Home Forums Fishing Freshwater U.S. Made Fishing Rods

I was at the LFS a few days ago looking to get a new fishing rod. All they had were made in China. Are there any U.S. made fishing rods anymore.

The higher end St. Croix's are made in the USA and I'm pretty sure that most G. Loomis rods are also. IMO you can get a much better rod that's made in China for the same price as one made in the USA.

Check into Boyd Duckett's rods made in Alabama. One of the finest rods made. powdr

when graphite came on the scene 20+ years ago, virtually all blanks were made in Korea. When that plant burnt, production moved to China. About the best you can do in todays world, without spending several hundred dollars, are rods finished in the USA on Chinese blanks. Good grips and guides, important to me, are to be had. Look at Temple Forks Outfitters (TFO), Santiam, and some local craftsmen have made some rods that have proven to be good stuff. I'm sure there are several other sources if you look around.

Some of the imported rods are state of the art and have flawless craftsmanship. Some are among the best in performance.

Depends on what your are looking for but I use Lamiglas and G. Loomis rods.

Their mid to higher end rods are still made in Washington State.

When I break one... they replace or repair it at little or no cost to me. Every time!

Duckett rods are really good. Actually there are a lot of reasonable price quality rods out there today. It's easy to get well equipped for reasonable money.I have a couple of Ducketts.

But I still use St Croix and Loomis. The Loomis have the ergos to keep arthritic older hands fishing comfortable through the day even with heavy jigs and baits; and if they break thorough defect or something (rare, some of mine are over 20 years old), I return them and they are replaced at no cost other than shipping.

This is not insignificant with rods costing what a G.Loomis does. They are excellent quality fishing tools.

I will not disparage the quality of any chinky products…….but, I will not use anything made in china , when I can avoid it.

What was manufactured in the USA last week…. may NOT be manufactured in the USA this week.

I canot fish with chinky equipment , ruins the experience.

My Mother always said " you have to look at everything you buy".

She also said "Fook the chinese".

I would rather not support the Chinese economy, but I am not in a position to pay several hundred $ on a fishing rod. Thanks guys.

Can't say anything about them, but Falcon makes some mid price rods they advertise as USA made.

My rods are mostly US made St. Croix. They have a feel and a quality I just don't find in Chinese stuff.

St Croix, made near here...Great rods...

St. Croix Avidx is about as good as it gets for me.

The new St. Croix Legend Elites are AWESOME!! Got the 6'10" MLXF for throwing jigs for walleyes and smallmouth. Rod delivers. I also have their older Legend Xtremes with the Recoil guides, very nice as well. I would recommend Croix or Loomis. I still have an old SJR782 in GLX that I can't part with as well:)

I'll second the recommendation on the St. Croix Legend series. This is the first fish on the new 7' 2pc Light Action. It's hands down the finest small-jig fishing rod I've ever used. It's so light and fast, that you can feel the tail vibrating on a 3" swimbait.

+ another 1 on St Croix. I have Legends in 6, 7 & 8 wt. And an Avid in 4 wt.

Your shopping the wrong store..lamaglas made in woodland Washington..
Sage...bambridge island wa...

Good for you...

I like my Falcon rods...

St. Croix all the way!
When I need something from them I can call and talk to a real live American who enjoys fishing.
Just ordered a new tip-top for one of my 6' Light Action Premiers. $5 shipped and I'll be good to go again.
I probably have close to a dozen St. Croix rods dating back as early as 2001.
For the price plus excellent customer service they are hard to beat.
Fly rods are a different story. I have a couple of theirs but prefer Sage and Winston.

Wish my local BPS stocked St. Croix well. Just a few on hand.

Hear great things on them.

.. So does St Croix.

65BR, St Croix's are awesome rods. BassPro doesn't stock St Croix. Not sure why. But you can order them online through Cabelas, which is what I do. I own a few Tidemaster Saltwater Series spinning rods of varying lengths and weights, but close enough they can pull double duty, if needed.

When in buy mode, try to watch for the convergence of rebates (St Croix or Cabelas), free shipping, and Cabela's codes when you can. It'll save you a couple bucks for beer and ice money.

