|
|
Posts: 56
Location: Maplewood, MN | I'm going to buy a new rod specifically for Mag Dogs & double 10's and 13's this year. Any opinions on the difference between these 2 rods? Both are 8'6" and ligh weight. The St. Croix is rated for 4-10 oz baits and the Fenwick for 4-12 oz. Price difference is $340 for St Croix and $220 for the Fenwick. Your thoughts? |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2089
| One is made in Wisconsin and the other is made in China. Having never felt the Fenwick, I can't comment on actions etc.. I also know St. Croix has phenomenal service but again, can't comment on the unknown. Love my "Ole Blue", and the Big Dawg will handle the baits mentioned with ease. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 697
Location: Minnetonka | Spend the extra 50 bucks and get a Thorne's custom 9-footer. The Legend Tournament and Thorne Bros Predator XH (also made by St. Croix) are both great rods that will handle any lure weight. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1188
Location: Iowa | I own the fenwick 8"6" big bait and it handles pounders, large cranks and super model cowgirls like a champ, I have it paired with a Revo Toro Winch 60. It is the best setup I have right now for larger baits. The syncork on the fenwick is amazing too.
Matt Percival
Edited by Big Perc 3/19/2010 11:46 AM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 28
| Never used a Fenwick. I have the LT "big dawg" and it is a awesome rod. I keep coming up with more baits to use with it. Large cranks, big bucktails, and large plastics. Don't let the weight rating bother you, it is rated well below the capacity of the rod. Pounders are not a problem. It is nice for the double tens as the figure 8's are easier, I usually use a "slingblade" now for the 10's, but the figure 8's are easier with the big dawg. I like buying things made in the usa, and if it is made in wisconsin all the better. just my thoughts
PMV |
|
| |
|
Posts: 547
Location: Oshkosh | I have 2 Big Dawgs and love them. Extremely versatile. I also like to buy US made items when I can.
Peter |
|
| |
|
| My son gave me an XH Big Dawg for an early fathers day present. It seems like a rwally nice rod but I am wondering how it will be for throwing lighter lures like Topraiders or Depthraiders. Does anyone have any opinions on this? Would sure appreciate some suggestions. |
|
| |
|
| My son gave me an XH Big Dawg for an early fathers day present. It seems like a really nice rod but I am wondering how it will be for throwing lighter lures like Topraiders or Depthraiders. Does anyone have any opinions on this? Would sure appreciate some suggestions. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1270
| THey are both very similiar rods and both have lifetime warranties. The difference is $120 for one being made in the USA. That's a choice you have to make for yourself if it's worth spending the extra money on one because of where it's made. |
|
| |
|
| i have the lt big dawg and thornes xh pred both are great rods, have to go us made |
|
| |
|
Posts: 910
Location: South-Central VA | DoubleD, can I borrow your son?!?!
Can't go wrong with buying stuff made in the USA!
jeremy |
|
| |
|
Posts: 28
| Double D- You'll love that "Big Dawg" for the depthraiders. Absorbs a lot of the pull and thump they have so your arms don't. I think its a little heavy for the topraiders. I always use my smaller (or what used to be a regular sized bucktail) rod for topraiders. It is the PM80mhf st croix premier. You would lose some casting distance with the big dawg, rod wouldn't load up. I don't think it loads much with the DR's either, but it sure is nice pulling them in.
PMV |
|
| |
|
| St. Croix's customer service on the lifetime warranty has to come into play on your decision. I realize that Fenwick has a lifetime warranty, but having experienced the service of both companies on their warranties I'll go with St. Croix all day long. What a great company!
Also, there's no doubt there are differences between the rods other than the $120. I can't imagine the guys wrapping threads in China give a #*^@ about the finished product. You're going to get better workmanship and attention to detail with St. Croix, even if the materials were identical (which they're not). |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1270
| Guest. materials are not identical of course. But that doesn't mean that one is better than the other. All rod companies start with pretty much the same raw materials. I would also be careful about your assumption that the people making them in China don't care about the quality and that American workers do. The Chinese workers can be every bit as good and as quality orientated as any American worker, there are also American workers who don't give a crap either. There are good and bad workers everywhere!
WHen it comes to higher end rods they are all very well made. Some have small features that others don't but the quality is there on all of them. If you want to pay more for a rod made in the USA God bless you, but don't think you are getting a better rod just because of the country of origin. I know one rod company that switched production from the USA to China and while making identical rods the defective rate dropped a huge amount once the production went to China so it can happen both ways. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | Ask a custom rod builder what blank they would prefer to build on. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1270
| Considering that Fenwick doesn't offer blanks, only finished rods, I imagine that would be a pretty easy one for the custome guy to answer! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | Bingo! You'd think a high quality blank manufacturer would want them in the hands of custom rod builders. And there's much less labor in blank manufacturing so why no blanks? Because the Chinese factory sub contracted to build them didn't want to? |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1270
| Not quite. The return and defective rates on blanks sold seperatly is much greater than on completed rods because there are a lot of "custom" rod builders out there that don't know what they are doing. Because of this selling blanks is not as lucrative as you might think it is. And have you ever seen what goes into making a blank? It's a lot more detailed than wrapping some guides on a rod.
The Chinese factories do what the companies tell them to do, they don't care if they sell complete rods or blanks. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 272
| I'm gunna go ahead and say Flambeauski's mind is made up and he's got his allegiance set.
Which is cool. St. Croix makes a heckuva rod. They were all I owned.
St. Croix kinda torqued me off when they dumped the Avid line. I just think that was a dumb move. Anyway, I loved my Avids, Premiers and Tidewaters. Definitely really loving my two Fenwicks too.
I bought the Big Bait rod, 8'6". The big difference for me which I put on another thread is the "pool-cue-ey-ness" of , the St. Croix brand. They're just stiff. I feel I can't load the rod very well. Fenwicks are very different in this regard.
I've never swung a Legend Tournament. Can't comment on them. I'm sure the Fenwick Elite Tech is a heavier weight (in ounces) than the Legend T. I notice a difference when going from my Techna AV to the Elite Tech. ET is heavier.
But, for what negligible difference there will be there, are you getting $120 more rod with the LT? I guess that's the question you need to ask. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1270
| I hope no one took my comments to imply that St. Croix doesn't make a great rod as they certainly do. |
|
| |
