Rods, rods, rods. Thoughts?

I am looking for a bit more capable set up than what I have and don't really know what direction to go. Actually, I am trying to fill a gap.

My spinning rod is an older Berkley Pro Series One (IM6), 6', and spec'd for 1/8-3/8 lure and 4-10lb test line. I need to do some repairs to it - the rod tip got broken off, tried to fix it last night without much luck so back to the drawing board.

My bait casting rod is a 7'6" Field & Stream rated up to 3 or 4oz lure weight and 20-80lb line.

What I'm looking for is something that is able to take heavier lures than the Berkley = doesn't flex as much when casting and doesn't feel like I have a fish on when I am reeling in big spinners. Rod length that I think would be ideal is 6'6" to 7'. Based on weighing some of the lures in my tackle box the ones that are on the heavy end are about .8-1oz (med. size KB spoon, big size sonar, etc).

Target species are pike and bass, if that means much. We also do a fair amount of walleye fishing on sonars. For the size walleye, and a lot of the pike, the Berkley is fine, but its the darn lures that are way past it's range (top end on that rod is less than 1/2 oz and my sample sonar is .9oz).

When I was at the store today they had 2 rods that seemed like they fit with the 1oz lure weight - a Shakespeare Ugly Stick and a St. Croix Sport Triumph, both 7' rods with, what I would call, huge handles. Neither was what I think I'm looking for, other than they fit the spec of the lure weights.

If I could find a rod just like my Berkley but 6"-1' longer and rated for heavier lures that would be perfect (2 piece even better).

Another thought is regarding the rated lure weights. Am I over-thinking that? Should I go with a lighter lure capacity rod? I've cast both sonars and the KB spinner on the Berkley, though the rod flexes a lot it "works". A 3/4 oz top-end rated lure rod is rated for twice the weight the Berkley I have now is, so that would help out on the rod flex I'd think. Would that get me in the capacity I need even with over-shooting that top limit? Or should I really shoot for that 1oz+ range? For a real stiff/heavy rod my bait caster picks things up in the 1oz range for pike and muskie, but I just don't want to wing that thing around when I'm not throwing Suiks, giant Mepps, and spoons.

Re: Rods, rods, rods. Thoughts?

The line and weight ratings on rods is subjective. One company will give a rod one rating while the next company will rate the exact same blank something entirely different. The world of custom rod building is slowly moving towards the Common Cents System (CCS) method of rating rods but it's going to be sometime, if ever, before it catches on in the commercial world.

A moderate action rod will bend deeper into the blank than a fast action blank when supporting the same weight. Its sounds like your Berkley is moderate to mod-fast blank. A fast to ex-fast action blank would handle the same weigh with less flex.

Generally speaking, a rod is happiest casting weights in the middle of it's weight rating, assuming the rod is rated anywhere near it's actual capacity. Throwing weights at the top and bottom of it's "actual" capacity typically will not yield satisfactory results. Sometimes the results are catastrophic.

Re: Rods, rods, rods. Thoughts?

I just bought a Diawa 7' two piece Med. Hvy. Samurai that is rated for 8-17lb. line at Dicks sporting goods for $29.99. I don't think it would handle pulling 10 pounders out of heavy brush but it was fun for the 2-3 lb. bass I caught on the swim shad. The open faced reel will handle a hundred and fifty yard spool of 30# Power Pro. It worked real smoothly casting the 4" swim shads with a #2/0 wide bend hook and a 1/8 oz. weight rigged Texas style. I figure the reel is probably worth most of the $30 I paid for the set up and if I want something stronger in a rod I can pair it with an ugly stick or something from Bass Pro. When I hooked these bass on this outfit it felt like I had some monsters on. This is the lightest set up I own so it felt like they were at least five pounders at first.

Re: Rods, rods, rods. Thoughts?

gpfishingdude said:

I just bought a Diawa 7' two piece Med. Hvy. Samurai that is rated for 8-17lb. line at Dicks sporting goods for $29.99. I don't think it would handle pulling 10 pounders out of heavy brush but it was fun for the 2-3 lb. bass I caught on the swim shad.

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You're severely under estimating the capabilities of a 8-17 lb rod. I use a 6 ft. 10-17lb, fast action rod for jigging Stripers. I've caught Stripers pushing #40 on that rod with a 260 Penn Slammer loaded up with #10 Sufix braid. A #10'er is a cake walk.

Re: Rods, rods, rods. Thoughts?

I think alot depend on your comfort, I have several Bass Pro branded rods, the med-heavy extreme works well for me, even when I cast a 12-20 foot diver. Abu Garcia also produces a nice rod, I recently bought the black Max combo at Walmart for 70 bucks. I target bass and striper.

Re: Rods, rods, rods. Thoughts?

Rod descriptions mean little, you need to go someplace and feel all the ones that may fit your needs. There are hundreds and hundreds of choices and each one will be different.

Re: Rods, rods, rods. Thoughts?

Javelin JD said:

I think alot depend on your comfort

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True, but most don't understand how the rod, reel and line work together and select tackle that is much heavier than required. You would be amazed at how lite of a combo you can put together when you match components.

