Quick Review and Warning

[Bill Babler]

This is absolutely not picking on anyone.  Especially when it comes to replacement as far as I know there is No. Company better than Bass Pro Shop for replacing broken equipment weather it be their own brands or another companies brand.  They are simply great.

I now have had occasion since last Fall to have two clients that have gotten into my boat with Bass Pro's new Johnny Morris Carbonlite spinning outfits.  This is both the reel and the rod.  This is not priced on the low end.  The combo on  both outfits have been a medium type combo. Really to heavy for trout, but will work in a pinch.  Identical outfits.  Both were purchased at the Branson Landing, and I believe the price was $189.99 for the combo, plus tax . I have not been keeping up but they sell warranties on there gear.  I had one guy buy the warranty and one didn't.  Price of the warranty is $30.00 plus tax.

All said and done, about $250.00

The first gentlemen had it spooled with 8# and that was fine.  I always offer my equipment but of course he wanted to use his new outfit, so I geared it for him.  I played with it a bit baiting and rebaiting and casting it.  I thought the reel was very scratching, and just not my deal.  Well, about 2 hrs. into the trip, he gave a big heave and casted it with a drift rig.  Rig had a 1/4 oz. weight.  He was two hand casting and the rod snapped clean thru right above the handle.   Of course he was flabbergasted.  He did not purchase the $30.00 warranty.  I told him to take it right back and that Bass Pro was just excellent warranty or not of replacing it.  He did and they gave him a new outfit no question asked.

Spin ahead to yesterday, "No pun intended."  My guy from Louisiana showed up at Lilleys' dock with the same exact outfit.  Said he bought it on Saturday and wanted to use it.  YIKES,  I did not say a single word, I just rigged it up, same way, only with a heaver weight as all this water is running.  I put a 5/16 on the drift rig and away we went.  He was more proud of it than a speckled pup.  Said he was going to use it for Red Fish in the gulf.  I was thinking, I hope it makes it thru taneycomo trout, let alone Red Fish.

Yesterday was a super day.  Big trout and I mean Big.  Those fish are biting and they are fat as pigs and full to the gills of shad.  He caught at least 1/2 dozen rainbows over 3 pounds on that rig dragging a shad fly.  I thought maybe it was just a bad blank on the other one or someone had stepped on it.

Wrong.  We were about 3 hrs. into the trip and it was the same friggin deal.  He let go kind of an awkward side arm two handed cast and it broke right in front of the reel, in the exact same place my other guys broke.  I gave him another rig to finish out the trip and told him he was ok, that they would replace it in a heart beat.  But I told him I had seen this before and he should maybe think about either getting his money back or exchanging for a different rig.  He called later to tell me they would not refund his money, but he was able to purchase a different rod and just pay the difference.  He bought a St. Croix Avid series and put his reel on that.

Point here is I might be just a little wary of the Carbonlite.   These were spinning rods, I have had no experience with the casting rods. It is a new product and I think it may like a lot of new products need a little more testing.

[m&m]

Bill,
  Thank you for the heads up on the Carbonlite series.  I heard the same advice from someone else recently. 

Mike

[Bill Babler]

More information on this.  I just spoke with his wife, and he later decided to give the Carbonlite another chance.  They took back the St. Croix and gave him a new carbonlite.  Said if it broke again, they would give him a full cash refund at any store,  Sales person said they have had to replace some, not more than any other rod, but some.  His wife told me there were BP's everywhere they went and he just felt safer on the return with a BP product.  I completely understand.

[abkeenan]

I was at Bass Pro a few weeks ago getting a new tackle bag and had to go through the customer service line to get a price match from their online website price. I was behind a guy that was returning a Carbon Lite spinning rod for a different model/action and he also was purchasing a Shimano Stradic to go with it. It took all of my self restraint NOT to say something to him along the lines of "you are going to get THAT reel and put it on THAT rod????" But I didn't say anything as it's not really any of my business what anyone buys. We've had enough BPS bashing on this site to last a lifetime so I won't go any further but there are better options out there in the price range of some of BPS' rods. Not all are bad (I have 2 that get regular use and they have performed great) but like I said lots of great rods out there in similar price points.

[Flysmallie]

5 minutes ago, Bill Babler said:

  His wife told me there were BP's everywhere they went and he just felt safer on the return with a BP product.  I completely understand.

I would rather base my decisions on what's going to hold up rather than what's easier to return. If you can't make it through a full day of fishing then what does the warranty really matter.

[Bill Babler]

I have at least a dozen of the old Power Humps in my shed. I no longer use them, but when I got started guiding, I felt they were some of the best rods on the market, in the early 90's They of course got outdated in a hurry, but I never came close to breaking one and caught hundreds of fish on them.  Also have broken St. Croix's and instead of sending them back to St. Croix, BP has always replaced them right on the spot, no questions asked as long as I had the receipt that I purchased them there.

All these companies are trying to make equipment as lite and fast as possible.  Everyone of them. Light and Fast are the absolute new deal.

 Some times you get to a point, that you may have gone a bit to far.

[abkeenan]

28 minutes ago, Bill Babler said:

I have at least a dozen of the old Power Humps in my shed. I no longer use them, but when I got started guiding, I felt they were some of the best rods on the market, in the early 90's They of course got outdated in a hurry, but I never came close to breaking one and caught hundreds of fish on them.  Also have broken St. Croix's and instead of sending them back to St. Croix, BP has always replaced them right on the spot, no questions asked as long as I had the receipt that I purchased them there.

All these companies are trying to make equipment as lite and fast as possible.  Everyone of them. Light and Fast are the absolute new deal.

 Some times you get to a point, that you may have gone a bit to far.

Exactly. Rods now are treading a fine line of compromising weight reduction vs durability. Blanks being built with the lightest possible materials lend themselves to being brittle and break easier than rods of old. Veritas are well known for being brittle, a bit stiff and probably account for A LOT of returns and warranty claim replacements at retailers. Carrot Sticks when they came out were some of the lightest (and ugliest) rods on the market and they also broke with regularity.

[Bill Babler]

Back in the early 2000's when I was guiding float trips in Alaska, we always would tell folks, please don't bring those Loomis fly rods. 

In and out of boats all day and fighting big fish while getting lazy are the demise of any quality rod.  You can see it a mile off.  First several Silver Salmon they catch are great.  By the time they get to the 10th. or 15th. big salmon you will see that right hand start creeping up the rod, with the butt of the rod being jammed into their belly.  Bout the time that right hand reaches the first eye of the rod and you are leaning back on a big Bull Silver that weighs 15 pounds and he burns a run downstream, that rod breaks right where your right hand is holding it.

Point, if your going to Alaska to fish salmon, leave the good stuff here and take a bigger less expensive gun.

[dtrs5kprs]

The old black Carbonlites were a pretty decent finesse rod. Arguably one of BPS's better products. Shame they changed them. The white ones have a completely different feel. Friend of mine had a heyday with the black ones when they were on clearance. The old black blanks are still available as a BPS walleye rod.

Sure could have been an issue with someone not handling them right at the store. Or maybe a bad lot.

That said, I would never pick one over an SCIII St Croix blank. Those are great blanks, whether factory or custom. St Croix pretty much overbuilds everything, and somehow keeps it light. 

[5bites]

Seems like the first gen carbonlites had the same issue. I don't remember for sure but I think it was the winding check in front of the seat causing the damage and of course that's where the break would happen. My guess is they were to snug on the blank.