New Spinning Rod

[GaterB]

I'm going to pick up a new spinning rod tomorrow at BPS. Does anybody have any advice on the best for $99-150? Looking to fish drop shot and shaky heads on it.

[Jay Ell Gee]

Check out the St. Croix Mojo Bass lineup.

The compre and the 150 dollar line above it would be good as well.

[GaterB]

I appreciate it I'll give those a look for sure

[kickerfish1]

If I was looking for a spinning rod for under $150 I would take a strong look at the fenwick elite tech smallmouth series rods, the Powell max series, the shimano crucial dropshot series, or the *** *** rods. All four would be good choices and have multiple rod lengths and actions depending upon your own needs. Sale prices and eBay specials aside, these 4 would get the nod.

[bmlum415]

IMO I dislike my crucial and mojo bass but I love my dobyns champion, if I were you look id into a phenix recon 2 or a m1, they are the best bang for your buck, I use my friends all the time and love them and would be my main choice of rod if I weren't stuck on dobyns rods, also look into a dobyns savvy and powells aren't bad either

[bmlum415]

I'm not trying to get him to buy a champ unless its on sale then jump on that deal but why not spend an extra 20-30 for a quality phenix rod

[kickerfish1]

Sorry, I just looked at your original post and quickly noted you were going to get this rod from BPS. I would say look at the Carbonlite rods and the crucial drop shot series. Both should be in stock. My local store did carry the fenwick elite tech rods at one point but I did not see them during my last visit there. If they have them at your store vibe them a look as Well.

Since you will be at the store take along your reel and ask to mount it on a few rods you are looking at. This will help give you an idea of the balance. If you haven't decided on a reel you can throw a few different reels in the store on the rods to try to find the combination that feels best to you.

If you decide to open up your search outside of what BPS carries the *** and Powell rods are really good choices. The *** *** and the elite tech will be the lightest weight rods. The crucial has the lifetime over the counter warranty, the elite tech has a lifetime warranty as does the Powell I believe. The *** has a five year warranty if not mistaken.

Good luck!

[kickerfish1]

I'm not trying to get him to buy a champ unless its on sale then jump on that deal but why not spend an extra 20-30 for a quality phenix rod

Sorry, I removed my post in response to your suggestion after reading the part where he notes he will be purchasing the rod from BPS. If he opens it up to other avenues for purchasing a rod there are more options. It just appears he is looking to make a quick decision and also stay within a given budget. There are no sales going on now so unless he takes a chance on eBay or elsewhere both the champion and recon are over his budget. As far as why not spend $20-30 more, that would be his call.

[bmlum415]

Ha I just realized that as well that he's looking at bps, IMO try tw, they're amazing at packing rods to prevent damage and sometimes cheaper than other places

[Darren.]

I'm going to pick up a new spinning rod tomorrow at BPS. Does anybody have any advice on the best for $99-150? Looking to fish drop shot and shaky heads on it.

 

 

I'd take a long look at the St. Croix Rage series when you go to BPS. Right at the top of your $150 range, but there's a lot of fans here.

 

The Crucial, 6'8" model, at the same $149.99 has a good reputation.

 

The models in between would include the Shimano Compre, TFO rods, St. Croix Premier's, Abu Veritas, etc. I own Compres, but am likely to move to St. Croix rods in the future as I've got a Premier and it's really wowed me.

[backcast88]

I would look at the Carbonlite or the Duckett Micro Magic.

[GaterB]

Couldn't pass up the rod trade in deal on the bionic blade micro spinning rod. With a gift card i had I got it for $40. Didn't know much about that particular line but for that kind of deal if I don't like it I didn't get burned too bad and I'll know next time!