Hello all. I think I've got it narrowed down to those 3 blanks. It has to be 3 or 4 piece, fast action and in that price range. I was wondering if ya'll that've built on these can give me some input. It'll be used mostly for large and smallmouth (a little pike) out of a boat. I want something that can fish "out there" 40 to 80 ft. All of these purportedly have fast actions.
The FT is 2/3rds the cost of the loomis and st. croix. How would it be for this kind of application?
I also plan to put ceramics on it too. What is a good set that isn't too costly?(no Fuji for me)
Thanks very much
Andy

I own the SC IV 9' 8wt and it is definitely faster than the Cabelas FT that a friend has. I've never cast the IMX in that particular rod but they often tend to be one of the fastest rods out there. It really depends on what you like but all will do what you want them to do.

were you talking about the dan craft FT?

I own a couple 9'8wt rods, but none of the ones you have mentioned. I have not used an Dan Craft FT yet, but if it is like the rest of his blanks it deserves your consideration. They are very nice blanks.

Yeah, I meant the Dan Craft FT. I've built on one of his import blanks a few years ago and liked it. His service is top notch, and I've heard only good things about his FT series. So that's why I was thinking about going with one of his blanks.
The only thing is with the St. Croix or Loomis, you get a no questions asked warranty. I've had to use the St. Croix, Loomis, and Sage warranty's over the past few years and it has sure saved my butt.
(not that I'm a rod abuser or anything, I'm just.. well, clumsy)

Sorry Andrew, I thought you were asking about the Cabela's FT series of rods. I hear nothing but good things about Dan Craft series. Definitely worth a look.

Dan Craft and St. Croix have the same warrenty. The only one you mentioned that has a "no questions asked warrenty" is Loomis. Sage has one as well, but not mentioned in the initial post.

The replacment costs for a section from a none mainstream blank manufacturer are sometimes less than the $30 fee imposed by the no fault warrentys.

Sage, Scott, Loomis, Winston, Orvis, Thomas & Thomas, and TFO all still have no fault warrenties. The rest are warrentied against manufactures defects only.

I can attest that Dan Craft's warranty is as good as any. Let a customer borrow my 1 wt for some streamside testing and you wouldn't believe where it was broke at when he brought it back. I'm not sure Dan did either, but I had a replacement section at my door in 2 days. I did get a nice Dan Craft reamer with a flor grip handle out of the deal.