When someone comes in for a consultation on a custom rod build, I have them bring their favorite combo with them. You can tell a lot about a fisherman that brings in a #25 rod using a reel with #8 of drag loaded up with #30 line.

Re: Rods, rods, rods. Thoughts?

I wouldn't know what to look for in a custom rod, I know what feels comfortable to me and the weight feels right, I'm ok, as far as selecting the right lure to fit the rod, I couldn't even guess. Probably why I don't always catch the keepers. I adjust the brakes and spool with each lure to minimize the backlash capabilities. I've never gotten to the point where I feel comfortable with using braded line as I still get backlashes, just not as bad as before.

Re: Rods, rods, rods. Thoughts?

I bought a new rod yesterday. After looking at hundreds of them I ended up getting a 7' St Croix med/heavy Premier casting rod. I put on a Lew's Tournament Pro MSB reel with 30lb Power Pro and love the combo. Only bad part is that the combo cost about $350

Re: Rods, rods, rods. Thoughts?

Ugly stik lite or lite pro, 7' medium action.
You can't beat it for the $39 price.
The tip is flexible for picking up on the super light walleye bite, without letting the fish feel the rod.
And the rest of the rod is stout enough to troll with, and land 40" northern..
I use it for 1/4 oz jigs and up, and 3" diving reef runners and Rapalas.

For lures over an ounce, I go to a more stout medium action graphite rod.
I've got a Shimano Scabbard 7' Medium, and a ST Croix 6'6" M or MH that both handle the bigger buck tails and deep divers real well.

But no stump pullers, as I generally don't fish heavy cover.


I 10# original Fireline on these rods.


And for lighter lures, I'm with an old Berkeley Cheerywood 6' Light,
or an ugly stik lite pro 5'9" light.

Re: Rods, rods, rods. Thoughts?

Personal best. 28" pike on a 5'6" Shimano UL spooled with 4# Flouroclear using a 1/16oz jig spinner with a Twister tail. That fish had no business hitting on that crappie rig.

Heaviest rig I have is a Bass Pro Shop 7' Pro Qualifier medium action with a Pflueger Summit baitcast reel. This will throw 1/4oz weighted rubber baits up to 3/4oz hard baits w/o a hiccup.

Re: Rods, rods, rods. Thoughts?

I own 20 St Croix rods avids legends etc, after warranty issues I have now changed to Shimano , There warranties are lifetime no fault, Cant beat that!!!!!

Re: Rods, rods, rods. Thoughts?

Any thoughts on Fenwick rods?

I checked out the local Cabelas today and they had a few Fenwick Eagle GT's. Their 6'6" EGTS66MH looks about exactly what I am after. It is rated from 1/4oz to 1oz lures and 8-17lb line. Looking at Fenwick's site they make a 2 piece version too. The $60 price is a bit more than I want to spend, but none of the other rods really seem to be what I'm after (of the selection at Cabelas today).

Re: Rods, rods, rods. Thoughts?

I love my Fenwick rods. My favorite is a 7' medium light Eagle spining rod. Handles anything from crappie to to large pike if you work the drag on your reel properly. Always loosen your drag when you can, you can always increase load when the fish starts peelign drag
It's hard to go wrong with the Ugly stick, as stated, dollar for dollar, not a bad rod, and very forgiving to making mistakes. I have a G Loomis casting rod, med heavy, great rod, but for $300 + it should be. The Berkely cherrywood, very affordable rod, great little cork rod for pannies. Lighten your drag, use good line and properly size yor reel.. almost any rod will work in the hands of some one that understands the nature of the tool he is using.

Ray

Re: Rods, rods, rods. Thoughts?

Ray1958 said:

Always loosen your drag when you can, you can always increase load when the fish starts peeling drag

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It sounds like you have a handle on things but I have to question the need to loosen a drag on properly sized tackle. I would also question the wisdom of increasing the drag when it is getting progressively tighter (peeling drag) on it's own.

Anyone caught "adjusting" a drag on the boat is immediately sentenced and keel hauled.

Re: Rods, rods, rods. Thoughts?

Dingbat, that was an older post you were replying to. But that's OK - to get further off topic I see you have a Grady White. We had a 21 footer when I was really little. My best memory was making a run from my grandparents house to our cabin one summer in that boat. It was the longest boat ride I think I've ever made - several hours through a river, international border, wide open lake, narrow channels, etc. We sold that boat about 20 years ago and haven't had the same "boat" since. Off topic again - I still don't quite know how my grandpa figured out that dang lake so well. I got lost about 5 miles out until last summer, and if it wasn't for a map and reading a compass with buoys I'd probably still be there...

As to adjusting drag on the go - I did that all morning. I was trying to get the drag set right for the crank baits I was using.

Back on topic for the thread - I emailed Cabelas. I found that Fenwick makes a two-piece version of the rod I found there yesterday. According to Cabelas they don't carry the two piece version and Fenwick is one company (maybe of a lot?) that they can not "special order" something from. So that leaves me with either getting the single piece version (as my other rods are) or ordering the two-piece version from another vendor/Fenwick directly. Or, buy another rod.