I was at a local Cabelas over the weekend. I was told from a "pro" that cabelas rods are on loomis blanks. I believe it was the XML rod. He did not know what loomis blank it was. Just inquiring on his accuracy?

At one time G. Loomis made the Fish Eagle blanks for Cabelas, but these were not Loomis blanks - they were made by Loomis for Cabelas. Make sense?

Once in a while a company will use the maker's own blank line, but often the blank maker will produce a line of blanks for the seller to a completely different line of specs than what the maker offers under his own label.

Generally the Cabelas blanks have been good and offer a good value.

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Cabela's blank are a pretty good value although, like Tom said, they may be made in the Loomis (or numerous other factories) to their specs. Many, if not most, manufacturers make OEM blanks for other companies. That is how they keep their factories going.

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

I hope that the Pro did not imply that all of the Cabellas store brand rods sold in the Cabellas store were constructed on Loomis blanks. A very very small percentage of fishing rods sold at Cabellas will be constructed on a blank made in the Loomis manufacturing facility in Woodland, Washington.

Correct me if I am wrong on this but here goes.....G. Loomis was owned originally by Gary Loomis, Gary was a mastermind of graphites...
He sold part of his warehouse to Shimano but not the Loomis name {Shimano could not put the G.Loomis name on their rods} at a later date Gary Loomis sold G. Loomis to a couple of his employees which after awhile did not work out for the new owners and Gary Loomis in turn sold name and all to Shimano' and they may be making blanks and or rods for anybody at this stage of the game. It is my feeling that any of the G.Loomis blanks are not anything like the blanks Gary Loomis sold.....Gary Loomis and his G.Loomis line was a class act from the very first day he left Lamiglas to venture on his own.....Too bad the product is not the same....All of the above is my opinion with some facts known by myself but maybe not everything.

I understand that Gary is working under the G.Loomis/Shimano name in a goodwill type of spokesman at sportsmans type shows, and spending alot of his time on his love of saving the steelhead and I wish him the very best in this endever.

Tight Lines
Tight Wraps
Fishin'Stix by Fred

What I understood Gary Loomis sold out completely to Shimano but they keep him running the place (G Loomis).

[www.gloomis.com]

Gary sold part interest in G. Loomis, Inc. to Shimano after he was required to pay off the investors in the Loomis golf shaft division. Shortly thereafter, he sold the remaining interest to Shimano. He continued to work there as a spokesman and consultant for several years. He took full retirement from G Loomis, Inc., just this past year.

The very first blanks G. Loomis, Inc. ever made were for Cabelas. That goes all the way back to about 1982. He had a good business relationship with Cabelas for at least 2 decades. It was the initial orders from Cabelas that allowed him to start G. Loomis, Inc. in 1982.

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Gary Loomis is president of both Oregon and Washington CCA and has been putting a great deal of effort into getting this organization off of the ground in the two states with the objective of saving the Oregon and Washington Salmon and Steelhead. I was never been much of a fan of Loomis rods or blanks but as a result of having attended several of the CCA presentations that he has been giving all over the two states I have become a big Gary Loomis fan. He is a very effective speaker and organizer and is working very hard to save the threatened Northwest Salmon and Steelhead.

I first met Gary at the Can-Am Outdoors show in Buffalo many, many years ago. I met him again at the Cobo Hall Outdoors show, and at the first "Classic Rod" show in Grayling, Michigan (goodness, that's a long time ago), and I continued to see him at various shows where I went as a staff member of a tackle and guide shop in 1979 and into the early 80's. One of the first questions I heard him answer was why he called his rods "Composites" instead of graphites and he very patiently explained it was because they were made from several materials in addition to graphite, so from an enginering standpoint they were a composite material.

At one of the shows he literally gave me a 7' flyrod blank to "try and see what you can make of it". I made a 5-6wt on it. I still have it and will rebuild it in the near future. It is nothing like the Loomis blanks of today. It's seen a lot of blue ribbon water and a lot of blue ribbon fish.

He was, and continued to be, a class act. His business ups-and-downs didn't diminish the man, and I can only wish good things for him.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods