I do not own an Allstar rod but have heard good things about them. A guide that I respect has switched from Loomis to Allstar because he claims that ever since Shimano bought Loomis the quality has gone to hell. The guide I know puts his rods through alot of abuse with customers and I can see durability being an issue. I keep my good rods to myself on my boat and use a Lamiglas "Salmon Special" (which I jut broke at Neah Bay) for the downriggers along with a few custom rods that are well suited for this. All of the custom rods were $200 each so now I am bottom feeding for two durable rods that have decent action.