Lamiglas Excel Rods – First Impressions

[islandbass]

First, let me tell you that I am a Lamiglas fan, but in all honesty, the Excel series didn’t even make a blip on my “Must have it,” radar, nor did it stoke in me the desire to check them out. My initial guess about them was that they might be a series that was probably nothing more than their venerable Competitor series of rods that sported a split grip.

I saw it as Lami’s answer to the $100 price point rods that other makers have done, like the Mojos. You know, just Ho-hum... Whatever...

I attended a local sportsman’s show yesterday and upon visiting the Lamiglas booth, decided to check to see if they had any Excel models on the racks. I wanted to confirm or dispel my preconceived notions on this line of rods.

Fortunately, they had a few models on the rack. But before I even picked one up, I spoke with their rep and ran him through the 20 questions ringer about the blank and the components. The rep mentioned that the blanks in the Excel line were identical to those used in the Certified Pro rods (I hope he wasn’t blowing smoke up my sit down part). Off that bat and out the shoot, that is very impressive. I have a Certified Pro rod in my arsenal and I can say that it is NOT a fair fight for the fish. You can feel the fish burp and fart with a Certified Pro rod.

Because the Certified Pro rods start at about $180.00 and sport Fuji Alconite guides, I suspected that the $100 price point of the Excel rods is probably reached by using a cheaper (cost, not quality) set of guides. The Excel rods possess American Tackle’s Halide guides. I don’t know anything about these guides, but I would like to see and hope that they would be at least on par with Fuji Aluminum Oxide guides or better yet, their Hardloys.

So far, so good, but it wouldn’t be worth a grain of salt if these rods felt terrible in hand. I took a short breath and while on the rack, I turned the blank around to read the specs: XL734C - 8-20 lb, ¼ - ¾ oz. Translated from Lamiglas speak, this means the rod is in the Excel (XL) line, 7’3” in length and is a casting rod (the C) and is a 4 power (medium in the line up) rod.

Given its 7’ plus length and split grip, I presumed that the rod might be more tip heavy than necessary. I was pleasantly surprised that it was not. The rod instantly felt at home in my hand. It didn’t feel heavy in hand either. If this could be judged in terms of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, I’d have to give it the Baby Bear rating of, “Just right.” No… Right on!!!!

Grabbing the MH 7’3” rod yielded the same feel and much to my delight, the spinning rods also felt fantastic.

I was a bit blown away that such a good feel could come from rods at the $100 price point. The only thing that I would have loved to see is how they would fare on the water.

Ironically, despite living only 2 hours from Lamiglas’ HQ, I’d have to actually special order one from local vendors if I wanted one, since no local vendor is going to carry this series of rods.

These are the models that I held in hand:

XL734C, Line Weight: 8-20 lbs. Jigs, Senkos, Small Swimbaits and Carolina-Rigs.

XL735C, Line Weight: 12-25 lbs. Frogs and Small Swimbaits.

XL703S, Line Weight: 6-12 lbs. Drop Shot, Shaky Heads, Tubes & Gitzits.

In conclusion, I can say that the Excel series left a great first impression. I believe Lamiglas really hit it out of the park in terms of value and performance at this price point. I believe that they are also made here in the good US of A. Now that’s practically unheard of today. Wow.

No, I haven’t fished with the Excel rods, BUT I know full well the excellent traits Certified Pro rods possess in feel and sensitivity. I would feel very comfortable recommending an Excel rod as an excellent candidate to a budget minded angler. Getting the rod of Certified Pro performance for about $100 is a steal of a deal any time.

Anyway, just my two cents. I just had to tell everyone because I couldn’t contain my first impressions.

-ib