always been interested in a custom rod but I am afraid that I would spend a lot of cash and eventually it would break. All of my store bought rods have lifetime warranties and that has paid off on several occasions weather the rod actualy broke during use or if I broke it in a door or during transport. Is there anything compareable with the hand made rods. Its an engineering fact that all rods will eventually fail if used enough. I realy like having the warranty. Let me know and maby I will feel comfortable buying a hand made. Thanks!

[DinkADunk]

Almost all builders of graphite rods use commercially available blanks and those come with a warranty, some lifetime, some one year, some in between. Many custom builders will warrent their workmanship for life (i.e. a wrap or grip fails) and offer the warranty associated with the blank. If the blank fails they'll file a claim with the blank manufacturer and if the blank is replaced they'll work with you on reworking the rod. You shouldn't expect to have your rod replaced when you smash it in the car door.

[Scoot]

At last years Rod Builder's Conclave, Gary Loomis said in a talk that all of the major rod makers will soon be dropping their warrenties on their rods. Not sure if this is true or not, but he said it. Apparently people who have rods that have a 1 year warrenty are snapping them on purpose after 11 1/2 months to get a new one replaced and a new warrenty. People who have lifetime warrenties are breaking them on purpose after a few years to get a shiny new rod. Sad. Anyway, according to what Loomis said I wouldn't worry too much about the warrenty issues. If you use a reputable rod builder he will replace a broken produce if it's the fault of the rod or rod maker. If it's your fault, you should have to pay for a new rod anyway.

BTW, many (but not all) of the warrenties only apply to failure of the blank. Slamming them in a car door won't be covered by your warrenty. ... and as I said above, if you do this, it should be fixed on your dime.