BrianBM Posted March 7, 2022 Report Share Posted March 7, 2022 (edited) Another question, motivated not by an itch to shop, but by winter boredom and overall curiosity. What's the Forum's take on current Seeker rods and blanks? I was inventorying my tackle lately, and found that I do have a Seeker rod, a BA507, marked for 40 (50) 60 lb. line (a designation that doesn't currently show on the website). I bought it a long time ago, when I didn't know better. It was labeled for cod. I think it was made for a fishery that no longer exists, deep jigging in the GOM. 50 oz. of lead barely deflects it from the horizontal. A pair of cod on the rod, given the elasticity of the monofilament that was current when I think it was designed, would make perfect sense, the mono compensating for the rigidity of the rod. It might make sense as a tilefish rod, but even for that, I dunno. Maybe for tilefish and a five pound sinker. OTOH, it's remarkably light for a glass rod. Build quality is fine. It has a nice long foregrip, resting it on a rail would be fine. Too bad it's so effin' stiff. I know I've seen people mention Seeker blanks as a base for blackfish rods, but not often, and maybe not even on SOL. That's about it. So, what's the current take on the brand? I think the founder passed a few years ago, and the brand's now in the hands of another generation. Generational turnover can be hard on a company. Edited March 7, 2022 by BrianBM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Mendez Posted March 7, 2022 Report Share Posted March 7, 2022 The 80H is considered a very desirable and versatile 50# rod out here in Southern California. I've seen blanks listed from $125 to $400 depending on the type of glass. I bought a deckhand wrapped, super seeker 80H a few years back. Used it once and sold it for what I paid for it. The butt was too thick for me. In hindsight, I should have kept it and sold it for twice what I paid for it now The older rods, made in Long Beach, are more desirable than the present ones though I'm not sure what changed in their process. Darin Dohi used to head the Long Beach operation and now leads 310 Rodworks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianBM Posted March 7, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2022 Ooops. I had to change the designation of the rod, just now, to BA50-7. "310 Rodworks," that's a name that's new to me. Off to DDG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy 40 Posted March 7, 2022 Report Share Posted March 7, 2022 Everyone on the East Coast stopped using Seeker in 2014. Grumpy, Trophy and I who had built up their East Coast market, all bailed once they dumped all their blank manufacruring equipment and outsourced their orders. Once blanks that never broke were breaking left and right, and they wouldn't honor the warantee, each of us moved on and never looked back. YOu're only 10 years too late with this post, stir up the dinosaurs!! Fergal 1 "the internet is the greatest platform for people who don't know anything, to tell people how much they don't know, to people who don't know anything and believe everything they read." -Billy 40:16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianBM Posted March 7, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2022 And this is just what I wanted to know. Thank you. By odd coincidence, while ambling around the Internet, I tripped over threads of yours about Seeker blanks for blackfish, cod, etc., from 2011 on noreast. And I didn't know that they're now just marketing Pacific Rim product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejd Posted March 8, 2022 Report Share Posted March 8, 2022 They did have some real nice blanks going 10yrs back. A few of them are still my favorites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianBM Posted March 8, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2022 Yes. Another poster advised me that after the death of Calstar's founding rod builder, quality went to hell. I notice that a store that carried them in the past have dropped them. Next question, I guess, would be Calstar. Their website suggests, to me, a company stuck in time. The lineup appears to be all glass. That's probably fine for trolling and fishing bottom, but it's a bit limited for casting. I suppose the nearest current equivalent to those companies, in their salad days, would be UC Composites. I don't think I've even seen one of those rods, either on the beach or on a boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoonplugger1 Posted March 9, 2022 Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 (edited) Seeker doesn't just market Pacific Rim products, all their composite blanks are US built and their rods are assembled here at their plant. Just go to the site and read no need to quess. REC is the only company that might make guides in the US, they used to make all products in their plant. NFC has a US company make their Black and Silver Widow reel seats, like the Wiebe seats they are designed after, they can't hold a saltwater designed reel foot which are wider and longer than the reel foot you find on all low profile reels and the ABUs smaller than the 7000. United Composites has considerably more product than they did, many designed originally for the Australian market than sold here later. The gentleman who designed for Seeker in the good days owns United Composites now so they haven't went static by any means. You may not use many United Composites products, or no nothing about them, but the west coast loves them. They build products from the 4 ply DHX designs to 9 ply models with monster lifting power. Youtube has some videos by Charkbait and a few less informative east coast videos on their products. Edited March 9, 2022 by spoonplugger1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianBM Posted March 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 (edited) Spoonplugger1 .... now, THAT's a name with a history, spoonplugging. Do people still use the spoonplug for trolling black bass? Anyway, Billy40 isn't the only rod builder to express unhappiness with the current Seeker blanks. There are plenty of other blank and rod makers whose products seem well liked here, starting with Billy40's RodGeeks. I have no reason to look hard at a firm whose product is much-criticized by the cognoscenti. American manufacturers are every bit as capable of making crappy product as any no-name Pacific Rim factory. If Seeker is using third-party blanks of poor quality made in the USA, that's their business. Randy Penny is the UC designer to whom you refer, I think. It was Calstar whose site gave me an impression of company sclerosis, certainly not UC. THAT site has more product lines than you can shake a stick at. UC's surf sticks are marketed to ulua casters, and I think they're all glass. I've never seen one. Correction. The Ulua rods/blanks are glass and graphite. Edited March 9, 2022 by BrianBM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckDgaf Posted March 9, 2022 Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 Seeker BA 30 7ft was a very popular off the rack rod a while back ( seems like yesterday ) - very versatile. Seeker BA 50 7ft was a telephone pole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianBM Posted March 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 (edited) 26 mins ago, ChuckDgaf said: Seeker BA 30 7ft was a very popular off the rack rod a while back ( seems like yesterday ) - very versatile. Seeker BA 50 7ft was a telephone pole. Oh, yeah. I was playing with mine ... and wondering "why did I do that?" But it was a long, long time ago. I'll take it along on a tilefish trip, and hopefully bend it with something big in deep water. Edited March 9, 2022 by BrianBM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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