Just wanted to get some opinions here. I fish with lamiglas rods medium heavy and the hot shot magnum rods and the only problem ive had is a couple of the plastic guide eyelets fell out. These rods are tough and wont break ya. On the other hand I hear GL3's are the only way to fly. I heard and I dont know if this is true or not but the new Ti2000 rod lamiglas makes are some of the best rods out there. Just wondering what you fellas thought.
Ed

I fish nothing but Loomis, but I did have the opportunity to fish the new Titanium Lamiglass and was fairly impressed. It does have the responsive tip but has a funny feeling backbone not as responsive as the IMX in the Loomis. I had the 1084 IMX side by side with it and still like my Loomis better. Not to mention the thing just looks goofy also.
Keith

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nothing but loomis for me!!

Agreed, go with a Loomis. They have so many rods for each situation along with a resonable to some fricken out of the world prices. I like the gl3 rods very much but I likr the Imx better.

I fish both Loomis and Lamiglas. As of right now the only Lamiglas rods I have are a couple of magnum taper plug rods. Ive used Sage, St Croix, Lamiglas and Loomis. After I picked up my first Loomis I quickly faded out all my other rods in favor of Loomis. After you have fished a Loomis, Nothig else compares. I love the IMX is lighter rods, The GL3s and GL2s are almost bullet proof.
I havent had a chance to mess with a Titanium series yet. The only Lamiglas rods I will ever buy again are the G-1000 series. Ive nothing but bad luck with the Certified Pros and some IM700 blanks. And for the price of an Espree, I would rather have a Loomis.
But the only opinion on rods that really matters is your own. Fish withwhat you feel most comfortable with. I have 5 Loomis steelhead rods and I find myself using just 2 of those ffor most my steelhead fishing. An 1141S IMX in low water Conditions and a STR1025C IMX when the rivers are up. But you know, I couldnt live with out the other 3. You know there is no such thing as too many rods. In fact Im in the market for some more salmon rods.

I've had great result's useing lami's.But I've also have owned a few loomis rod's.My
opinion is the GL2 feel to spongey for my likes.The GL3 in some models are awesome but
the $ will kill ya.Out of the nine salmon rod's I own there are nine lami's.Out of the
eight steelhead rod's I own just one GL3,one
old fennwick and six Lami's from Norwest specials to the espirit's.Until loomis drop's their price a little then I will stick
to the certified pro's and espirit's by Lamiglas.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE
Did I mention that if there is a problem with a rod that Lami's return policy rock's and Loomis's suck's !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've had great result's useing lami's.But I've also have owned a few loomis rod's.My
opinion is the GL2 feel to spongey for my likes.The GL3 in some models are awesome but
the $ will kill ya.Out of the nine salmon rod's I own there are nine lami's.Out of the
eight steelhead rod's I own just one GL3,one
old fennwick and six Lami's from Norwest specials to the espirit's.Until loomis drop's their price a little then I will stick
to the certified pro's and espirit's by Lamiglas.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE
Did I mention that if there is a problem with a rod that Lami's return policy rock's and Loomis's suck's !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ed,

The only way to fly is to fish with whatever makes you happy. I fished with a $15 fly rod for years, and hundreds of steelhead could not have cared less. Whatever rod helps you properly present the bait or lure is tool enough for the task. Remember, a real craftsman never blames his tools for the result of his work.

My experience is that there is so much good tackle in the marketplace now that it is hard to make a wrong choice. It hasn't always been so.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Strikezone, I deal with both companies regarding their warranty service. You have it backwards, Loomis's Warranty policy is MUCH better than Lamiglass's.

I agree with salmontackler, Loomis has a much better return and warranty policies. It is much faster, and requires much less information.
I like both companies, and enjoy fishing both rods. One of my favorite salmon rods is a Lamiglas. But if I had to pick one brand of rods to fish for the rest of my life it would be Loomis.
As I have stated before, Loomis builds a better factory rod, and their blanks seem to be a little better (straighter, less cosmetic defects probably due to the gloss finishes Lamiglas uses , less crown etc)
I still like the old Sage rods... but Loomis builds a very nice blank. I feel you get your money worth, especially if you buy a custom rod. Factory rods have such poor craftmanship!

