Ok, here's the situation. O.P. zipperlip in march, same everything gear wise, Joe Blow is working his way thru his favorate drift. Feels a tap on his shrimp-oil soaked rag, rears-back and see's a chrome 15 lb. buck boil at the end of his line. It's a nate, so "ol" joe wants to get him in quick to release with as little stress as possible. Which rod beat's the fish quicker?

No question about it...

The 1025c..

If you tell me which zipperlip, I tell you which rod

It does not matter..... It all depends how much heat you put on the fish... the 1025 has more back bone, but if your drag is set a 8 to 10#'s of preasure both rods will tire the fish the same, the 1084 will bend more, and is 6" longer than the 1025! Line angle also comes into play.... are we talking boat or bank? sled or drift boat? if both rods are into the power section of the rod..... both will tire the fish fast.

The G. Loomis rod code works as most of us know as such. Example: 1084c = 108" or 9'in length 4= power rating c= casting style, preceeded with the blank type glx imx gl-3 or lastly g-l2. Power ratings run from 1 thru I think 6 with 6 being the highest. Rods also have an action rating from slow to extra fast. All that being said I've always thought the 1084 to be under rated in the power discription by loomis and the 1025 over rated. The public & G. Loomis must disagree as the 1025 is made in a number of blank types while the 1084 is imx only. I'm sure the 1025 out sells the 1084 do to covering more price points, but is it more rod? TH builds and fishes more rod types than most, and states the 1025 whould be the winner. Maybe so, any other thoughts?

1025, it's shorter which in return gives you more leverage. I have both and would much rather have the 1025 with straight 12 on any fish over 15 and chrome. The 1084 fishes better with 10 or 8lb test. The 1025 flat out handles more.
Keith

The 1025 all the way...I've fished alot of rods and must say that the 1025 IMX is my favorite rod and I fish it 80% of the time.

It does lick fish fast but the IMX handles lighter leads easier then the GL3 as it has a tad lighter, tad faster tip.

Thanks guys, looks like It's 3 votes for the 1025. And a big zero for the 1084, guess I'll take my imx 1025 out and whoop some nate a#s.

No..make that one more for the IMX 1025c!! I just love that rod. It is so light weight and packs the punch that for me who fishes many times alone..ya need to power the fish to submission!
When you can't chase the fish...and you need the sensitivity as well..there is only one choice and that is the 1025c.
I even fish that rod sometimes in the summer since it is so light weight and just as sensitive as my Lamiglas G1000 medium weight. I love that too but the 1025c is such a fun rod to fish with.
I Baby my IMX by transporting to the boat with the sock and lay it down toward the back of the boat but with a cut towel to lay it down on so as not to scratch. Remember.. the IMX is lightweight for a reason and has it's drawbacks. It has a thinner thickness which means any major scratch could mean a broken rod! You can't just toss your IMX in the back of PU and let it scratch without any repercussions. MY 0.25

Headshaker,
I don't buy that, I've had IMX rods in all sorts since about 1993 and have "blown" up quite a few only because I horse the hell out of fish sometimes and or set the hook so hard they just pop.. The rod I have broke the most is my IMX 1021C loaded with 20 on kwikfish or fishing 4-5 oz. of lead for kings and coming out of my chair with a full double hand hook set, second would be my 1141's in which I've broke a few of them setting the hook too hard with 12lb main and 10lb leader. I've never broke my 1025C even with the hardest hooksets or just absolutely reefing on a snag. But as far as IMX being a fragile graphite I don't buy it. I'll take a pic of some of my IMX's and put it up here in the next couple of days, most of them you can't even tell they're IMX's because of all the egg goo all over them.
Keith

Keith - I've seen those rods! The *only* reason they haven't snapped in half yet is the multiple coatings of egg goo!!! I'be bet that if you cleaned those rods, you'd find that they are already broken!

My wife beating, married 3 times alchoolic uncle is more sensitive then any G1000.

No G-1000 bashing on my posts kiddo!! Still have my 1 st. steelhead rod a Lami g-1306t. Think the last fish I got on it was a Lk. Washington sockeye off a downrigger it was sensitive enough to feel that hit!! Got a few steelies on it before I upgraded, between it and my inexperience any fish caught were surely suicidal or accidental.

First, Loomis rods' power ratings are only only references for the particular style. A rating of 2 in a HSR is different than a STR. They do state that.

Most people that are selling Loomis rods won't tell you that a GL2 is the strongest rod they build. More expensive equals lighter rod. Lighter rod equals less fatigue. More sensitivity is the key though. I have used 1025's in both IMX and GL2. They are not comparable. The GL2 is like a truck. It's sluggish but made for abuse. The IMX is a Ferarri. Killer handling but doesn't take mileage well. The happy medium is the GL3. Very strong, yet sensitive. I love my 1024 in the GL3. Probably my favorite.

As for your question between the 1084 and 1025, the 1025 would be my pick. However your observation on the 1025 being over rated and the 1084 being under rated could be because of the way the extra 6" soaks up more energy from the fish.

I do agree with stlhdr1 about the line ratings. The 1025 is labeled as a 8-17 but is better suited for 12-20.

~Just my observations

Reeltime,
I don't know if I'd ever load my 1025 with 15lb test let alone anything heavier, yes it can handle it but I'd prefer to use my 1021C (8'6" 10-20lb) for 15 and above. As I mentioned before I like the 1025 for bigger fish and heavier water because it is 8'6" and the fact that it is 6" shorter than the 1084C means that you'll have more leverage. It's just like using a 7' stick, you have more leverage as long as you load it with the proper line ie. (12-15lb+). You will lose sensitivity with a rod if you go shorter than 8' or longer than 9' and with rods that are 9'6" and above I believe those rods actually lose sensitivity because with the length you actually have a rod that reverbs and obsorbs the sensitivity in the middle of the rod. I prefer to fish a 9' rod like the 1084 because you have the sensitivity and a bit of backbone, but when it comes to playing a bigger fish or horsing a fish I'd prefer the 1025 because most will load it with heavier line (12lb) as it's rated to do so.
Keith

St-1, so if the 1084 is loaded with 12lb. or the 1025 with 15-17lb. which is the max rated line wt. Are you saying they will over-load when putting the wood to a fish? I ask this because last fall had 15 lb.test main on my 1025 while fighting a 25 lb. king, got him in but thought that imx was gonna pop!! I realize this rod is a steelhead stick but most rod's are going to get used on salmon at some point. Had my curado set at about 10lb. worth of drag. If it had been a steelhead of the same weight, I think I whould have killed it by over-stressing it.

I have to agree with the IMX 1025C as the rod of choise.MY IMX 1025C has caught so many fish it's earned the nickname dooom.stlhdr1 why would you over line an 1141 with 12# line, only rated upto 8#

I actually fish 12lb Magna-thin as mainline and always fish 8 lb Ultragreen leader. It's not overloading the rod because the leader can still break, its just nice when boondogging to break as minimal setups off as possible.

Chrome-
In a perfect world we'd all be rich and have every Loomis they make to fit every occasion. You can fish a 1025 and horse the hell out of a fish, and if I had to pick one all around rod it would be the 1025. But I'd prefer to fish my 1021 with 15-20.
Keith

What are the specs.on that 1021 you keep bringing up? Don't have a G. Loomis catalog on me, from the #'s it sounds like a 8 1/2' noodle rod

The HSR 1021 is actually considered a plugging rod hence the HSR (Hot Shot Rod).

It is an 8.5' rod rated 10-20# and has an incredibly fast tip but a ton power. It is prone to breakage though as right above the ferrule, the rod tapers down extremelly fast and this is where breakage occurs.