just cause you pay a lot does not mean that you'll get a good rod, i had two allstar's brake on me within a week of each other, the first one i broke (hooked a bait in the carpet and snapped the tip) and never dreamed of asking them to replace it,the second i broke on a hookset, now i've been told i have a "more than required hookset" but i have only broken a few rods, but there was something wrong with these rods, took it to allstar (where they build them, this was when i live in spring texas)and they said it had been abused, well if setting the hook is abuse i'm guilty, the thing is i had 5 or 6 other allstars that had never given me any trouble, i really liked the wr1 and the wr2, but this rod was junk (sorry can't remeber the model #), they said they would replace it for the cost of the blank (40$ on a 130$ rod that i had just bought), well i'lltell you this i have not bought anything from allstar in over 12 years and won't unless if its because i didn't know they are involved, the truth of the matter is there are very few rod manufactors in the world, i believe g-loomis, st.croix, fenwich still build there own blanks, the rest or most buy there blanks from overseas, so if you buy a allstar a garcia or whatever chances are the blank was made overseas, the bps, and cabelas rods made with good (same as most rods) components is probably just as good a deal

myself i have a bunch of castaway rods and kistlers (built by billy and trey kistler,) and a few homebuilt on loomis and st.croix blanks...

bottom line by a decent rodfrom Bps with a good cork handle and you'll probably be happy....jm2cfwiw

Thanks for the update MT...I won't buy from All Star either...
I'm pretty much set.on rods.I looked around at Walmart today and bought me one sweet tackle box. MAN!!!! For 37.00 here;s what I got.

1. A place for 3 plastic boxes which I store.
a. Worm hooks and asseries
b. bobbers for specks and bass
c. jigs, road runners and speck hooks etc.

2. an awesome place for hanging spinner baits 18 to be exact

3.Drawer one holds 7 bags of worms
4. Drawer two holds all my rapalas , rooster tails and rattle traps, minus ones
5. Drawer 3 holds all my extra spinnning reel spools .and .2 330 yd spools of fishing line
and top water plugs as well.

Then ..a 3 inch hidden compartment that holds some tools, digital camers , scale , registaraton etc...what a box and made by Plano

PS I checked out the updated lightening Rods..SWEEEET !! very nice..they make a nice slender 7 footer now . Last years model was to thick at the base. I wished I needed a rod.

God bless fishing buddies,
C7

hey chuck, i'm not putting allstar rods down, but i won't put them on a pedistal, their customer service was (in my experinece) very bad...

they made/built some very nice rods, but when the guy at academy told me to go by there office and they'd take care of it i was very disapointed with there response, later i met billy kistler and he had branched off from allstar to build castaway rods, i have broke some of those also[:-][&o], and recieved replacements W/O question, now castaway has been bought by pradco i think, they are, as far as i know still good rods, but i haven't bought any lately, but i have said it before and i'll say it again, billy and trey are two of the finest people you'd ever wan't to meet, visit their website i think you'll be impressed.

http://www.kistlerrods.com/fishing-rod/subdisplaya.10.10.0.0.0.0.html

hey chuck read what trey has to say on this page, truely inspiring

Yep...I like that..It's neat how people can use their talents and gifts for God's glory.Thanks MT.
c7

bass pro will have their extreme, bionic blade, and pro qualifiers for buy 2 get 1 free in a few weeks.

all good rods from what i have seen , i really like the pro qualifiers, for the money hard to beat

G-Loomis rods are nice but expensive. They come with a lifetime warranty as well. If it breaks, send it in and for $50 you get a brand new one. Since G-Loomis is too expensive for me I like the Quantum Bill Dance series rods. No complaints with them so far.

I broke a Lightning Rod and it only cost me 7.00 to send it from a tackle shop. ..I was snagged upand tried to break my rattle trap free..SNAP went the rod tip...I love the Lightning rods . I know I'm getting the new 7 foot ..maybe tonight. I can't get it out of my head. It would make a nice Carolina rod...they are actually made I believe for flipping, but I happen to like the 6 foot rods for fliipping. I get right up there on them.

key largo has a lifetime warranty carrie it to the dealer and pick out another one they are pricey but well worth it and they build their own blanks as well and look great. they take the abuse i dish out to them in salt water day after day

I like medium light action rods with some backbone on it like matzou and diawa.