New American made rod co.

[loomisguy]

I've always been a fan of Falcon rods . They took a bunch of heat when they moved production overseas from Ark Rod in Harrison AR. although. they are still a great rod.
Now we have a new rod company here in the Ozarks. Virtus rods. They are being made by Ark Rod , who made Falcon rods before the move overseas .
The models pretty much mimic the Falcon models such as the Finesse jig (Eakins) rod
The head turner ,The Amistad ect. My guess is Ark rod still had the original mandrels .I just got the Finesse jig rod and it's every bit as good as the Original Caras.
It feels a touch lighter but great and craftsmanship and Fuji components.
Jewell bait co is distributing them and we have several local shops selling them.
Mine was $289 , Not a cheap rod but certainly worth it . Anyone looking for a great American made rod, here ya go.

[WTodd]

Always good to know about 'Murican made stuff.  I had a Falcon rod a very long time ago.


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[D.W. Verts]

I was sponsored by Falcon back in the DAY. Good rods back then, & I still have one I use once in a while.

Dale

[ohiobass]

Always liked Falcon rods back in the days. I remember a local Gander Mountain shop clearancing Falcon Expert rods they carried, and the manager there located 83 Falcon Expert rods in the 3 nearby stores, had them all sent to my local store, and I bought all 83 of them, for, if I remember correctly, $50 a piece for all 83. They retailed for around $150-180, and were clearanced for around $80. I sold around 75 of them, and kept the others. Great way to get free rods!!!

[Smallie_Stalker]

Falcons were my rod of choice for a while back in the 90's. I owned more of the Carolina Lizard Dragger model in both powers and in both spinning and casting models than any man should.

Typical for me doing the out of the ordinary, I used the spinning versions for C- rigging and the casting version for my pitching sticks. Hmm.

Go figure.

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[loomisguy]

Smallie,  The Lizard Dragger has always been one of my favorites as well.  Even though it was meant to fish the ol' ball and chain it's also a great football jig rod.

[loomisguy]

I just may pick up one of the Virtus Wart/RK Crawler rods also.  I was able to get my hands on a couple of the new Deep Warts. I'm always the first to bash Rapala  for what they did to the original wart but I gotta say these look a lot better and true to the old colors.  Same body size just more bill.
It's made to give the Crawler some competition in that depth range.  IMHO, the Crawler always seemed bad for hanging up but it's a outstanding bait.

[Smallie_Stalker]

Smallie,  The Lizard Dragger has always been one of my favorites as well.  Even though it was meant to fish the ol' ball and chain it's also a great football jig rod.

You know, I can see how it would be. Don't know why I never thought of that back then.  

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[D.W. Verts]

I used my Lizard Draggers as much for a worm and jig (or more) than I did for a C-rig. I still have one of them- it's amazing how archaic it feels compared to my new Dobyns rods.

Dale

[loomisguy]

Always liked Falcon rods back in the days. I remember a local Gander Mountain shop clearancing Falcon Expert rods they carried, and the manager there located 83 Falcon Expert rods in the 3 nearby stores, had them all sent to my local store, and I bought all 83 of them, for, if I remember correctly, $50 a piece for all 83. They retailed for around $150-180, and were clearanced for around $80. I sold around 75 of them, and kept the others. Great way to get free rods!!!

That's a great story. those original Expert's are still bringing pretty good money around here.
I've heard that they just cost Falcon too much to produce and they didn't want to get into $300 + price range for a rod..  20 years ago.