I just bought one of these. Are they any good? I am looking for a tough rod for salmon fishing in Alaska.

Kevin Gross
Many men will spend their whole life wondering if they made a difference. Marines dont have that problem - Ronald Regan

How do they compare to a Batson Forecast?

Kevin Gross
Many men will spend their whole life wondering if they made a difference. Marines dont have that problem - Ronald Regan

Good USA built blanks and rods, they were the entry level rods priced in the $150 range if I remember right. Best guess is they were in the RX6 area as far as performance as I've only fished a few of the lighter 4 - 7 weight rods from Diamondback. That's not a bad thing as the RX6 blanks I've used and fished are as about as good as they get in their price range, superior to many more expensive blanks i can think of IMO.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/2011 07:10PM by Spencer Phipps.

Kevin, I have never built on the All American series from Diamondback, but I have cast the finished rods. I found the heavy ones, 8, 9 and 10wt to be a bit on the slow side for my taste. They would work just fine for fishing with floating lines, but I found that I had trouble with them when trying to use a sinking line, like a Cortland QD line when in the salt fishing for Stripped Bass. It seemed to be that these type of lines, although rated for that line weight of rod, would overload the rod. The no longer made Backwater Series from Diamondback was a much stiffer rod and would fish those lines just fine.
I don't do a lot of Salmon fishing, but I would think for swinging or drifting flies the 10wt All American would work just fine. Rod has plenty of power for fighting fish, they were just a bit soft in the tip for what I was trying to use them for. If you bought them from where I think you did, you got that 10wt at a decent price, well below suggested retail. If it doesn't meet you expectations for Salmon, it will make a great rod for pike, carp, and other big warm water fish.