# What's the skinny on AllStar Rods?



## ASH556

Oh most knowledgeable gentlemen,

How  are these rods?  Better that a Basspro Bionic Blade?  How do they compare to a St Croix or G Loomis?  Thanks again for all your wisdom and experience!


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## mikes3028

just bought a spinning rod (6'6'' MH) the other day for worm fishing and am very impressed with the sensativity. basspro had the rod for $79.99 and found it at acedemy for $40.00. stciker price was $49.99 but at the register was $40. i am going to go back and pick up a couple more for that price.


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## 8pointduck

Allstar rods were acquired by Shakespeare a while back. These rods are not the originals that were U.S. made. More and more are being made in China. Imagine that


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## Hunter Haven

They do not hold a candle to St. Croix's, but they are still pretty good rods... you just have to pick through them and make sure you get one that has the blank set properly in them... of course this is a necessity for any production rod in my opinion..


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## jsbeagle

I found one at a boat ramp a few years ago (it sat there for hours, so I figured it was there for the taking). I didn't know it was a decent rod at all. I've used the kinda cheap spinning reel that was on it some, but I'll have to get the rod out and try it. Its a 7 footer.


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## sbroadwell

Allstars really are not what they used to be. When Shakespeare acquired Allstar, that pretty much did it. I've fixed a lot of them, and it is sad how they are made these days.


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## Hooked On Quack

sbroadwell said:


> Allstars really are not what they used to be. When Shakespeare acquired Allstar, that pretty much did it. I've fixed a lot of them, and it is sad how they are made these days.



Absolutely right!!


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## slingshot86

have numerous all-stars. i like them fine. but they dont hold a candle to a g-loomis or a st croix . but who can deal with 250 to 400 a shot ?( i do have 1 glorious glx )  that being said, whatever feels good to you and instills confidence is what you should fish with. btw, my son got a new castaway, and im impressed for $ 50.


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## jglenn

good call on the castaways for the $$. Very nice blanks


All all stars are made in china I believe starting this year.. bad news for the folks in Tx. 

Shame as the old titanium series of a few years back were outstanding blanks


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## GONoob

Hunter Haven said:


> They do not hold a candle to St. Croix's, but they are still pretty good rods... *you just have to pick through them and make sure you get one that has the blank set properly in them...* of course this is a necessity for any production rod in my opinion..



How?


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## Hunter Haven

Hunter Haven said:


> They do not hold a candle to St. Croix's, but they are still pretty good rods... you just have to pick through them and make sure you get one that has the blank set properly in them... of course this is a necessity for any production rod in my opinion..





GONoob said:


> How?



Hard to explain in writing. There is a technique of "spinning" the rod with the butt of it on the floor and making sure it rotates the trigger to the up and down position everytime.... the rod will always have a "stopping" point when you spin it. You do not want the trigger stopping on the sides when rotated... 

I'm sure this is hard to imagine, but it is also hard to type out too


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## sbroadwell

Hunter Haven said:


> Hard to explain in writing. There is a technique of "spinning" the rod with the butt of it on the floor and making sure it rotates the trigger to the up and down position everytime.... the rod will always have a "stopping" point when you spin it. You do not want the trigger stopping on the sides when rotated...
> 
> I'm sure this is hard to imagine, but it is also hard to type out too



Ha! You've just touched on one of the big controversies in rodbuilding. There are two groups of builders that don't even talk to each other, all over whether the spine is important or not.
I am sorta in the middle. I spine rods, but if the blank is unusually crooked, I build it so that the weight of the guides straighten the blank.
Spine is a pretty complex thing, as all blanks have two, and they rarely are on opposite sides of the blank.


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## Mark 0 Polo

we bought an all star for my mom for mothers day, she likes the rod a lot


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## stepdeep

i have an old all star rod i liked so much i bought a new on last year. usa v/s china. no comparasin from my old us made rod v/s the china rod. usa gets the worm and china gets the top water.


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## GABASSMAN

I have a few ASR series rods and I love them. They have amazing feel and a soft tip. I bought a St. Croix MOJO Bass rod and I think the All Star has it beat on feel.


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## sinclair1

I have a few from the early 90's and they are awesome, I picked up one recently at bass pro and put it right back on the rack. The ones I have are wrapped with red and blue and one is wrapped red. The new one I looked at was flat black and felt thick like at really cheap rod. The old ones were the rage back when I bought them, kinda like the loomis rods are today. If I remember correctly, with out going to the garage ,one is a 40X (I think).


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## jglenn

Steve is dead on about the spline(s) on a blank. lot's of varying opinions about how important it may or may not be to the accuracy of throwing lures to the strength of the blank...



for me I build a rod on the straightest line(and I still talk to Steve..LOL)_


now splines in golf shafts are important....