Thanks for letting me play!

TH www.thcustomrods.com

Warranty Policies?

I've mainly fished GL3's. The GL2's are good for plugging, but I mainly drift. A GL3 can't be beat. The IMX is nice to fish, but for all the brush beating I do, I'd rather take my Grandma's china than an IMX.

I also fish Lami G-1000's. I use them in situations where I'm not as likely to drift, i.e., spinner fishing, or even saltwater mooching with light weight and live herring. I also use them for chums and kings.

Here's the warranty story:

Anyone who has ever fished with me knows that I expect my gear to be as tough as my head and legs when I steelhead fish. Unfortunately, that's a pretty unreasonable expectation.

As a result, I break rods once every couple seasons, either fighting fish, snags, or overgrown trails.

My Lami's were all purchased in the late 80's and early 90's, so they have lifetime warranties, rather than the one year warranties that Lami's come with now, so that's not a problem with me.

GL3's are always liftime warrantied.

Two weeks ago I sent back a broken Lami and a broke GL3. Six days later I get my Lami back with a new tip. The following day I get a letter from Loomis saying I owe them $52 for a new rod, as they couldn't repair the break in it.

I broke the GL3 fighting a silver this September. They've always replaced my rods ASAP with almost no questions asked, but not this time. I was warned by a friend that though their policy hasn't changed, the way they apply it has, and that a repair/replace fee is now the norm.

I'll continue to use GL3's 90% of the time, but not because of the warranty, but because they are superior rods.

Fish on...

Todd.

p.s. Anyone else noticed the shift in Loomis warranty actions?

Salmontackler,
When I need to take back a broken rod,There are no questions asked with the Lami,I get a
new one off the shelf right then and there.
When it comes to Loomis it takes a week or so to get an answer and it's useually we need $52.00 to fix your rod.So which one work's best for you??????I know which one work's for my needs and want's.It's a chevy
ford thing.I'll stick with Chevy and Lami.
Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

I've owned both brands for years and my favorite is the lammi. the loomis feels and acts like a broom stick compared to the lammi. My personal preference of course. I also have some fiberglass rods that I use on a regular basis so just dont get caught in the trap of buying chic fishing gear. try various makes and models. As the previous post said, the fish dont care wahat kind of pole it is.

For the kind of fishing I do, float fishing from the bank, in my opinion, no blank is stronger than the ones made by Sage. I fish a 3106 that is unbreakable. The price on these rods is dumb though. I also fish a gl3 that has held up so far. Up here,the general thought on Loomis regarding breakage is "it's not a matter of if, but when". Just a thought.

I think you guys are better off doing the no question asked warrenty service from loomis.
2 day turn around and $40 including shiping and return tube along with a new pole and sock and a whole new warrenty.
Not to start anything Chaser but you must have been fishing in the dark, when you think a Loomis fishes like a broomstick I mean look at the rating Lamiglas puts on their rods.
10-35 lb line 1-3 oz now thats a broom stick to me.

I like my 8" 6"" NWest Special. Sent it in for repair. Not a bad deal getting it fixed, even though it only carried a one year warranty. I've had it three years. I looked at those 1000 series rods at Sportco. The only other rods I've used are Cabelas Fish Eagle XML and my Fish Eagle III, C44X, CHMS 1004S, 10'. They don't carry them anymore, except for smaller rods. I don't know who made the blanks for Cabelas. Would like to have an 11' pole for float fishing.

