G-Loomis so what?

I'll never know how a G. Loomis feels, and maybe ignorance is bliss 
My salt gear is a Trevala with a Calcutta or Revo reel on 35# braid.

I gotta admit, this thread has got me thinking whether an even nicer rod will make a difference in feel when I have a hali on the other end... but for RF and lings, probably don't matter too much.

Sonny, I wanna test your G.Loomis when RF season starts !!

No problem Jonathan.

O.K.,
Since we're talking fishing tackle and it is my job to educate - here we go
Weather you go Loomis or Shakespear is purely a personal decision however when we take away all the advertisers and personal B.S. it all comes down to what you want from your gear.
First the rods,
The cost of a fishing rod is determined by the quality of the materials - The type and quality of the materials will give a rod an individual characteristic which can be altered for a specific use - Softer for reaction baits or more sensitive for a subtle nibble on a Jig or Worm. As an angler increases his ability to feel what is going on at the end of his line he increases his need for a more precise instrument just as a more experienced mechanic would have more a need for a Snap-On wrench when the home mechanic would probably get his tools from the local hardware store. The more we get into the fishing mode the more we hone our skills which creates the need for a higher quality tool (rod).
When we start to talk about pelagic rods we see that it's not about sensitivity, it's about the power capability of he rod. When we pick up the "Ugly Stick" and fight Pelagic for any amount of time we can feel ourselves getting beat up buy he fish, however when we fight the same fish on say a Seeker of the same rating we discover that we are more successful at controlling the fish and are able to head out for more action. A simple test of this is to go to your local quality tackle retailer and grab a Ugly stick and a seeker of the same rating - while holding the rod in the fighting position have a friend load the rod and bounce like a fighting fish (no need to get crazy) Do this same test with the seeker and you will see that the Ugly stick will bend into the handle and not have the proper backbone to control the fish where the Seeker will brake down the power of the fish and still have a sweet spot about mid rod to give you control.
Can you catch a fish on either rod - YES
Is one more comfortable than the other - YES
Do you NEED to buy the premium rod - NO
Will a higher quality rod help you catch more fish - Definitely

The reel is a little simpler,
The most popular reel ever made was the Mitchell 300 so why are they no longer sold?
Although the 300 was a very dependable reel it was the cause of it's own demise.
In the days of our fathers money was not come buy as easily as today and the main concern of an angler was dependability -these reels were made of mostly steel and parts simply didn't wear out. However as anglers created new techniques and angling pressure grew the need for smother and lighter gear became the focus of the modern angler. In order to feel the bite of these weary fish reels became quieter and smoother. As new materials became available these reels advanced to what we concider higher end reels.
Now we have over 20 grades of bearings and reels are made with over 20 types of materials. The modern quality reel will allow the advanced angler to feel even more than ever and with the light weight allow him to fish longer. Again as with the rods - the need for a high end reel depends on the ability of the angler. Most spend more on the reel than the rod because there are more moving parts but the best a angler can do is to match the quality of each as they work together as a single unit.
I could go on but i think we get the point.

See Ya Soon,
Eric / Yakhopper

Hey thanks a ton guys - this is all great input and advice.  I am inexperienced, but do have a feel for it.  I grew up fishing and then lost it for a lot of years, but those first years of deep sea and shore surf fishing really stuck with me.  Freshwater is new to me, and a bit of a mystery to be honest, but for the yak, it seems a better way to learn.  I don't catch much, and would like to change that, it's the only thing really holding me back from going full throttle.  I hope at some point to get out with some of you to catch some good fresh water fish, maybe some bassing.  I am trying for trout at the moment, more on principal of wanting to catch them, since they have been elusive.  My ultimate goal is to get on some sea fishing action, but I expect to always enjoy freshwater, I could even get into fly fishing, as I tend to enjoy finesse fishing.  I dislike bait soaking the most, and like fishing that involves movement or mimicking the bait fish the most.  I like to feel my skill as an angler caught me the fish, not a strong scent and a random fish swimming by.  It's just my preference. 

I saw some Fenwick rods that seemed nice, and some Clarus and so forth.  I do like the G-Loomis though, just style, warranty, and feel.  I also like to cast a lot, and my current cheap setup seems to grind on the retrieve etc.  Nothing really wrong with it, it just feels rough. 

Typically, I fit my setups with flourocarbon line - is braid better?  I thought the idea was to make it as invisible as possible and that braid was really only for certain big fish uses.  Help a newb out on that one please    I am somewhat at the mercy of what the local shop tells me, and no matter how many "killer setups" they tell me about, it doesnt seem to produce more for me.   

Well, ya do ask some good questions PWE. While I too enjoy plugging the most, I wouldn't go as far as to say bait dunking takes no skill compared to artificial caught. As in all facets of our sport, there is as much art as science to fishing with natural bait. Nuance is everything, and there is an art to hooking the bait caught fish, while a troll caught fish pretty much hooks itself.

While I use mono (yeah yeah guys) for most applications, spectra line transmits bites/bottom contour better because of its pretty much zero stretch properties. Visibilty is usually dealt with by using a flouro or mono leader. Some fish aren't particularly line shy, but a heavy mono leader is usually a good idea anyhows, spectra lines generally aren't known to be abrasion friendly, especially in smaller diameters.

Fluorocarbon is a good choice for trout, striper and some bass applications. I use 6-8 pound fluoro for freshwater as my main line. If I was fishing topwater for bass I would use mono because it floats. If I was fishing cover or structure for bass I would use braid. The down side of fluoro is line memory and knot strength. If you are casting frequently with spinning tackle, you may want to buy better casting flour like Seaguar.

