They are all good...
i can't really explain my fondness for these rods...Tomorrow i may not feel the same about them...
I have many Compres and to me the blanks on these other rods I mentioned are more to my liking, stiffer and more sensitive overall...I have read more than once that Shimano utilized a Loomis blank for these Crucial/Scabard rods...I was never able to validate that with an actual "Shimano Historian" though...
The older Crucials use to use a sort of "skeleton reel seat" that left your hand fully on the blank...I am told it is like the old Berkely Series One rods...I like that feature a lot, but only one of my rods has it...My Crucials are mostly of the second generation with the plain blank thru seat...
Compres, to me are softer rods from their little lower line graphite...IMHO...But my current Senko rod and my ultralite Slider rods are still Compres matched with Stradics... So I still use a lot of them...
I have never had a Clarus, but own quite a few V-rods, Shimano's current top rod series...And as a step down from that series, I wasn't that interested in accumulating any more entry-level rods like the Clarus to experiment with...So I can't fairly compare them...
At this point, with a few exceptions, I am gonna go bananas and buy something premium for a real upgrade, or just sit tight looking for the older equipment that I like and know will work...No more middleground for me...
Also, there is a sentimental issue...When I first got back into fishing, my first rod was a Scabard 6'6" M with a Stradic 2000...It is my good luck charm and quite universal to boot !...Even as a loaner rod, it is a true "slumpbuster"....Lots of good stories with that rod...So I have a real soft spot for it, and any others like it...
Mark D
