Has anybody used them? Whats the consensus on these rods. I just broke a really nice Daiwa rod, and decided that I just cant afford to have expsnive rods around when I have broken 2 in the past month. So, I just picked up a Castaway CTX rod for $50, apparently their bottom of the bucket rod, and I was wondering if it was a decent rod or not.

What areyall's opinions on this brand rod?

Billy kistler used to build those over in magnolia, he has a background with morgan mccain and allstar rods, i have a ton of his (castaway)rods, you will not meet a better person, from my understanding billy sold castaway to another manufactor, now his son, Trey builds Kistler custom rods, i believed it back a few years ago, and i still believe, for the money they are a good rod, and you'll not meet any better peoplenot sure of what the newer company is doing with the rods, but several people here still use them and i have heard no complaints

BTW, here is a link you may enjoy
http://www.kistlerrods.com/fishing-rod/subdisplaya.10.10.0.0.0.0.html

holy cow are they pricey. Not doubting their ability or construction, but jeez luise, gonna have to take out a house loan to get one of those

I have used castaway rods and they are preety good . The best place to buy them is Academy they can really give you there opinion on them . Also they have a big selection of castaway and other rods .

the origianl castaway's that billy was building sold for 65 to a little less than 200 for the best rod or flippin rod he was putting together at the timen now they are mass produced, (but still, from what i've seen a good to great rod), the kistler stuff that Trey is building is very nice, i have been dabbling in building my own, a hobby that i have always wanted to persue, you can build im6 and 7 rods for a fraction of what they are sold for, when you step up the components the price follows, like alconite guides cost 3x what most other guides run, the newer blanks that rod builders are using are extremely light, but i gotta say they outside my means[&:]... a long day for me now is 8-10 hrs a day for a day or two at the most, most trips run 4-6 hours with the exception of tournaments...but if i was putting in 5-7 days a week10-16 hrs a day i'd want the lightest thing i could get[:-], i'd say its more in-line for the serious tournament fishermen, BTW, i've been getting by for years with junk[&:]

have a great day

Get a Shimano and use there Lifetime Warranty...my local shop Replaces them over the counter no questions.