jab9411

All really good stuff. You pretty much eliminated the Savvy, which has been slowly looking less and less of good choice for me. What I meant by reel seats is that even in the high end rods, I've seen that people still have trouble keeping those things tight. From what you have told me, the Powell Max seems like a great rod, but just a bit too heavy in power and action for me. I'm thinking the Fenwick EliteTECH Smallmouth(gonna look funny on my rod cause there are hardly any smallies my lakes) is the one for me. Thank you Deep, you helped a guy who is extremely picky about his buying decisions. It's people like you who make newcomers like me stick to a forum. Thank you everyone else for your input. So, I will give it till the end of 6/29 for myself to find another rod model or anyone to throw a new one my way before I finalize that Fenwick is the rod for me.

I really appreciate this. So, I have big interest in both the Powell Max and the Dobyns Savvy. I can easily get away happy with a weightless soft plastic oriented rod. That being said, I need something that has great sensitivity and the ability to get an non-weighted senko out far. I'm not a fan of skull dragging(pulling the fish straight out of the water after I set it; I like to fight the fish) so I dont know if I can still get good feel from a Medium or if I should drop down to a Medium-Light. I also am unsure about what action is best, I use fast currently and have been told that Medium power with XF Action is what I want. I would also like to ask how you feel about the construction(durability I guess) and the reel seats. So, you have had time with both of these rods so you get the chance to rule one out.....Which is, in your opinion, is the better of the two or at least better for my wants. Thank you for time.

I was told to look at Powell and Dobyns by another forum. The Powell Max, the Dobyns Savvy, and Fenwick Elitetech Smallmouth are my top 3 right now, I just don't know much about them, the reviews are pretty scarce.

Thanks for the replies. I really like that fenwick especially for the versatility that you stated it has. I would go with that Bass Pro rod, but I'm pretty partial to cork. Sorry about the font size. I'll try to put up gear porn pictures when I make up my mind and get my stuff in.

As a gift, I am allowed to select a rod that is of "reasonable" price. Reasonable being anything about 150 and under. I nearly always go weightless Texas rigged soft plastics, sometimes I use some topwaters and poppers, but not as much as I used to (a semi versatile rod would be nice, but not a big deal.) So, I already know about St. Croix, I see that there are a couple options by them which are very appealing (Mojo Bass specifically), but I want to know about some other brands and experiences with the product. I'm using a ten pound test pflueger reel and would like medium light or medium with whatever action you feel is best(not sure.) I'm still undecided about how many pieces so don't worry about that. Thanks for your time. EDIT: Font size.