Hey Roska, when it comes to noodle rods, the differences for beginners isn't much. The slight differences are usually meant for the hardcore steelheaders, and enthusiasts. A lot of it depends on what type of water you are fishing as well, bigger creeks and rivers would require longer and slightly heavier action noodle rods and the ultra light combos would be used for smaller creeks etc.
As for G Loomis, they are fairly expensive, and mainly for the hardcore enthusiast, They have great rods, but also great marketing, which is why they are so popular. For someone that is starting out or only going ouit once in a while, the middle brands will do just fine. I personally use Shimano and Diawa, they are great rods for a decent price as well. A few years ago Gagnon Sports had a sale and the Shimano noodle rods were $49.99 (on sale from $100), and my dad bought about 10 rods. So the past few years i've been using up the stockpile and they do the job just fine. I'm personally waiting for a sale on some G Loomis rods, and i'm thinking about picking up a centre pin reel combo. This past week I saw about 30 fisherman at my home creek, and honestly, about 25 of them had the centre pin combo, I was blown away. I hear everybody say "once you go to centre pin, you never go back".
From What I Was Told And From What I Under Stand There Is More Control For Bait Presentation And Drifting The Float. Honestly Im Still Fairly New At This And I Cannot Justify Spending X Amount Of Dollars On High End Gear And Finding Out That I Just Want To Fish
I Figure Once I Understand How To Read The River, Which Type Of Floats/Leaders/Split Shots/Baits To Use Depending On The Condition Of The Water/Weather,I May Consider Going All Out And Buying Top Of The Line Center Pin Or The G-Loomis Super Sensitive/Light As A Feather 15' Float Rod(Probably Not Because I Dont Feel Like Dropping $1500 ).
If IWin The Lotto Max I Probably Will Buy An Introductory Center Pin, But Then Again The Chance Of That Happening Are Almost 1 in a million.
Now If I Can Catch A Bloody Pike I Will Have One Less Fish To Fish For.
