I was looking at getting a new spinning rod for steelhead and saw that the norwest special was in my price range (saw it at GI Joes on sale for $100). Has anyone had any experience with this rod? Would you recomend it?

Go the extra and get the certified Pro. Lot better rod. The duck

I've had a NW Special casting rod for 17 years and love it. It was the first steelhead drift fishing rod I owned and it has been used and abused and still holds up just fine. I admit that I upgraded to Loomis GL3's years ago, but this rod still holds a special place in the garage.

SA

I saw a 44 lb. upriver bright caught on on a Norwest Special and I've caught a few 30 lbers myself on one. Great rod!

Are there usually good deals on rods at the portland sportsmans show?

Yep what they said. I have a 35# king notched into mine, plenty of other fish too. Good Rod But...

I'd say that if you are looking for a multi-purpose rod and have a benny in your wallet, talk to some of our local rod makers about buying a good blank and having them wrap it for you. In the end you'll spend a bit more than $100, maybe in the $125 range, and you'll get a really good rod.
Talk to some folks and see what kind of deal you can work out.

Funny you should ask. I've spent big bucks on many of my rods. The one I just bought cost $415 bucks. But, my largest steelhead (29 pounds) was caught on a Norwest Special, 8.5-foot, 10-20 pound line casting rod. Go figure.

Love my Northwest special.Caught steelhead, salmon,and a 60" sturgeon on it.Abused the heck out of it for the last 10 years or so,and its still going strong.

Right now Im fishing an 8'6 intrepid so im sure there will be a big difference between that and a lami. Im looking for a spinning rod. Ive allready got a metaloid 30 to put on it which is really smooth.

If I were shopping the $100 and under range, I would (have) bought the Berkely IM7...(the red blank with exposed blank reel seat).
Right now on sale at GI Joes for $59.
Great rod.
My bro in law has NW Special and I see nothing great about it....I know there are better rods for same/less $.

Chevy,

You might like to look at this (short) article
I found it very informative.

http://www.flwoutdoors.com/article.cfm?id=141123


I have a NW special. Nice rod!



Herm

Chevy, I own 4 of those rods. They dont get much use anymore, have since upgraded to 1141's, but those rods have caught a lot of steelhead and salmon. I have never had one break, wish I could say that about my 1141's. Still break one out once in awhile for sentimental reasons. Those are the rods I learned to sidedrift out my sled with.

buyer beware lami does not warranty the nw special series

got one 8'6" med 8-12 lb. busted it fishing in the salt on a fat chum (might have used it in the downrigger at one time or something) it was outside the 1 year warranty period and they still replaced the tip section at no charge. i actually love the thing. slapped my curado on there and can comfortably (and smoothly) cast 3 shot to 8 shot slinkies with no problems. i like it. i also have a 10' $59, shimano convergence i use for a float rod. i like that too. i've heard good things about the rapala drift rods in the $80 range. if i was going to fish 3-4 times a week, or fish for a living, i'd probably plunk down a chunk for a loomis. if i get out 3-4 times a month, i'm lucky, so to spend that kind of money really doesn't make sense for me. that being said, if i was going to plunk down another $100 for a drift rod, i'd scare up the other $30 and go certified pro for the lifetime warranty, if i break the norwest again, i doubt that they'll fix it again on their dime.

willy

Lamiglas replaced mine recently (it broke from abuse, not normal use.) I love my Norwest casting rod so much that I bought a Norwest spinning rod just last week.

I,ve had mine for about 15 years and is still going strong. Iv'e retired it to one of my plug rods and still keeps on ticking. Buy one you won't be disapointed

I really have to agree with goforchrome. I have fished with the Norwest Special, Intrepid, Loomis GL-2 and the Berkley IM-7. For the money, you can not beat the IM-7. I also broke my Lamiglas Norwest Special and they would not replace or fix it unless I gave them $24 dollars and another $15 or so for shipping. I decided to pay an extra $20 and buy a brand new Berkley IM-7. I have heard that Bi-mart replaces broken IM-7 for free if you take them back. I have not broken mine, but I have heard this on more than 1 occassion.


Sampson

I really have to agree with goforchrome. I have fished with the Norwest Special, Intrepid, Loomis GL-2 and the Berkley IM-7. For the money, you can not beat the IM-7. I also broke my Lamiglas Norwest Special and they would not replace or fix it unless I gave them $24 dollars and another $15 or so for shipping. I decided to pay an extra $20 and buy a brand new Berkley IM-7. I have heard that Bi-mart replaces broken IM-7 for free if you take them back. I have not broken mine, but I have heard this on more than 1 occassion.


Sampson

Grumpys in Yakima lets you know that tha N.w special does not have a warrenty befor you buy. They might not be telling the truth, I don't know for sure. The Duck

i just checked the lami website. it's a little unclear. my norwest special (i know for a fact) had a 1 year warranty. on the lami site, it states that all of their rods except G200 and BFC (these are the big fish rods) are warranteed for life. the norwest special is in neither of these categories.
http://www.lamiglas.com/warranty.php
in fact, on the G200 page, it specifies that it "features" the 1 year warranty, yet on the nwspecial page it doesn't.

willy