Brian's got quite a few years under his belt when it comes to rods for lure fishing and here he's very kindly written about some specialised rods, mainly at the light and medium end of the lure weight scale:-

Which end of the lure weight scale?
Firstly I should say that although I've done my share of jerkbait fishing, it's not my most favourite form of lure angling and to be brutally honest, I do prefer fishing towards the other end of the scale of lure sizes and weight.

As such, my personal, first-hand, detailed and in-depth knowledge of very specialised rods for jerkbaits and mega-lures is fairly limited. I own and have used St Croix, Fenwick and a couple of other jerkbait rods but I've never had a rod for big lures custom-built for me, so that's another area where I don't possess much first-hand knowledge, only information that's been passed on to me by fellow lure anglers, some bouquets and some brickbats, and all too numerous to mention here.

No doubt there are plenty of heavyweight jerkbait anglers out there who know a lot more than me about that style of lure fishing, and I'm sure Nick would appreciate an article or two from you too!

Medium-heavy and Smaller
On the other hand, for medium-heavy and smaller lures, the other area that's always generating a lot of interest and discussion, and I have to say, terrific results predator~wise, without wanting to appear in any way big-headed, I've got more years under my belt than I'd care to admit.

When you're talking about specialised lure rods, you're obviously talking about specialised money, sometimes very big money. Like me, you might well question whether or not these top-drawer rods do offer any real kind of value-for-money but I think that it's more than just money when it comes to buying one. But sometimes we all fancy treating ourselves to something extra special, a special blank, specially finished-off with SiC-lined (silicon carbide) rings and proper cork handle.

Mine-field
I've found that it's a real minefield though, when it comes to buying specialised rods for medium and light lure fishing. To be honest, there aren't very many really decent ones available in the UK, save the Suverän from Abu and the Samurai from Daiwa. I had hoped that it might be easier to get hold of Fenwicks in the UK now that Abu are part of the same Pure Fishing Group but, in my personal experience to date, that's not yet the case.

Buy British -- Harrison blanks and Custom Rods !
There is one British option which is very much worth considering before you take the plunge and cross the Atlantic, and that's to buy or have a custom rod built based on a Harrison blank. Harrison blanks are some of the best around and what's more they're made in the UK.

I have to say that I personally don't own a rod based on a Harrison blank but I have lure fished with one and found it most acceptable. If you want to know more about these British-made blanks and rods, then I suggest that after you've finished reading this article, you have a look at ww.harrisonrods.co.uk

But if you can't find a suitable semi-specialised lure-rod in the UK that matches your needs, you'll probably have to turn to the States or elsewhere for some alternative top-notch rods -- the St Croix, Loomis, Fenwicks and other rods of that ilk. But before I go on to talk about these types of rod, I must make mention of a couple of other American makes that are well-worth considering even though they're not what you might call top-drawer.

Beware of Bandits
I should also add a small warning to watch out for some rod designers and rod builders, whether custom or small-scale production, who make exaggerated claims for their special rods as well as charging inflated prices. If in doubt, before you take the plunge, ask around and if you get conflicting reports, stick to the safer route of buying from on of the rod suppliers I have specifically suggested. With rods it's very much a case of caveat emptor, may the buyer beware!

GRIGG and FALCON rods
Here I'm talking about lure rods from W.W. Grigg (www.wwgrigg.com) and those from Falcon which are available from BassPro, Cabelas and other Stateside tackle stores. If you want good quality blanks and maybe can't quite afford the extra expense of the high quality finish of Loomis and others, I'd suggest that you take a serious look at Grigg and Falcon rods — at the very least they afford high-spec blanks at very attractive prices.

Importing from the States
Of course, on top of the US$ price, you have got to take into account the extra cost of a transit tube, shipping, Import Duty (7%) and VAT (17.5%) but even after all that lot on top, you can still get a nice Grigg rod on your mat in the UK for much less money than a Loomis and have just as much fun with it. Because of the length, the shipping costs from the States of 1-piece rods is prohibitively expensive so choose 2-piece rods if you decide to take this route.

This may seem to be a bit of reverse-technology but if you can, it's always worth the cost of a phone call to the company first rather than just e-mailing or faxing your order, and you can then check and agree the current £/$ exchange rate and actual shipping costs etc. — it's much better to do this in person before sending your order, at least for the first time anyway.

Another very important thing to consider before importing tackle is what happens when something breaks or goes-wrong ! As far as rods are concerned it's usually a matter of replacing a whole section or even the whole rod and for that, the suppliers like to see what they're replacing and so you have to ship your damaged rod back to them in the States, with all the associated extra costs which often also include the shipping costs of the replacement parts back to you!

Grigg GX Rods
In the ranges of WW Grigg rods, the GX range is the one to go for — their "spinning" rods are for fixed spoolers and their "casting" rods are for multipliers, of course. For medium-to-heavy rods, look at their "Salmon & Steelhead" rods and if you want something a bit lighter, you're sure to find something to your liking among their Trout rods.

The good news with a Grigg rod is that you're not going to have to pay more than $100 to get what you want and depending on the £/$ exchange rate and the other factors I've mentioned, you can roughly work-out what the UK landed cost is going to be. It used to be straight $-to-£ conversion i.e. an $80 rods would cost $£80 landed in the UK, but things have gone-up quite a bit recently. I still reckon that it's good value for money.

