Spooler

[Kevin23]

Went to gander mtn today with cash in hand... again not able to find anything to buy.

I hit the ice fishing section (if you want to call it a section) and noticed they had 5 clam spooler combos there. I picked them up and every single one of them had guides that were 90º off center. And the reels, they feel like plastic to me. I had to put it down, I felt like I was going to break it in the store. Would take some getting used to, thats for sure. Nowhere near the quality of the fly reels I'm used to. Rod was supposed to be a 20" UL and was more like a Med. Only the first 3" bent. Definitely not what I was hoping they would be like. Anyways, just a heads up for anyone thinking about ordering one online.. DON'T DO IT. Go look at them in the store.

[lefty2053]

I've heard in the last 2 years about poor quality stuff everywhere. Lots of rods with poor eyelets and reels that are barely holding together. The more people out ice fishing the more junk we are going to find. There will be some companies working harder to make quality stuff but we will pay for it for sure. I am just glad I got everything I need now for the next several years. (oh sure I say that now and will buy something tomorrow as I always do) But for the most part I am set.

[spikes]

I agree on quality going down, but I have purchased about 6 frabill combos over the past few seasons and I feel their quality is excellent and especially for the price.  I love the St. Croix for open water but on this forum there has been a lot of negative feed back about their rods and especially the reels.   

[openingact]

I agree on quality going down, but I have purchased about 6 frabill combos over the past few seasons and I feel their quality is excellent and especially for the price.  I love the St. Croix for open water but on this forum there has been a lot of negative feed back about their rods and especially the reels.   

Seems like some of the smaller companies are stepping up while the bigger ones are falling. Had a couple HT items even look not half bad.

[mdeutsch]

I was also VERY disappointed today when I looked the Spooler combo at Bass Pro. After looking at their "light" rod I knew it wasn't for me. Especially, as previously mentioned, none of the nearly 20 combos had straight guides, with many so far out of alignment I don't think they would be usable.

Even had to dig to find a Frabill with straight guides to justify $60.00. Guess quality is becoming a thing of the past.

[bpiatt]

Seems like some of the smaller companies are stepping up while the bigger ones are falling. Had a couple HT items even look not half bad.

Yeah I've noticed HT increasing the quality of their products. Their tungsten jigs are excellent quality and they have decent rod/reel combos now for awesome prices.

[cornerback21]

I noticed the same thing, but with just about every brand. Had to look at about 30 frabill "Bros" to find one that had all eyes straight and not bent, and that was for every store I've been too.