take it for what its worth, but you cannot go wrong with kistler rods. I have not had any problems out of the 3 carrot sticks i have but they were the first generation even before they made the gold series. Now, when fish are finicky and you want to feel those suttle bites there is a HUGE diffrence. In this situation i would only trust a kistler or loomis. Please look at the kistler magnesium series before buying a carrot stick, (close in price). And for those who think a walmart rod is just as good as a high end rod, well please look at data statistics. Not only will high end rods be lighter, but you will be able to detect suttle soft bites alot better especially in windy conditions. One of my friends had the same outlook about rods until i let him use one of my kistler rods for about a week or so. Now he has 5 or 6 LTX's.