I was recently told that Loomis was bought out by shimano and there cust servive has kinda sliped downhill. When little companies sell out to big ones it is true that their cust service becomes less personable at least thats my experience. I dont know which is better I fish the lami 1000 series and have hade very minor problems and they have fixed them very promply and also you can get 2 lamie 1000's at the emporuim for the price for 1 GL3 to me thats a better deal all the way around.
Ed

3-R, as to Certifified Pro as good as GL-3 ya. Imx- ya 2 ya. I'd rate my Big Stick "C.P. X 90 HCT 9 footer rated @ 10-30" as better than any Imx I've fished. Good balance with curado-200 20 lb. main & 15 ultragreen leader's. Light tip & ton's of backbone for Salmon and Nate's. On top of it all it look's so good! Golden- tone blank that remind's me of brandy at sunset. Also A great Mexico rod, kick's butt on yellow tail's/ small to med. rosterfish & yellow-fin Tuna. And you thought a 40 Lb. King was tough!

I've got two 1000 series Lamis and a 9' GL2. I like my GL2 the best, it feels real light yet has 10-20' rating ,plenty of backbone for nates and kings. I like them both I guess it just depends on how much $$$$ you want to spend.

I fish both lami&loomis rods almost exclusively. for pulling plugs I use lami medium or med-heavy in smaller water, and in big water GL3 HRS hot shot rods. I own a loomis GL31024C, but when I going to pitch bait I'll always grab my one of the lami 1306 med's, matched with a curado, gotta love this setup. for Kings I use lami 1314 Kenai Special with a 6500. which I prefer over my 1086 loomis, but for throwing big spinners for kings you can't beat a loomis str1025. What it all comes down to is what type of fish, water, lure your heading to, but most of all how much do you want to $pend? Lamiglas rods are a lota bang for the buck.


As for return policies, I have never had a Gloomis fixed or replaced without a charge, and I've never been charged by Lamiglas.

I have fished with a 1000 Lami for over ten years, bought a 1024C GL3 Loomis. I really love the Lami, I have fished for and caught silvers, chum, chinook, steelhead, and misc. saltwater fish with it. However, Loomis just feels more sensitive, lighter, and stronger. Time will tell, but when considering new rods, I am leaning heavily towards Loomis. I would buy another 1000 for an all around rod. I don't think you can beat it for the money. I haven't broken either, yet, but hope to test the limits of the Loomis before long.

hey
I jsut got a custum built rod from TH and its a loomis. It beats any thing and every thing I own hands down and I own a very large variety of rods. As for feelin like a broom stick man I dont know where you get that from
with my rod I can feel stuff I never knew was there before like the fish
Friends dont let Friends fish lami's


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work is for people who dont know how to fish

well all said and done now, fish don't care if you got a 12 buck rod or a 400 buck rod. all comes down to your own choice. what ever works or whatever you can afford. if you want to throw money in the fire get a loomis, or go to walmart and but four rods for the same price they all will work fine if you know what your doing.

I own and use just about every popular Lami and Loomis. Were talking G-500, G-1000, CertPro, LHS, LHS II, IM6, GL2, GL3 and IMX. The only ones I haven't tried are the GLX and Titanium models. They are all good-excellent rods. Obviously my favorites for specific angling applications are upper-end Lami's and Loomis'. But it's not coincidental that these are also the pricest of the lot. With this said; comparing "Lamiglas vs. Loomis" can only be done with comparable priced models. We're talking Cert Pro vs. GL2 or Titanium vs. IMX. Since I have not tried the Titanium; I cannot compare the latter. But, between the Cert Pro and GL2; if I were to pick a summer stlhd/coho rod (4-10lbs, 6-10lbs, 8-12lbs), I'd pick a Cert Pro. For a heavier king/nate rod (8-17lbs, 10-20lbs, 12-25lbs), I'd go GL2.

As far as the warranties go. Lami is better. I've had half a dozen broken Lami tip sections replaced for just the price of shipping ($3-$5). As for Loomis; I "used" to own three GL3 1025C's (When pitching the Upper Quinalt you need a backup to the backup). One of these developed a hairline crack on the tip section due to heavy usage. I sent it back to Loomis and received a new tip for $50; a far cry from $3, but still not bad. Another 1025 had one of the ceramic guides fall out. I sent this one back to the factory to get the guide replaced. They ended up losing my rod. Although they sent me a brand new one, it was the newer model w/o the hardwood insert. Needless to say I was PO'd. For me the wood reel seats added character to Loomis rods. I ended up selling that scab model. Now that my bench is not as deep, I gotta get more out of my starters...

