How about Lews' bait casting rods , are they any good ?? Bought a Lews BB1 Pro today and be here Monday . Looking for a good rod and I know many of you suggest TFO rods but my local Academy Sports does not carry TFO but they do carry Lews rods . Are the Lews rods any good ??

All of the Lew's rods I've handled were ok. I moved to Texas just over a year ago and realized the thousands of dollars of salmon and steelhead rods I own are not a good fit for the fishing here. I don't mind spending money on good equipment. Life is too short to play with cheap toys. I've got a Edge mooching rod and several Lamiglas Pro salmon rods. The Edge was north of $500 and the Lamiglas were $250 or higher.

Once here I set out to find the best bang for the buck in rods for fishing in this area. Went to Cabela's, Bass Pro and everywhere else that had a decent selection of rods. Spent around 40 hours shopping around handling LOTS of rods. Kept coming back to the TFO rods. For the money they are impossible to beat. Cork grips on a $100 rod that feels great. Also I like longer rods and TFO has them, I also like a more classic action and TFO delivers that. I'm fishing 7'3" Tactical rods and 7'6" Signature rods because they don't offer anything longer. If they made them 7'9" or 8' I'd be a very happy guy. Longer rods have a lot of advantages. If you're used to fishing shorter rods you're going to have to be careful fishing the longer rods. Don't use your rods as a derrick to hoist fish into the boat, be careful of high sticking when fish are close to the boat. But put a 3/4 ounce blade bait on there and you can cast it 70+ yards with practice.

I do realize that fishing rods are very personal. Everyone has different tastes. I sold fishing and hunting equipment for 13 years. I like to think I know my way around a tackle store.

If I had access to unlimited money I'd be fishing G. Loomis or Edge rods. But building a stable of either one might make SWMBO a little pizzed. IMHO you would have to spend 2-3 times more money to make the next step above a TFO rod.

BTW, if you want some 30+ year old Lew's pistol grip rods I've got a bunch sitting in the corner.

WOW , sounds like you really had a good life in the fishing equip arena . I appreciate your help and suggestions . This weekend i'm going to check my local Academy Sports store and see just what all they do have . I ended up ordering the wrong reel the first time so got that order canceled and got the right one ordered . I'm still leaning towards the TFO if i don't find what i want or like at Academy . They built a new Cabelas up in Lubbock so i might just take a trip up there next month cause i know they carry the TFOs' .

I've tried one Lews and didn't think it was all that great.

Which one did you try ? I ended up with the American Hero Speed Stick in the size I was wanting (7')and the line and lure weight size which was just over 1-oz . I like to use average 14-lb test so I put some Trilene on the reel @ 14-lbs .