# basic rod question



## Noreaster (Jun 16, 2004)

G Loomis blanks over the last couple of years since Shimano took over, are they the same quality? Or should I be looking for a rogue or st. croix?

I am thinking about the getting a gl3 rod...

Thanks in advance for your comments


Noreaster


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## plotalot (Apr 27, 2009)

Are you looking for a blank to build or a factory rod? If I'm not mistaken Loomis blanks are no longer available to the public.


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## narfpoit (Jun 16, 2004)

North Forks composites has blanks designed by Gary Loomis I am sure with his name attached to it the quality should be on par with everything else he does.


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## Noreaster (Jun 16, 2004)

I am just trying to get a feel for the factory off the rack rods. 

Loomis has always been the gold standard off the rack or blanks, light weight and senisitive. 
I have always been tempted to get a Spin Jig Rod series for my trout fishing back bay stuff buuuut now that I have the funds it seems like Shimano has changed the action on the rods? 
They seemed a little more "buggy whippish" or forgiving? It doesn't seem like the same quality/ amount of graphite in the rod.... 
I didnt want to sway the feedback to this post so I did not provide much detail on purpose. 
But I would like to hear from others... maybe it is just me hopefully I accidentally got a GL2 in my hands and thought it was a 3... 

Any help from the experts would be appreciated before I make my purchase. 

Thanks 
Noreaster


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## Tacpayne (Dec 20, 2008)

Unfortunatly the "Gold Standard" hasnt been the standard for a long time. A lot of fisherman think so because at 1 time they were. G loomis hasnt produced cutting edge rod in a long time. When teh GL2 came out they were cutting edge top of the line. Gary Loomis hasnt been a part of G loomis for a long time now, and the G loomis blanks arent available for sale anymore. A lot of people dont even know that Loomis rods arent US made anymore, they have been shipped of shore for quite some time, since Gary sold to Shimano


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## Noreaster (Jun 16, 2004)

Thank you for your post...
I am still waiting for others to chime in. I know that Loomis sold the graphite rolling system to Shimano but as stated above its also about the type of graphite that is used ... 

Comparing apples to apples is the Loomis rod of today the same Loomis rod of yester years? 

Thanks 
Noreaster


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## dawgfsh (Mar 1, 2005)

The old P844 Gl2 was a great trout rod, nice parobolic action. The Gl3's are faster action rods. Chuck has it right, it's just not the same rod now that Shimano has taken over.

If you can find an old P844 gl2 blank, grab it!!


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## gilly21 (Feb 15, 2006)

Not exactly off the shelf but the rainshadow RX 8 series is about as cutting edge as it gets. In fact you could probably get a RSRX8 rod built for about the same as you would spend on a Loomis off the shelf GL3. Just sayin. As for the more "forgiving feel" I can only speculate but I think since there is a warrenty associated with the rod Shimano decided to make them that way and add some glass so they werent constantly replacing abused rods that were broke by dum dums who didnt know how to treat their high end super sensitive rod.


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