Dennis Danku Wrote:
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> Hello Gary, A one foot extension on that RodGeeks
> blank would be a simple procedure and give you
> what you want.


I spoke withe him about that as an option and he'd prefer not to go that route if possible but thank you for the suggestion.

Spencer Phipps Wrote:
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> I couldn't find any 9' 6" options that are still
> available so far, if 9 ft. will work the NFC
> SA906-2 (IM) and the discontinued Rainshadow
> ISA1087 I think would be in your power range, both
> would have a bit stiffer tip then your St. Croix I
> think. I believe Schneider's still has some
> ISA1087 around at a price worth taking a chance
> on, look to the left in the Hot Specials section.
> I know the NFC blank is the right power, but with
> the stiffer, slower Pac. NW style tip.


I will take a look, thank you

Kendall Cikanek Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Spencer Phipps Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I couldn't find any 9' 6" options that are
> still
> > available so far, if 9 ft. will work the NFC
> > SA906-2 (IM) and the discontinued Rainshadow
> > ISA1087 I think would be in your power range,
> both
> > would have a bit stiffer tip then your St. Croix
> I
> > think. I believe Schneider's still has some
> > ISA1087 around at a price worth taking a chance
> > on, look to the left in the Hot Specials
> section.
> > I know the NFC blank is the right power, but
> with
> > the stiffer, slower Pac. NW style tip.
>
> It seems that we are at a point where a little
> more information on how the rod is going to be
> used will better dial in the options. If it’s
> going to be a float bobber rod versus a salmon
> spreader-estuary rod my choices would differ
> (although I have used this same rod for both
> purposes). There are about as many salmon
> techniques as Paul Simon found to leave his lover.
> Matching an out of production rod might not be as
> beneficial as matching techniques.


That's fair... I know he does float a bobber with flies in rivers sometime but when I asked him what he plans to use this rod for he said casting 1-1.5oz spoons from the shore of Lake Michigan.

The odd lack of offerings in the 3/4 to 1.5 ounce range is why I bought two of these rods when St. Croix closed them out at 60% off. They are likely the last factory builds I’ll ever buy. One I use and one has never had a reel mounted. I’m not interested in selling and they are casting configured anyway. The only options I am aware of in this weight range are in the Rainshadow RX7 series. One is a ten footer.

Lamiglas makes a 9 ft. 2 in. blank, your power rating on paper, I have never fished or handled a rod, I could see if I could find a factory rod in one of the sporting goods stores, we have some pretty good ones here. The blank is the ISS 1102H. As a side note an old Lamiglas IM700 8 1/2 ft. rod I built many years ago with a slightly lighter rating threw a 3 oz. weight completely out of a little league center field while I stood at home plate, the reel was an old Shimano TR 100G reel, not known for their casting performance, possessing all of one bearing. One cast went out of the park and across the 8 ft. elevated roadway that was near the fence.

I didn’t look at them. I have some older ones I still enjoy using, but I have no confidence in anything they’ve built since about the mid ‘90’s. I tried them again a couple of years ago. I’m not sure that sending a note in a bottle would be less effective than calling and emailing their customer service.

Spencer Phipps Wrote:
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> Lamiglas makes a 9 ft. 2 in. blank, your power
> rating on paper, I have never fished or handled a
> rod, I could see if I could find a factory rod in
> one of the sporting goods stores, we have some
> pretty good ones here. The blank is the ISS 1102H.
> As a side note an old Lamiglas IM700 8 1/2 ft. rod
> I built many years ago with a slightly lighter
> rating threw a 3 oz. weight completely out of a
> little league center field while I stood at home
> plate, the reel was an old Shimano TR 100G reel,
> not known for their casting performance,
> possessing all of one bearing. One cast went out
> of the park and across the 8 ft. elevated roadway
> that was near the fence.

Thank you, I'll see what he thinks of that option.

There are few on here who seem to know the fishing aspect of rods as well as Spencer, but I have a very different opinion on recommending Lamiglas, including the ISS. Almost every hard to explain rod breakage I’ve seen is one of there’s. A year ago last week I netted a friend’s nice Alaskan Coho. The ISS rod had landed several fish in a couple of hour period. It hadn’t been hit on anything during this time. The landing was as non-eventual as could be. The rod snapped cleanly as I lowered the fish to the bottom of the boat. It was not near being at 90 degrees, there wasn’t a flapping fish, and he was smoothly fallowing me down. It was being handled by an experienced salmon and steelhead angler. Customer service wasn’t responsive.

Kendall, I specifically said I had absolutely zero knowledge of that Infinity rod, never seen or picked one up, I just told him a blank closely matching his description of his St. Croix existed on paper in their website. Both are supposed nano resin blanks, own Si Lamiglas blanks my blank built as a factory rod the Si 90 2MC rated 10 to 12 lb. line, a medium power steelie rod, took 61.8 lbs. of pressure to break in their failure booth to fail, another earlier design nano resin rod.

I agree with Kendall about Spencer being a true walking encyclopedia on so many rods/blanks and their characteristics and have said so on more than one occasion . I also think it was clear that Kendall didn't mean in any way shape or form that Spencer intentionally recommended a blank that has proven unreliable because as Spencer made clear, he has never fished or handled that rod .

Kendall is just stating what his personal experience was with that rod and it's good to know . Thanks to both gentlemen .

I virtually dismiss rod breakage as being relevant to choosing a blank. My general thought line is: test before you build, don’t damage the rod or bend it past 90 degrees, and you can expect it to last for several decades. Only once have I personally experienced breakage as an exception to this. I’ve seen it a few more times, but not many. When this company started to get a reputation for “snapping” it seemed like it was simply because so many anglers new to powerful fish were using them. I saw bank anglers and people in guide boats high sticking with quite a bit of velocity. Then some highly experienced guys I trust swore off them. I figured it was a bad combination of fiber and resin or temporary production issues that would become an anomaly. Then, talk started about customer service being MIA. Finally, I had my own experience with that.

Here is my personal summary. I don’t have an anything close to a stochastic sample, but I have a small set of experiences. I’ve heard more pessimism regarding breakage than for any other brand. That’s very subjective, but I’m guessing this buzz is why they publicly performed destructive testing. I do hope they’ve turned any corners they needed to on this and certainly with customer service response. They are a great legacy company I’d like to buy from with confidence in the future. I wouldn’t tell anyone to not buy their product, but to be aware that some concerns about breakage and customer service have been out there. There is quite a bit of this in online forums, but that’s a stochastic sample, either.