I have several Allstar float rods and they are sweet! Caught springers, steelies, and they even held up to the chummers last fall.

Thanks for all the input guys. I decided to go with the Allstar. Took it out the day after I bought it and caught my first sttelhead on a jig and lost a freight train fish too.

I know the Loomis has better components (Fuji vs PacBay, etc), but I couldn't justify 3x the price. I figured that with a lifetime guarantee and more reasonable price, how could I go wrong? Also, I always have the 1025C to fall back on for drifting.

Ocus:

I've been fishing with my Loomis 1263C for about 6 years now and I absolutely love it. Not only is a great rod for float fishing but it is also a great drift fishing rod to. Powerful enough to land a 40# Fraser River King for me this summer, but yet the rod still feels light enough that you don't feel like it's overkill when your fighting a small steelhead. The drawback is the price I paid $250 for my rod several years ago, so the pinch wasn't that bad. If you don't want to spend the big money, I'm sure the allstar & rainshadow rods are good investments to and they will save you some cash.

BD

For an off the shelf float rod check out the Fenwick 10'-5" HMX series rated at 2-10lbs $106.00 at sportco,This rod was 65 bucks 6 years ago,but at at little over 100 bucks is still a great deal.
I've landed everything from Winterruns to Satsop chums and a 28lb springer...my .02....Os