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## gahunter12

Allstar rods were some of the best rods on the market for years back when Brent Crawford owned the company. They were purchased by the 3M company which also owns Shakespeare, phluger reels and many other companies. I was on the Allstar pro staff from 1995 til they were bought out in 2003/2004. Brent built every one of his rods in Houston, Texas. All the rod building material was American made except the cork which was from portigual. Misspelled. The Crawford family were great people and took pride in there product and customers. After the buy out Bob Brown which was the former sales/pro staff manager took over the company with the agreement all Allstar rod building and material would stay in America. WRONG. After about 3 months we started getting the new China made Allstar rods in. Bob left and went to American Rods Smith as President. Along with his move to American Rods  Smith he carried along a lot of his knowledge and technology that made Allstar such a great rod. I would not wast my money on a Allstar today. American Rods Smith makes a great rod along with Castaway. Loomis now has become the cream of the crop. Also look at some of the Shimano rods, Mojo and others are great rods these days. For those that remember the days of the IM6, T40x, T80x, T38x, IM10x, and Titanium, you remember how nice of a rod Brent built. Some of you may even remember me from working the Allstar booth at all the Bass Pro Shop Fishing Classics back in the 90's and early 2000's. I took a lot of pride in promoting Allstar as one of the best rods on the market, but it makes me mad to no end at what Shakespeare did to such a great company and Rod.


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## gahunter12

jglenn said:


> good call on the castaways for the $$. Very nice blanks
> 
> 
> All all stars are made in china I believe starting this year.. bad news for the folks in Tx.
> 
> Shame as the old titanium series of a few years back were outstanding blanks



All Star Rods have been made in China since 2004. The old Houston, TX plant has been used as a stock warehouse for the last 5 years. For a while they were still building the rods in Houston but getting the blanks and material from china.


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## sinclair1

Thanks for the history, Yea I still use the T40x and the IM6 today, I also have an American made Allstar classic from early 2000's that was their cheap rod and it was still better
than what they produce in china.


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## sbroadwell

jglenn said:


> Steve is dead on about the spline(s) on a blank. lot's of varying opinions about how important it may or may not be to the accuracy of throwing lures to the strngth of the blank...
> 
> 
> 
> for me I build a rod on the straightest line(and I still talk to Steve..LOL)_
> 
> 
> now splines in golf shafts are important....



Hey, Jimmy
I wouldn't know about the golf clubs - haven't ever gone that far overboard and played that game! 
And, I don't pay much attention to the spine. From my casting out on my little "range" in the yard, I know that it doesn't make any difference at all. And the bit that some of the guys say about a spined blank keeping a casting rod from twisting, that is just silly. The only way to keep a casting rod from twisting under a heavy load from a fish is to spiral wrap it.
But, I still usually check the spine, since it is so easy. If the blank is perfectly straight, like so many of the Rainshadows, I will then build on the spine.


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## jglenn

Steve.......... on Golf ....



Don't do it.. It's really a bad habit


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## Trizey

My partner has a few of the old Allstar that are still great rods.  I wouldn't have one now.

Lately, I've been really impressed with my Shimano Crucial series rods.


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## skeeterjp

bought 4 of them at dicks sporting goods in augusta and love them. they came as a combo with a fleuger criton reel for only $60!


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## littleguy

But crucials are made in china too, along with some kistlers, mojo, kvd series crankbait rods, and even $450 steez rods.  So is it just the new all-stars are junky or is it the made in china stereotype?  As for me, I'll just stick with my loomis.


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## sbroadwell

jglenn said:


> Steve.......... on Golf ....
> 
> 
> 
> Don't do it.. It's really a bad habit



Don't worry, I won't. I couldn't stand to wear the silly colors of clothes you have to wear to be a golfer.


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## sbroadwell

littleguy said:


> But crucials are made in china too, along with some kistlers, mojo, kvd series crankbait rods, and even $450 steez rods.  So is it just the new all-stars are junky or is it the made in china stereotype?  As for me, I'll just stick with my loomis.



It's not necessarily the made in China thing. So much stuff is made there. Just look at rod guides. With the exception of the Recoils, every other guide you can get is made in China.
I think the issue with Allstar is how far they fell. At one time, they were about as good a factory rod as you could get (of course, any factory rod is going to have some compromises, never will be perfect).
Their quality went pretty far down, and I think people are comparing the before and after.
I've repaired three of them with spinning reel seats. When I took the real seat off, I found they used some kind of paper arbors. Once a little bit of water gets inside, the paper crumbles, and there is nothing left to hold the seat to the blank.
Yet, they still are trying to trade off of the Allstar name, which I think upsets people. It's good marketing, but not good in general.


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## 24tesla

*Lets bring this one back from the dead...*

McCain Fishing has a fun history! Morgan McCain founded All Star Rods and grew the company to one of the largest and most respected rod companies in the world in the early 80's until the late 90's. At one point, All Star was building over 15,000 rods a month before getting bought out by Shakespeare. Morgan assembled a wonderful team and this picture is of All Star Pro Staff angler Kerry Stafford from around 1985 (Thanks for the memories Kerry!). McCain Fishing may be a new company but it has a deep rooted history of building award winning rods. It won't be long before McCain Fishing is back on top. I hope Morgan doesn't plan on bringing these shorts back! Hahaha Check out our new lineup by going to:
www.mccainfishing.com

Morgan is back at it again with McCain Rods. USA made, and awesome rods.


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## Eugene Stinson

I would go with the Bionic Blade over an Allstar


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## riprap

I only have a couple of older all stars from the 90's. They are pretty heavy, but I still use them. I saw some new all stars at academy the other day. They felt very good but were about $100 higher than the other ones they have. The cheaper ones seem really cheap so I haven't tried those. I am cheap as well, so I'm not spending over $100 on a rod.


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