Over the past few years, Ive seen many rods come back broken. Some broken due to defects-the rod breaking when it should not have and most due to stupidity.

The fact is that a company can not support constantly sending new products at no charge out to customers just because of someone's negligence and stupidity.

You have to understand what your rod is made for. Do not but a 1141 expecting to fish it for springers, some people do and then ***** and moan when it breaks and Loomis charges them.

The amount of rods that Loomis was sending out to people was huge and you can not be a successful company when you are running a business they were. I have no problem with them charging a fee for a broken rod especially when you slam it in a car door, fall on it (Mr. Sloan ), or drive off with it while its hanging out your window. You should be lucky you are not having to buy a totally new rod.

I will admit though that Loomis's customer service has gone down the tubes since the buy out and their quality control has too. Plus some of the cosmetic and componet changes I do not like at all.

On a somewhat humerous/slash I wish I had that much money note. A good customer of ours wanted "the best." He is a very very very well of bussinessman. He wanted a good smelt rod, an extra long rod with a soft tip and a heavy backbone. So I showed him a 1141 Allstar and then a GL3 1141. He wanted the GL3. He kept asking me if it was the best. So I grinned and walked over and grabbed the GLX 1141. He wanted. LoL. Now onto spinning reels. I showed him the Shimano Stella. He put it on the rod and asked me if it was the best and I nodded my head yes. So anyways most people do not spend $900 on their steelhead outfit let alone their smelt outfit.

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Ryan S. Petzold
aka
Sparkey and/or Special

[This message has been edited by RPetzold (edited 03-06-2001).]

Loomis!!!

[This message has been edited by Timber man (edited 03-06-2001).]

LOOMIS
Nothin beats custom built and imagin this they are cheaper then what they sell for in catalogs
Right TH

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work is for people who dont know how to fish

I'll have to say it definitely is a chevy/ford scenerio. I'll say that the loomis' are nice, I have a couple. But I've caught a helluva lot more on cheaper rods. In fact I have an old Kunnan that has awesome feel for being a "cheap" rod. I feel it's more the fishermen then the rod. I'll admit that loomis' will add to the feel, but if you're a good fishermen you don't need it. My most successful rod is my old 85c fenwick with an old ambassadeur on it. I'm talking OLD feralite with carbide eyes. It's the old driftrod (smaller diameter blank with smaller casting eyes). It's knowing WHAT to feel as opposed to having it crammed down your throat (which doesn't hurt in todays society).

Hey Sparkey, I'm not sure on Loomis' warranties, but I know they have a conditional warranty. What sells a rod is the warranty they supply. Almost all the major rod manufacturers (especially the fly rod makers) have an unconditional to conditional warranty. They'll sell alot more product because of it. The amount of rods sold versus the amount they exchange makes it worthwhile. Plus, there's no way that it costs as much as they say to build a rod. I remember 15-20 years ago you could easily go down to shoffs and buy a quality blank (fenwick, lami's, and some misc.) and buy components and build a rod for about 50% of price of new. Now, I assume there's a pricefix with blank companies to make it non cost efficient to build your own (unless you want a custom rod). I deliver to the guy who set up the original graphite formulas for lami and the machines to manufacture and it sounded like the costs weren't as much as being passed on to us (it also sounded like it was a pain in the initial setup to get the blanks to turn out correctly). To get back to what I was saying, you sell yourself because of this warranty. I've snapped two lamis. Both on fish. Cost me shipping back and no extra. Had a friend snap his Loomis same way and cost him $50. It pissed him off royally. He wasn't even overloading rod (I guess it was a defect in the rod). He had to pay for a loomis defect. For the money you're spending you should get better service. I understand the no questions asked policy, just pay the money. I bet you're paying the replacement price for the section (what it actually costs). Before anyone jumps in about costs, I used to have my friends bring back fuji components when they were stationed in Japan. I could have them sent to me for fraction of price here, including paying tariff in customs (it sure sucked when they got out of the military). I'm sure lami, loomis, or any of the other companies who buy in bulk like they do get them for little to nothing. I like my loomis, but for service I like my lami's. Plus, I've had no problems with them. There are a couple loomis' I'd like to get, but cost is what slows me down. Being a single parent with two kids and getting no child support from the ex puts a strain on the old checkbook.