My local BPS has the Avid, Premier and one other in a few sizes/powers, but not a large variety.

What rods would you put on a Shimano 1000 Symetre and Ci4+ Stradic 2500:

Future plans to use a 1000 for panfish and possibly light bass

2500 more for larger fish i.e. Bass, possible Redfish/Flounder/Speckled Trout, possibly Walleye and similar.

Will likely use 6lb mono/flouro and/or 8 or 10lb braid on the 1000

The 2500 will either run 8 mono/fouro and/or around 20lb braid.

Thoughts are something around 6 - 6'8 or so in Light or possibly ML with fast tip on the 1000, and more likely ML if not Medium power fast tip for the 2500. Figure the larger fish need a harder hook set.

Thoughts/feedback by experienced Spin fisherman appreciated. Any recs on rods, and/or line appreciated. Using P-Line CX often, and have some 10# PP. Hear good things about 832 Suffix. Anyone using other P-line? Know the CXX is stiffer and likely not good for spinning.

On Rods, thoughts on the Avid and Premier line if it matters. Want lightweight and sensitive....as one might imagine which is why I am looking at St. Croix.

I did handle a Shimano Crucial Medium/Fast at BPS, felt good in hand, but all else equal, rather spend on US mfg.

Thanks in advance.

I can add my 2 cents in here.

Mostly fish for smallmouth and walleye with the spinning gear. Crappie, perch, white bass and goldeye once in a while. I would pair the 1000 size Shimanos with a St. Croix Avid AVS63MLXF or G. Loomis WJR761S for walleye jigging and smallmouth tubing. For the 2500 size, my current set-up uses a St. Croix Avid AVS70MLF. I use Fireline on all my spinning reels, 10# test in these sizes w/ 8# fluorocarbon leaders for walleye and 10# for smallmouths. You can get the rod specs. from the St. Croix and G. Loomis websites. They both make basically the same power/action rods in various materials depending on your budget. The Avid from St. Croix and GL3 from G. Loomis are both pretty good bang for your buck, with my preference being the Avid.

Great info thanks much. I've thought that a 6'3 or 6'6 rod would be a great length.

As to the Flouro leader, do you use an albright knot, and any reason for the 8 vs 10? Any preference on the line or does it not make much difference given it's short? On leaders how long do you like to make them?

Appreciate the input very much. Looks like the XF is for lighter lures while the F on the larger rod matches those weight lures best. Makes sense.

Thanks again.

I like to use the lightest line I can get away with. Always used 8# w/ walleyes before the "superlines", but 10# makes me feel a little safer for bass. I use Berkley Vanish, mostly because it's cheap. A 125yd "pony" spool lasts me about 1 season. I attach the flouro leader w/ back-back uni-knots. They go through the guides well while casting. Usually starts around 4' and gets replaced after it gets down to 2'(gets shorter due to retying to clean up the last abraded parts of the line). If vertical jigging for walleyes is the only thing on the menu, the leader is only 18" or so.

I appreciate your info Sir, not used leaders but need to with Braid it seems, to maximize my strikes.

Thanks again.

Are any blanks still made domestically?

My local rod builder told me that St. Croix built a plant in China to make their blanks. Still assembled here in the US. There are a few fully American companies still making rods. I believe Loomis and Phenix both make their blanks domestically. I just looked at a Denali rod (Arkansas I think) that is a domestic rod. Any custom rod maker can tell you where they are sourcing their rods. I know the guy I deal with gets his stuff from Batson.

Pretty sure G Loomis was bought by Shimano.

That is unfortunately correct

Falcon makes great rods in several price ranges, from cheap to very expensive. I hold one for a living and they get the job done well.

I have and use more Loomis GLX's than any other rods.

I really like them!

I understand why!



Shimano does a good job with G. Loomis. Haven't found anything I like better.

I have been using St. Croix ultra light spinning rods, their performance and quality have set a new standard for me. Last year I added my first Falcon rod, a LFS-3-166 Finesse Spin to the collection. Quality seems to be very good. I would buy another.

Actually they are an excellent company. Their high end salt water reels, like Trinidad and Talica, are amazing works of art.

