Kistler Rods?

[hirk]

I'm considering becoming a dealer for them and just wondering if there would be much interest?IM me with comments good or bad etc.

[dheitzner]

Definitely some high end rods, never used one but I've heard good things.

Where abouts are you located? I don't know of any dealers in the GTA...

[fishnpro]

if you can get your hands on some kistlers and if the price is right id be interested. saves me the ride down to belleville.

[Snidley]

You may want to check out www.tackletour.com and ask there. Kistler has had lots of possitive AND negative coverage on that site. The guy who runs the business Trey Kistler is a religious guy who wears it on his sleeve (which is often not well recieved and would be even less well recieved her in Canada) and they play very fast and loose with the Made in the USA marketing approach(one of the reasons the religiousity is criticized). From what I can discern they assemble Chinese components in the USA and the end result is an expensive rod that is really a chinese import. Some guys really like the higher end rods but I've never seen much about their cheaper offerings. The cost of these rods up here would be prohibitive IMO and right now there are a ton of rods coming out from Gary Dobyns ($225 to $300 USD for Korean imports), Daiwa signiture rods from Korea and China, cheap Shimano's from China, E-21 rods ($150 to $250 USD from China) etc. To me the biggest problem for you is that Rapala is coming out with a huge line of Canadian only rods called the R series. They are Bass, walleye, Salmon, steelhead, musky etc line of rods These rods are about $80 and I'm told by someone who is inside Rapala that they are very high quality rods using very good components that sell for very little $$$$. They are using Rapalas size, strength and expertize to build a strong offering that will be sold for Berkley Lightning Rod type money.It sounds like introducing an obscure line of expensive rods will be a tough sell to me. They have lost lots of cache since Ken Whiting left for E 21 rods but Airrus Rods still make some very good, innovative rods for less $ than some of the new guys. You may want to inquire with them at www.rodsbyairrus.com. I'm also thinking that for Canada St Croix sells very high quality rods from a long term family run manufacturer for excellent prices here in Canada. When i look at it you can buy a St Croix Ledgend Tournament rod for a little over $200 CDN and an Avid from $140 to $180 and the similar quality Dobyns, E 21, Daiwa, Loomis, and Kistler would be closer to $300-$450 Cdn. Sounds like a no brainer to me Snidley

[hotrod]

Personally I can't justify spending big bucks on rods to bounce around the front deck of my bassboat, I find the rods around 100-150 bucks do just fine and if I want to replace them every few years I can without breaking the bank. Same as baitcasters, I don't like to spend any more that a couple hundred each due to the wear and tear I put them through and I like to update them every few years also. Technology changes so fast these days and I like to update rather than keep the same stuff for years which I would feel obliged to do if I paid big bucks for rods and reels.

[Radnine]

When i look at it you can buy a St Croix Ledgend Tournament rod for a little over $200 CDN and an Avid from $140 to $180 and the similar quality Dobyns, E 21, Daiwa, Loomis, and Kistler would be closer to $300-$450 Cdn. Sounds like a no brainer to me Snidley

Not to thread jump here, but how can you tell what a "similar quality" is? I have always gone by price, that is to say that someone's $140.00 rod is the same (more or less) as someone else's $140.00 rod. No?

If you have an inside track or a pedigree of some kind, I'd love more info like this.

Jim