Are their any updates on rods for trout plugs/swim baits?
Calcuta,Loomis,Graftech, what do you recomend?
Has anybody tried the Shimano 300 reels?

xl

The 300 size reels are great. I wish I had a couple. The Cardiff and the Catala are very comprable and make great 25lb reels. If you want the deluxe, the Calcutta 300TE is the dream reel. I had a chance to use one a few weeks ago and it was a beautiful thing.

Rods are pretty much the same story. The Calstar 800XL is a great rod. I use an 800L for the big stuff but it's a bit much for all around use. There are a number of other 8' blanks from Calstar and Seeker that make nice plug rods. I've been using a Rainshadow SW967 for my small swimbaits and smaller plugs and like it a great deal. I haven't seen any new commercially made rods that really caught my eye. Maybe they'll be some at the ISE shows coming up in Nor-cal. I'll post if I see anything particularly cool.

I went to the ISE show in Pomona and was very disappointed. It doesn't come close to a Fred Hall show. They were in one exhibit hall (if you've ever been to the Pomona Fair, you'll know they're not as big as a hall at a convention center). Half the hall was all hunting... and most of the fishing vendors were selling trips to resorts, Alaska, Utah, etc., etc.

I wouldn't go again. Not for $8 plus the $6 for parking.

I have a calstar 800xl that I built following advice from this site. I've thrown the 9" slammer, 7" stocker trout and 7" AC minnows on this rod and it handles them perfectly. I don't think it would have much of a problem with the 12" plugs either. I have a catala 300 on it and it performs great. I don't know anybody that has used a cardiff, but they look like solid reels. The cardiff is about $30.00 more, so it's probably a little better than the catala I would think. -Phil

I use a calcutta 400 on a Loomis BBR965 GL3 Great rod but pricey as is all loomis stuff. This doubles as a great inshore rod, although I dont get to do much of that. Whatever you decide on, stick with it and have confidence in your gear and sharpen those hooks. With 3-7 oz of plastic, wood, or whatever swinging around, fish throw real easy. good luck wes

Wes you make a good point. I have lost a lot more fish after hooking them on the 12" slammer vs the 7" and 9". My favorite 9" Slammer is made from a pretty light blank and I really like that because the fish almost never ever get off that one.

That fact plays into the rod that you use because while I like my 800L for a rock solid hookset, it does make me a little nervous fighting the fish. It hasn't cost me anything yet but I could see a fish that was barely hooked getting off because the tip is just very stiff on that rod. I'd much rather have a big fish hooked on a 7" plug on my Rainshadow SW967 blank than on a 12" plug with the 800L. I think the 800XL is a good compromise in this regard because of the glass tip with a graphite butt section. There's always tradeoffs I guess.

I use an 8 foot bbr964c gl2 rod , calcutta 200 with 20 pound test
the reel is a little small for that but it handles

First of all I'd like to thank each and every one who replied!!!
It's people like you that make the net a great source of info.

I was kicking around the idea of a Calstar 800L(because of rob's articles), but with all your recomendations I now thinking of an 800XL or Loomis. Large rods really wear me out, and yes I read about the casting. I have a abu 5500 on one pole and it backlashes constantly, but my corsair does not, so I'm opting for a good shimano.
Its a hard choice to make never seeing any of these rods.

The Big question is does anybody know who in the Los Angeles/ SF Valley area does good custom calstar rods for fresh water, I'd prefer someone experienced at building these big bass rods.

Swimbait- I did not know shimano made a calcutta 300 reel, but as I recall most of the new shimano's were geared really low.

SJ-I went to the Fred Hall tackle show last year looking to get a Daiwa TD-Z and was very dissapointed with Daiwa and all tackle retailers at the show. Most of the specials were regular price.
When I told Daiwa I wanted to buy a reel today and I had already seen them at profishing for 329 they did not know what to say. I also felt really dissapointed in the seminars, when 2 young guys sat next to me and were interested in catfishing so they were asking the bass pro's about catfishing and he gave them almost no attention. They were sincere, and thats when I realized that every seminar was on bass or ocean.

I just looked at the Calcutta and cardiff 300's on line.
The Cardiff weighs 8.9oz./ 4 bearings/ and holds 12-230/ like 6:1 GR
The calcutts weighs 12.5 oz./ 5 bearings/ and holds 12-240/ 5:1 GR

Wow, a 3.6oz difference! Thats big when it comes to fresh water reels. The 5:1 ratio of the calcutta seems about right to me but the Cardiff seems a little on the fast side for big baits.

I thought you guy's would like to hear this.
About 3 years ago when I was first introduced to immitation trout lures by a now retired co-worker, I made a batch, 4 lures- because tables have four legs. They were immitations of the AC Plug. My co-worker told me to do one thing different than the bait me showed me, he said don't use marbles as eyes, yes marbles. So the lure I made ended up weighing 16 oz., I can't imagine how much it would have weighed with glass eyes.

I looked at a bait shop today at rods. They had 2 loomis rods one was 8' the other was 9' with a wierd black handle, they also had the Shimano Calcutta rod (cl-820XFA) which seemed pretty nice. I found the Calcutta rods on the net for $189, but also noticed a St. Croix rod in the new Cabela's Salt catalog that is rated the same as the calcutta 8' and 3/4 to 3 oz. for $160, they list the weight at 7.some oz. which seems light.

i use a calcutta 400 and a calcutta 820XFA (thats the rod) with 15# izorline, which breaks over 20, probly over 25 too.