They make a great reel and I use their reels exclusively. I haven't had the best of luck with their warranty department since the transition. Last August, when I called the Customer Service Department for my most recently damaged G Loomis Escape rod the called was placed to Irvine, CA. Some "bro" answered and gave me the run around about products and policies that he clearly wasn't familiar with. He insisted that I go through the store I purchased it from for any warranty claim rather than deal with Loomis or Shimano directly. Before, I could call or drive to Woodland and the problem would be fixed in a fraction of the time by local people that care.

I break a Loomis rod, I bring it to the biggest Loomis dealer in the area. They pack it, ship it,send it back to Loomis and call me when the new rod shows up.

When you cycle through a large dealer, you get more attention. Just a fact of life because they are dealing with each other daily and the leverage is in the large dollars and high volume of rods.

It does not happen often but the past two years the handle on an NRX slipped and an IMX broke. They were both replaced free of charge.

Hard to complain about that kind warranty service.

For the money, I like Scheels Outfitter Tournament and Guide Series rods. You brake one and they will trade you right over the counter for a new one. I can't feel the difference between a loomis and a Scheels rod.

Rooster that's interesting...which Loomis have you fished with that compares to a Scheel?

Not sure. It belonged to an old friend of mine. He fished with my Guide Series and I tried his Loomis out. He was impressed with the Scheels rod as well.

OK thanks!

Guys, I go by goodshot here on the fire. Certainly love the crowd here and am a certified rifle looney for sure. For my daytime job I am vp of engineering for fishing co. In the pnw. I was formally product mgr at St Croix and have been in the fishing industry for 30 plus years. I am a certified fly casting instructer and multi species angler and former tournement angler. Certainly happy to answer any questions you guys ever have regarding fishing of any type. Now, on the the USA made rod questions .
St. Croix makes rods in two spots , Park Falls WI and a Mexican location. They tried Asia for a short period of time by left for many reasons such as lead times, consistent QC , and many others.
G Loomis is 100% USA made
Lamiglas makes some rods in the USA and imports rods from various Asian sources.
Falcon is 100% USA made
Edge rods is 100 % USA made
Kistler rods some USA some Asian
Sage fly rods 100 % USA made
Winston, Scott, T&T 100 % USA made
There are lots of companies that buy blanks and components from all over the world and assemble here. But really very few that make there own blanks.
So does import compare to USA made.....yes and no. True composite engineers rarely choose the fishing industry for there career path, most work for defense , aero space where the pay will be a bunch more. The Asian engineers are ok, but don't anyways understand what the end goal is i.e. Not much fly fishing in China. To create a great rod takes two key elements there is the engineering side, and then the real magic is you need what we call a wiggle guy. A wiggle guy can pick up a blank and feel the action, power etc and know what to change etc. this is a very rare talent to say the least. I frankly have not met anyone from Asia that compares to our best. I travel in Asia all the time and qualify vendors etc., and with training you can get good products. We all have products we use and like that are from China, but it is American workers that make the difference. There re cultural things etc can effect quality. Annually many Asian factories turn over 25% of thee labor force which causes huge quality issues. We dont see that with USA labor. So better work force, engineering and wiggle guys means better rods. Hope this helps...goodshot

good write up. thanks

You are most welcome, and to all pm with any questions you might have. Goodshot

I thought I would come back and check this topic out again. Lot's of additional helpful info.

Most of the serious musky guys I know - all run St. Croix.

I have a St. Croix myself for all species fishing and I'll never not have one again.

I fish a lot of grubs and smaller cranks - small mouth is my most often prey - you can feel every wobble of every bait. I can feel the sand ridges on the bottom as I work jigs and Lindy rigs...

Tomorrow I'm taking off on a motorcycle ride for S&G - Park Falls to see St. Croix is stop one. Rollie and Helen's Musky shop is stop 2.

goodshot, thanks for the info. You mentioned Edge Rods and it should be noted that this is Gary Loomis' company. Gary also has North Fork Composites making rod blanks in the US.

Another company starting to gain attention in the northwest is Cousins Tackle. They're making some pretty nice rods in the US without charging quite as much as other rod makers. I'm seriously looking at a couple of their model 803 plug rods. Ward