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I looked at them again this week and remain even more unconvinced.
There is always so much hype around a new product.
Every year there seems to be a new "hot" rod.
Undeniably some have proven good, some not.
Much of the appeal of these new products, however, are the guide systems.
Most people are still fishing Lami's with guide layouts that make the rod fish like a club. The newer St Croixs and now the Century and CTS's are set up with much lighter guides and this makes them much nicer in hand. Not a fair comparison, and I can vouch that a GSB Lami with good guides is a fishing tool every bit the equal of anything else out there.
The other mistake people make (in part because of canal-centricity) is that they get seduced by casting ability. Fast action, or stiff midsection rods out cast slower blanks by a noticeable amount. But they take more work and tear on your body to do it. Slow action rods are much nicer to fish, particularly when throwing heavy plugs, for long periods of time from bad footing. They also fight fish with less hook tear out in my experience. Obviously lifting jigs in current or keeping line elevation in rocks can favor a stiffer blank.
What is encouraging is that I think CTS and Century both recognize this and are trying to include a parabolic series in their lines. I don't think, however, that either company has yet produced a parabolic rod that exceeds the big GSB Lami's.
Trying new stuff is fun, but before everyone with a GSB Lami is made to feel that their equipment is inferior, they may want to consider having there rod rewrapped with a better guide layout. Also, be aware that both companies are promising even newer products in the near future. You can be pretty sure that in 1-2 years most of these current blanks will be superseded by something else.
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