I live in San Diego.

When I was younger, the blank brands Sabre, TruLine and Fenwick had the a pretty firm lock on the market for offshore rod blanks.

Today, the brands Seeker and Cal Star appear to have the same kind of lock on the market. My own experience with these two brands has been 100% positive so I believe they deserve their excellent reputations.

From time to time, I'll see other brands being offered, and each shop owner has their own opinions as to their quality. I can't bring myself to buy them, so I guess the marketing guys at Seeker and Cal Star did their job well.

I'm curious, however, are these brands really so much better than the competition, or is it mostly marketing? What has been your experiences with no-name blanks? Are they all made by the same company and just relabeled? Is there really a qualitive difference?

Better? Not necessarily. Different? Perhaps.

There are just so many good blanks around these days. Seeker is certainly a good maker, but so is CTS, Lamiglas, Batson, St. Croix,

As far as "no name" blanks go, I really can't say. They may come from anywhere, be around a year and then gone next week. You have to decide what it's worth, if anything, in sticking with a name brand versus something by somebody you know nothing about.

..........

Batson is my 1st choice on almost any blank (Freshwater of Offshore).

**CalStar & Seeker both make fine blanks for the California/Baja/offshore markets**
But know you have a CHOICE now like you never have had before when it comes to Blanks & Components. We here at Batson Enterprises - Rainshadow/Forecast/ALPS product lines feel that we have some of the finest products available today. For instance we developed a new series of blanks about 8 months ago ( RCLB = Rainshadow Composite Live Bait ) Blanks that I feel rival any name brand on the market , try one you will not be dissapointed. I had the pleasure of taking all 7 models on an R&D trip out of SanDiego and caught Yellowfin to yellowtail to Mahi to small rockfish and the blanks & NEW COMPONENTS performed flawlessly. We are a proven Company with Quality products for almost every market in this industry. If you ever have any questions please feel free to contact us. We are Rodbuilders & Fishermen who have a passion like no other company in the industry (IMHO).

Bill Batson
CEO
Batson Enterprises
Rainshadow/Forecast/ALPS product lines..
877-875-2381
www.batsonenterprises.com
batson@batsonenterprises.com

Hi Skip:

Your post is what I'm asking about. You say Baston is your first choice...why?

Seeker and Cal Star are always my first choice...why? In my case, I have experience with them and like them.
However, I'll be the first to admit, I started with them on the recommendation of others.
I haven't tried others. So, while I'm happy with what I get...I don't really have anything in my own experience to compare them to.

What I was hoping to get with my question is people telling me that they tried "brand-X" and found it to be better than "brand-Y" because of A, B and C.

-Dan

Hi Bill:

Thank you for responding. I'll check out your website.

-Dan

Hi Dan;

The reason I choose Batson Blanks is that I haven't been put in a situation where that I couldn't match or exceed, in most cases, an action expectation from a customer with those products available. Occaisionally, for instance, I will get a finicky Bass tournament fisherman wanting me to duplicate a specific action from a very well known manufacturer but when that person fishes with one of my Batson RX8+ rods for his specific technique he forgets the other brand and wants the Batson. As far as the Offshore blanks from Batson, I have a lot out there performing flawlessly on the east coast (VA). I was fortunate to catch & release a 250# Blue Marlin last year on a "Bumper Wrapped" Batson Rod/ Avet Reel (JX4)/30# Big Game line. We caught our limit of Yellowfin that day (crew of four) also on those rods.