You know, if you've looked at the new shimanos, they sure look alot like loomis don't they? Hmmmmmm, shimano bought loomis, and now they're rods are looking like them. And they're cheaper too...Hmmmm. I'm tempted to take a look and feel of the new shimano's and see if they're the same. Kind of like the days when you could buy a Cortland fly rod cheaper then a lami fly rod. Yet, they were made in same factory from same blank just different labels put on them (I learned this years ago from same guy who set up their production, he still has some of those old cortlands). May be an outlet.

Well, to put this long winded response short, go with what you put faith in. In the end, you're the one who catches the fish, and you're the one who controls it in. If you don't have faith in the rod, chances are the rod won't catch fish.
Jerry

Ps, I assume the guy who posted that the loomis was a broomhandle, I assume it's the rod he must have bought. Of course there are many models with many actions. You pickup a big king rod opposed to a summerrun steelie rod, you'll have a big difference.

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you haven't lived til you've rowed a cataraft. Friends don't let friends run Outcasts.

This is not a Chevy Forh thing,it's more like BMW vs a Hyundia.
I own several Lamis a 8 1/2 1000 series,a 9'1325#
I would chose my Berkley series 1# over both.
But for shear response,sensitivity and performance,My GL-3 1143 kicks their A$$....no contest.

and the broom stick thing ....turn it around Dude you're fishing off the wrong end ....Os

After hearing the success stories on the Lami' return policy, I decided to return a 1000 that I had bought in the late 80's. This rod hadn't lived the easiest life and had caught hundreds of fish. I packed this rod through lots of brush, but all in all, it looked damn good for it's age and use. I finally broke it last fall on a hard snag and it broke right were the top half and butt section meet. I think the reason it broke was because I didn't have it seated completly. It was hard to tell after the fact, but I'm pretty sure that's why it failed. When it broke it tore the fiber down the front of the butt section somewhat. Now here is the service I recieved today at the woodland headquarters.


Walked in the front door and the woman at the desk had me report to the service counter. I nice man looked at the rod and then went back and sent the biggest a$$hole out to me that I've ever had the fortune to deal with. He looks at the rod and instantly accuses me of either shutting in a door or I dropped a tacle box on it. "no way are we going to cover that", he says. Then the other guy says that's a pre-86' and it only had a three year warranty. I told him, "no, it came with a lifetime warranty when I bought it". They then ask me to produce the 15 year old sales receipt??? Well after he raised his voiced and called me a liar for a couple of minutes, I was able to ask him what he could do for me and he replaced the rod for a $50 dollar charge.

I lost a lot of respect for Lamiglass at this point in my life. I feel like I got the $100+ out of the rod that I paid 14-15 years ago and am completly happy with the $50 dollar replacement on the rod that now sells in the $150 range. What I'm completly disgusted with is the way I was treated. I was guilty before I walked in the front door of somekind of alleged abuse to the rod. I believe the failure may have been caused by me not seating the rod completly. Never had I dropped anything on the rod or shut it in any door.


I've been a Lamiglass customer half my life and own two of their 1000 rods. I personally love the action and feel of them, but I'll never buy another one after the way I was treated. They need to brush up on their "customer service", and learn how to approach situations in a non-combative way. Bunch of freagin' jerks in my book.

My next rod will be a Loomis.