I'm wondering about something this morning (I have problems).

Surf guys on the East Coast, especially from Jersey north, are almost slavishly devoted to Lamiglas blanks. The G1000 series, for example, is the standard bearer for surf plugging - go to any dedicated Long Island surf rat, and mention a 1201L, and he'll know what you're talking about.

I'm not saying that Lamiglas makes bad blanks -- I've used them myself, and like them very much -- but does this devotion cause builders and surfcasters to miss out on other stuff? Everything I've seen in surf blanks from St. Croix has been excellent: as good, and frequently better, than what I see from Lami. Here's a company producing high-quality, American-made blanks, and every time I mention them, people give me a blank stare, because almost nobody uses them, at least around me. It seems to me that when it comes to the custom rod market for surf fishing, St. Croix might be the most underrated, under-appreciated, under-utilized blank maker out there.

So my question: what are builders' experience with St. Croix surf blanks? Do the guys who have used them have as high an opinion of them as I do? Or do the guys who build a lot of surf rods prefer other makers? If so, why? Is their relative lack of popularity due to price?

P.S. I have no affiliation with any of these companies, and no ulterior motive in asking this question -- I'm just curious.

Often, guys who wish to get involved in surf fishing will ask around and try to find out what others are using with success. By virtue of their many 1-piece models, Lamiglas has always been popular and not just in the northeast - they have been a mainstay in Carolinas and Virginia for decades. Still are. Success tends to build more success.

You also have to remember that up until the early 1990s, St. Croix was seen as a lower end product. It's only been in the past 15 years or so that the company has really upgraded their product lines and reached the top level. So many older surf guys still see them as being something less than top drawer. That's changing, of course, but it takes time.

I worked with Wade Cunningham on some special offset-ferrule, very fast action surf blanks in the early 1990's. They were totally different than what anybody was using on the Outer Banks of NC at that time. But they proved successful and in short order copy-cat blanks from Seeker, Loomis, All Star, etc., began showing up. Somebody has to be first. If you want to get St. Croix entrenched in your area, you'll have to be the one that gets some out there. Once guys see them and realize that they work and do the job, you'll get fewer blank stares when you mention them.

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