Falcon Rods
Although Falcon rods may be regarded in the States as being mid-to-low range rods, by UK standards I reckon they're pretty good, and they're certainly a lot cheaper than many of the other specialised lure rods on the market, some of which I suspect are a touch over-priced and living on the reputation of a Brand Name.

It's certainly worth taking a look at Falcon's range in one of the mail-order outlets such as Cabelas or BassPro and if you're actually going to the States I reckon you'd be foolish not to get one — I got a very nice 9-footer for less than $50 (£40 at today's exchange rate) — OK, so maybe it's not top-notch, but it's specially designed for lure-fishing and based on a good blank.

Blank & Badge Engineering
You'd be surprised, or maybe you wouldn't, to find out just how many different brands of rods are based on the same blanks from the same factories in Taiwan, South Korea and China. so don't be fooled by this Badge Engineering.

And you have to ask yourself whether you really are getting a blank based on true a carbon fibre tape matrix or whether it's actually based on a much cheaper "amorphous" or "graphite" PMC; perhaps it's even a blend with some glass-fibre! You can't be too careful if you're about to part with a wad of cash.

As well as paying for the carbon or boron blank material, you're also paying for the quality of the mandrel on which the blank is based i.e. wrapped and the thickness and uniformity of wall-thickness, especially at the joint.

That said, there are major differences in the way various lure rod marketing companies have their blanks "finished-off". Top-notch lure rods will always have rings lined with SiC (silicon carbide), or better, and these cost "an arm and a leg" but, as they say, why spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar?

For example, in the UK, a 30 mm Sic single-leg butt ring for a lure rod will set you back about £20 or maybe more! So when you buy a top-notch rod that's got a full set of SiC rings, or even just the tip and butt rings lined with SiC, for less than £150, you know that you've done well .. or they're not SiC !.

LOOMIS, St CROIX and FENWICK
At the top end of the speciality lure rod market there's a whole bunch of top-notch tackle marketing companies that are vying for your money! The three makes that I know best from personal ownership and experience are Loomis, Fenwick and St Croix.

If you don't get the chance to visit the States (and it's not that expensive these days) and you don't know anyone who does, your alternative is to bite the bullet and have them shipped — for example BassPro, Cabelas and Rollie & Helen's Muskie Shop are all worth checking-out before you buy. Depending on which rod you choose though, this might be prohibitively expensive even for that very special treat.

Make no mistake, these rods aren't cheap to buy in the States and get shipped to the UK. It's easier to buy them in the States and to bring them back as I usually find that I or my friends are well within our "allowance".

Loomis
Loomis are probably best known for their fly-rods but they sell some very good lure rods these days — serious rods costing a serious amount of money! Even if you buy these rods while you're in the States they're going to set you back the best part of $250, or nearly £200, and you have to ask yourself, good as they undoubtedly are, are they really worth it?

A lifetime guarantee is all very well if you haven't got the hassle of shipping stuff back and forth when something breaks, which it sometimes does! I had this happen to me with one of their fly-rods, so it's been "Once bitten, twice shy" for me, but it's up to you! Anyway, have a look at what's on offer from BassPro and you'll see what I mean, and then add on shipping, Duty and VAT .... need I say more?

Fenwick
Fenwick rods are based on excellent blanks and are much more affordable than Loomis or St Croix, although still not what you'd call cheap, far from it. Depending on which one you choose (I've got the HMGAV) the cost shipped to you in the UK can be anything up to £200 at the Exchange Rate as it is as I write. But it's still worth having a look at the Fenwick rods in the Cabelas On-line catalogue (www.cabelas.com) because you can get perfectly good albeit slightly lower spec models landed in the UK for less than £150 if you're lucky. So if you're out to treat yourself to a specialised lure rod, Fenwick rods are definitely worth serious consideration.

St Croix
Built on excellent blanks, St Croix rods are very popular right across the lure fishing spectrum, from big jerkbaits to lightweight lures. You can get them from various outlets in the States and from three or four suppliers in the UK including a couple of custom rod builders.

St Croix rods do offer excellent performance at less of a price premium than Loomis, being priced roughly between Fenwick and Loomis. If you can afford that little bit extra for that special lure rod, I would certainly strongly recommend that you give St Croix very serious consideration for your purchase.

OK, so if you're going to have to import your rod from the States, it really pays to shop around the various On-line stores and to do your sums very, very carefully to make sure that you don't end-up with a big shock and a big bill.

IN CONCLUSION
Well, I hope that you've enjoyed this article and what I would say in conclusion is that if you or any of your friends, family or acquaintances go to the States even though travel is less easy or frequent these days after the dreadful events of Sept 11th., , then you should definitely consider getting that special treat of a lure rod from one of the American tackle suppliers, if only that there's a much easier solution if something breaks under the warranty.

Failing that and if you're going to have to import the rod into the UK and pay shipping, Duty and VAT, then you should do your sums very carefully and bear in mind what might happen if something breaks.

And lastly, the third option is to play safe and buy your speciality lure rod in the UK — compare the UK with Stateside prices and do the calculations to make sure that you're not going to get ripped-off — you may pay a bit more and for that you get peace-of-mind and a warranty that's worth something.
Brian Barwell

Nick's Notes: A very interesting insight into this sector of the lure rod market ! If you'd like any more help or information about these or other lures rods, please e-mail Brian or me, Nick Caine.

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