Which Of These Rods For General Use?

[Fishwhittler]

Hi guys,

I'm looking for some opinions on which of these rods is the best all-around bait casting rod. I'm on a budget, and anything over $100 is out of the question at this time. I would prefer to spend no more than I have to, but I also don't want to skimp and end up with a clunker.

The rod will be used primarily with hard baits, including traps, shallow and medium diving cranks, and topwater lures, but it may also be used occasionally with soft baits and spinnerbaits. I'd like the rod to be between 6'6" - 7'6" long, M or MH power, and able to handle down to 1/4oz weights.

For reference, the rod will be paired with a Pflueger President WLPL (the old model) spooled with #10 Yo-Zuri Ultra Soft.

Here are the rods I'm looking at:

Abu Garcia Vendetta

Berkley Lightning Shock

Daiwa Aird / Team Daiwa T

Powell Diesel 723CEF / 705CB

Quantum Energy PT / Accurist

Shimano Clarus

Please post only if you have actual experience with one of the rods on the list.

Thanks!

Ben

[smalljaw67]

You have a little bit of a problem, any of those rods will make a great all purpose rod but it sounds as if you are going to use cranks a little more than occasionally and there is the problem. You can get a rod that will fish cranks, topwaters, jerkbaits and spinnerbaits just fine but it is not going to be very good for jigs or soft plastics. So the Powell 705CB is out as it would be the worst of the bunch as it is a glass rod and there isn't much if any sensitivity to it. In all honesty I think you need to go with a medium powered rod, I'm leaning to the Vendetta because I have one and I'm familar with how it performs. I have the VTC66-5, it is a 6'6" medium power and fast action but it feels like a medium heavy. The nice thing about it is I use it for jerkbaits at times and right now it is my topwater rod, if you take your time fighting a fish you can probably get away with using cranks with it. It will fish jigs and soft plastics pretty well, it isn't the most sensitive rod but it is pretty good, more like a rod twice its price. Spinnerbaits and buzzbaits will be a joy to fish with it and the casting ability of the rod is amazing. You can probably go with a 7' rod but I think the 6'6" has the right blend of power and flex, it fishes jigs and worms like a medium heavy as it does have a lot of power but enough tip to let you get away with fishing a crank. I'd go that route and then save some money up for that powell 705 CB, for a dedicated crankbait set up, I don't like glass but you have to admit the action is perfect for cranks and the powell is a price that is hard to ignore.

[outdoorsman110]

The Clarus is a fairly good do it all rod.

[B@ssCrzy]

The clarus for sure. On a budget the lifetime warranty and confidence in Shimano's customer service gives gives you peace that if you break it you can replace it easily. I have a 7ft MF spinning and like it a lot. No problems with it.

[Fishwhittler]

Thanks for the replies!

You have a little bit of a problem, any of those rods will make a great all purpose rod but it sounds as if you are going to use cranks a little more than occasionally and there is the problem. You can get a rod that will fish cranks, topwaters, jerkbaits and spinnerbaits just fine but it is not going to be very good for jigs or soft plastics. So the Powell 705CB is out as it would be the worst of the bunch as it is a glass rod and there isn't much if any sensitivity to it. In all honesty I think you need to go with a medium powered rod, I'm leaning to the Vendetta because I have one and I'm familar with how it performs. I have the VTC66-5, it is a 6'6" medium power and fast action but it feels like a medium heavy. The nice thing about it is I use it for jerkbaits at times and right now it is my topwater rod, if you take your time fighting a fish you can probably get away with using cranks with it. It will fish jigs and soft plastics pretty well, it isn't the most sensitive rod but it is pretty good, more like a rod twice its price. Spinnerbaits and buzzbaits will be a joy to fish with it and the casting ability of the rod is amazing. You can probably go with a 7' rod but I think the 6'6" has the right blend of power and flex, it fishes jigs and worms like a medium heavy as it does have a lot of power but enough tip to let you get away with fishing a crank. I'd go that route and then save some money up for that powell 705 CB, for a dedicated crankbait set up, I don't like glass but you have to admit the action is perfect for cranks and the powell is a price that is hard to ignore.

The Powell 705CB was never high on my priority list. I already have a 6'6" MHM glass cranking rod, but since I use cranks as much as I do I was considering getting a more powerful glass rod for heavier baits. However, I don't fish large cranks very much, and my frog rod will do for throwing baits too heavy for my cranking rod. Anyway, I think I'd prefer the added sensitivity of a graphite rod in case I decide to fish soft plastics.

I decided to go with the Team Daiwa T 6'6" M/XF. It looks very similar to the Vendetta on paper, but for $10 less I figured I'd give it a shot. Plus the TDT has a 5-year warranty as opposed to the 1-year warranty for the Vendetta, and a long warranty is nice to have.

The Shimano Clarus has the longest warranty of any of the rods I looked at, but I don't know if I'd like the reel seat setup. An unlocking BC reel seat sounds good, but there's the possibility of the handle twisting and loosening under pressure. I don't think I want to mess with something like that right now.

Thanks for all you guys' input!

Ben