Help Me Choose My Next Rod.

[Rmitch223]

I have been bass fishing for a very long time. I fish mostly ponds because I do not have a boat.

Im looking to get a new casting rod. The one I have been using for many years is Berkley Lightning rod. Its 6'6" with a medium action. Im not sure if it has a fast tip or not. Id like to stay in the 6'6" range or slightly longer because it is more conveniante when fishing ponds casting around trees on the bank and what not.

 

The rods I have been considering: *** ***, 6'7" Medium, Fast - I like this rod but I like a long handle behind the real and this one seems fairly short on the 6'7" model. I dont mind going a little bit longer to acheive more handle room, but the grip on these rods looks a little small no matter what length.

 

The other is the St. Croiux Mojo Bass. I dont see any draw backs to this rod yet but I would like to get something with micro guides if possible.

 

The other one I have been looking at is the Abu Garcia Vendetta.

 

What rod would you guys suggest for under or at a $100?

 

Im mostly throwing jigs, swim jigs, texas rigged worms and spinnerbait and buzzbaits.

Should I consider a medium heavy? Basically I need a all around rod and can fish my whole tackle box with.3

 

Thanks,

 

        Ryan

[new2BC4bass]

I think you are right about the *** handles.  I have the 7'3" Medium.  Not only is the cork behind the reel short, but it has a small diameter and tapers even smaller towards the end of the handle.  Some have no problems casting one-handed with the ***, but I know of 2 people who do...one of them being me....the other being the gentleman I bought the rod from.  Not a problem for me since I almost always cast 2-handed.  Excellent rod otherwise.

 

Check out the Fenwick Elite Tech Smallmouth series.  None of them are over 6'10", but no Heavy power rods.  They can be bought for $99.99 from a couple different Online stores.  Cabela's only has 3 models left, but a recent post mentioned another store selling them all at that price.  I don't think you will find a better rod at that price.  They are a great buy at full retail.  I have the 6'9" MXF and 6'10" MF, and plan on getting the 6'10" MH Med-Fast casting rod, and possibly a spinning model.

 

I have a few Falcon Originals.  I like them, but not as well as the Fenwicks.  I have one of the Jupiter rods made for Walmart by Daiwa.  It is a good rod for the money.

 

I originally purchased a Berkley Lightning (not the Shock) 6' MH for my oldest grandson.  You can feel the vibrations from a 1/2 oz. spinnerbait not only in the rod, but in the reel.  This would make a good pond rod.  I plan on using in as my 'sniper' spinnerbait rod since my grandson wants to stick with spinning reels.

 

What reel are you planning on using?

 

EDIT:  Just noticed this is your 1st post.  Welcome to the forum.  There are several posts about the best baitcast rod for $100 or less.  Probably could find a couple by cruising thru a few pages of recent posts.

[5dollarsplash]

Out of those you mentioned along with the handle type you like, I'd look at the Mojo spinnerbait rod.  It's 7' and I've found it to be very versatile.  It has a MH rating, and unless your trying to pull stumps it should hold up to the high end of it's rating.

I use mine for jigs,spinnerbaits, and weighted plastics.

[Fishin Hard]

I have all 4 rods you mentioned. The *** being the only casting rod and I would take the *** any day over the other ones. I'm going to be selling my mojo and vendetta so I can replace with omens. Good luck with your purchase

[Taylor Gang]

I have the Mojo bass spinning rod and I don't like it.  The reels seat on it feels realy cheap.  Its always making noise and feels like my reels gonna bust out of it. I also don't like how the handle is 1/2 corked.  It just dont feel right.  Before the Mojo I had a Fenwick Falcon Egale GT and I would take that over the Mojo Bass any day.  Has a very solid and quality feel to it.  Plus I thinks it was like $30 cheaper. 

[Arv]

Of all the $100 rods I've handled the Shimano Compre is my favorite, however I have not handled the ***. Both the Mojo and the Veritas are nice rods, but I prefer the Compre over those two. The only reason I would stay away from the Compre now, is that it has foam handles where I like cork, but thats just me. At the $100 mark I don't really think you can go wrong with any of those.

[zachb34]

I would get a veritas on eBay for $80

[MCS]

Personally I would go with a Falcon Bucoo for 99 but if you want micro guides then it is in the 129 range.  Or the Carbon Lite Micro guide rod is 119 at BPS. Allstar Rods make a Micro guide for $99, they have a good reputation and a nice budget rod. 

[ColdSVT]

the *** is twice the rod the Mojo is. I had a Mojo and I really liked it, (sold it to get a crankbait rod) but it isn't even close to the *** in performance

I loooove my ***! especially since 75% of the fish I weighed in my last tourney came in via the *** lol

 

cant speak on the vendetta, never even held one

[Rmitch223]

Im using the same reel ive had for about 4 years now its Johnny Morris Bass Pro reel. Its actually a fairly good real and I will continue using it for the time being and then probably buy a new quantom.