As Jay mentioned, St Croix and Lamiglas are comparable to G Loomis and sometimes a better value. St Croix also has an excellent warranty. For saltwater, cal star, seeker and Lamiglas are my favorite rods. For inshore kayak fishing, Lamiglas is my favorite.

If you really want to catch a trout and don't want to soak bait, I would wait till April or head up to the lower sierras. The reason you are not catching trout has nothing to do with not owning a looms rod. I own a looms rod and 2 St Croix rods and have caught one trout in 6 outings this year. Timing, skill and tactics catches most fish, not rods and reels. Kayaks are not ideal for flyfishing. I flyfished for 10 years before kayak fishing.

PWE, when it comes to mono vs braid vs flouro, there are a lot of options. My only advice is to consider using a short flouro leader instead of filling your entire spool w/flourocarbon line. That way, if you choose to use flouro, your impact will hopefully be minimized. Because it would suck to break-off 100yds of flouro while trolling or jigging. Here's some info copy&pasted below.
Pat



Advocates of these new products profess that its invisible properties and toughness give it tremendous advantages over monofilament lines.  Although these products enable anglers to be more successful, which at this juncture is debatable, fluorocarbons long-term environmental implications are worth considering before tying any on.
Both the invisible nature and durability of fluorocarbon material pose concerns that the fishing community need be aware of.  Of the two, the indestructible nature of this product has the most significant implications.  Unlike monofilament, fluorocarbon lines are virtually inert; meaning little if anything will alter this products state. What the angling community uses and loses does not break down under exposure to ultra violet rays or water since fluorocarbon lines do not absorb water.  Although there is no known biodegradable timetable for these products when intentionally or accidentally discarded within a natural environment, researchers have stated that it far surpasses monofilaments longevity by 100’s to 1000’s of years. On the flip side, monofilament lines degrade by 40% when exposed to just 100 hours of ultra violet rays and even more rapidly when exposed to water since monofilaments do absorb water.
Every piece of fluorocarbon line clipped, deposited in a landfill, discarded along or in any body of water or accidentally broken off while fishing will remain for our children, their children and their children’s children to confront. 
Not only is it visually unappealing, but discarded fishing line and leaders, monofilament or fluorocarbon, are indiscriminate killers as well. Waterfowl, birds, raptors, and mammals are all victims of careless disposal and incidental loss of fishing line. Our oceans are no exception.  Recently an article appeared in a Sarasota paper naming discarded or broken off monofilament fishing line as being one of the leading causes of infant dolphin deaths.  Again, fluorocarbon products because of their indestructible nature will increase such incidences and compound the problem over hundreds of years.
Some anglers who use fluorocarbon fishing line aren’t aware of the long-term environmental implications of this product.  Those that are aware speculate that the small pieces that are often lost during a day or season of fishing aren’t significant enough to have any long-term impact.  Such may be the case today, but who’s to say hundreds of years from now and is the risk worth the few extra fish one may possible catch by using fluorocarbon?

Thanks for the info Pat I knew there was a reason I hardly ever use the stuff. I'm pretty happy with mono, I use braid but don't really like it, too noisy and the more sensitive the rod the louder it is.

Speaking of mono, whats yer guys favorite brand?  I've tried a lot over the past year and have had less than desirable results from most of them.  I ended up with Berkley Trilene XL Smooth Casting, the only one I trust at the moment.

Speaking of mono, whats yer guys favorite brand?  I've tried a lot over the past year and have had less than desirable results from most of them.  I ended up with Berkley Trilene XL Smooth Casting, the only one I trust at the moment.

Izorline rocks! I use mostly Izor but have recently been experimenting with Berkeley big game. I also have several spools of clear Ande that I use mostly to tie leader with at home.

Whatever you do buy the big spools. They have much less memory because of the larger diameter spool.  Also don't be afraid to change your line often. It only takes a little nick or kink to lose that fish of a lifetime and line is cheap compared to all the other expenses of fishing.

-Eliot

I ended up with Berkley Trilene XL Smooth Casting, the only one I trust at the moment.

+1

Whatever you do buy the big spools. They have much less memory because of the larger diameter spool.  Also don't be afraid to change your line often. It only takes a little nick or kink to lose that fish of a lifetime and line is cheap compared to all the other expenses of fishing.

+1 to this too.  In fact I have a huge spool of what Al mentioned.

P Line CXX Xtra Strong, good stuff. Made in Japan, baby. Very very happy with it.
For mono leader material I really like Jinkai.

Speaking of mono, whats yer guys favorite brand?

10lb on up, I use Big Game.  For trout I use 4 and 6lb Trilene in the red box.

I used to fish only Trilene and Maxima now my go to line is Yo-zuri Hybrid but it is a little hard to find I am really impressed with Suffix lines. I still use Maxima for 10lb and up leaders for it's knot strencth but the Hybrid is close. Over 15lb Big Game or Izorline

Wow - lots of awesome info here - thanks again, trying to digest it 

I am considering this rod:

G-Loomis Trout Series

and this reel combo:

Stradic CI4 Reel

I know it works for trout, but would it catch anything else? 

Also, how do you guys typically spool line onto a reel - I have been going to the tackle shop to have them do it on their mechanical spooler.

Thanks much.

That's a perfect combo there PWE. I would suggest a good leash for 'em though
for the combo is not cheap. I'd probably cry for three days if I drop something like that in the water.

Jedmo

Woah there...  I think, you might have misunderstood if thats your choices. Do you even know what to do with that rod?  I hear your not wanting to soak bait, so i'm guessing you want to toss crank baits, spinners, spoons or troll?  If you spend that much on a combo for just that, when you could have bought say 3 differnent medium priced outfits that you can use for probably all your freshwater fishing?  And you could handle trout, bass, stripers, catfish, stripers, etc with three differn't rods.