Hello all, been reading this site for a while first time posting. Like the title says I am looking for a rod for throwing streamers and big bugs to trout here in Colorado. I have used the St. Croix rod and love how it handles. I'm looking for suggestions for a blank that will behave in a similar fashion. If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Nathan.

What line weight Bank Robber? It's a pretty high modulus blank built for a niche market, hard to beat the price on something like that. St. Croix fly rods are a good value, especially with the increases in prices of other rods we're seeing.

6 weight. I'd prefer to build one if possible but I get that it's a very purpose built rod. I wouldn't be too disappointed to buy an assembled St. Croix rod though. I've only ever heard good things about their quality.

I only messed with one of the 7 wt. Bank Robbers for a bit over an hour, and I didn't have the rod in mind there to refresh my memory, but about a month later I got to fish a 9 1/2 ft, old design, 3 pc. G Loomis IMX that I thought was similar, the 9 ft. rods were similar. Weight, modulus, everything like that is not the same, but how it fished, and carried a bit more open loop for weighted flies and sink tip lines without me having to change my casting style is what I'm talking about. Around 1994 when the GLX series came out they soon changed all the others to that design and still do to this day. Another standout though only two piece series for a short while, the 9 ft. 9 in. GL3 in a 5. 6. 7. and 8 weight that were of the older philosophy I thought, they didn't last long. but I knew a lot of people and guides that liked the 5 and 8 weights a lot.
The old design if you used the Common Sense system on them, weren't particularly powerful in their weight class like many of the cannons of today, to me they had good reserve power in the butt, a stiffer tip and did most of the work in the remaining middle part of the blank. I CC'd a few and they were in the low to mid 60's as far as action angle goes if I remember right.
Called some buddies that do more streamer fishing than I do, they had some good info and advise, unfortunately none of their choices can be bought in blank form any longer.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/2017 11:17PM by Spencer Phipps.