 

Im leaning towards this rod I think.

Falcon Bucoo Micro Guide Casting Rod 6'6" Medium Heavy

http://www.***.com/Falcon_Bucoo_Micro_Guide_Casting_Rods/descpage-FBMC.html

 

Ive never owned a medium heavy before so Im kinda curious whether I should stay with a medium or go to a medium heavy..

[Rmitch223]

Id like to see a pic of someone holding the *** and see how much on there hand is resting on the grip behind the reel. I dont have one local to check out.

Like mentioned above the rumored small grip is the only thing turning me away from the ***.

[Cgrinder]

I can probably do that for you tonight if no one else does. Do you want the picture palming the reel or just hand on handle? I have a 7'1" ***.

 

In my opinion, the handle on the *** is great but I have average to large hands and I palm my reels.

[dddyfz27]

I have the 7'1 *** Med and i absolutely love it.  Plus in the event you do have an issue with the rod I heard that 13's customer service is amazing.  I have average size hands and I havent had any issue with the grip on the ***.  I also palm mine when i fish.

[Rmitch223]

Id like to see the casting position to know if my hand would be resting past the cork grip that tapers.

[Cgrinder]

http://i.imgur.com/bn2sOLu.jpg

 

 

How about that?

[new2BC4bass]

http://i.imgur.com/bn2sOLu.jpg

 

 

How about that?

Very nice picture.  I find the diameter is too small (plus the taper makes it worse) for me to use one-handed.  It seems I am in the minority.

[new2BC4bass]

Ryan, I am very confused with the specs of that rod.  TW calls it a Fast.  Another site called it Mod. action.  A 3rd site called it Med-Fast.  All listed 1/4-3/4 oz. lure weight.  I've got 3 different models of Falcon rods.  All Medium power rods are listed for 1/4-1/2 oz. lures.  All my MH Falcon rods list 1/4-3/4 oz. for lure weight range.

 

Don't be leery of the MH rod.  I think you will like it.  Can throw a slightly wider range of lures and has a bit more power.  You will appreciate that extra power if you fish in any weeds or lily pads.  The Bucoos get good reviews.  I personally am not a fan of micro guides.  It is more an aesthetic thing than a function thing.  I don't fish in freezing weather.

 

Like the old adage goes, "Different strokes for different folks."  Would be a very blah world if we all liked the same thing.

 

EDIT:  I tried 2 or 3 different links to the Falcon website, but couldn't complete the link on any of them.  Was hoping to get the ratings from the horse's mouth.  However, it has been noted more than once that even the manufacturer's website doesn't always have the correct data.

[YoungProdigy19]

Powell Diesel 6'10" med hvy.? 69.99 bucks a lot less than an ***!

[stkbassn]

7'2 Powell Diesel, MH , buy it for $49 from the fish ranger...you will be pleased!

[The Young Gun]

Don't make a decision of yes or no because of micro guides. I don't tell any difference with or without them. Besides that little amout of weight.

[The Young Gun]

7'2 Powell Diesel, MH , buy it for $49 from the fish ranger...you will be pleased!

X2!!

[Cgrinder]

I'll take the *** over the Diesel any day. It's not enough of a price difference to justify not having a warranty.

[CDobber]

A very similar question is what landed me on this site in the first place, last week.

 

For me, I went to a local store with 5 rods in mind to look at (decent amount of research but wasn't exhaustive earlier the same day)...very similar price range, micro wasn't a requirement with me.  

 

Abu Garcia Vendetta (they had very few Abu's at all, and no Vendettas)

Shimano Compre

Shimano Clarus

St. Croix Mojo Bass

***

 

They had all the other ones, but on the latter 2, they only come in a 1 piece.  I required a 2 piece as its brought in and out of my car frequently, and helps to be compact.  The choice was made for me in that the Compre was the only one they had in stock in a 2 piece version (66mh2c).  I used the cheap Quantum Optix reel from my original set, and will continue to do so for some time...it was the cheap material in the rod that failed at the connection point.  Unlike Arv's comment, mine came in cork though I probably preferred foam, but so far haven't minded it.

 

I was amazed to feel the difference pulling the same line, same lures/t-rigs through the same water at the difference in feel simply from the rod.  Whereas before I couldn't necessarily tell a fish from weeds, I most certainly can now...even though I haven't hooked one on the new rod yet (had a bite off of a curly tail Berkeley green pumpkin worm among other nibbles).  Its lighter too, and while I haven't for a couple hours straight, I haven't noticed as much torque/fatigue in my left forearm as the older model had.

 

There are quite a few threads on best rods for $100 if you use the search button...it will help you narrow down your choices and give you some user feedback reviews.  Didn't read a single bad review on the 13 Omens but couldn't distinguish from their website on the one piece/two piece option and only found ones at the store.