Drop Shot Rod

[DelcoSol]

Hey guys just looking for some opinions on a drop shot/finesse rod. I was wondering if it it worth spending a lot of money on this rod? Seems the price for rods with the specs of medium fast or extra fast in the 6'6" range vary a lot. I was thinking about a Cumara but seeing all of the great reviews here was also considering a Dobyns. I am going to pair it with a 2500 series reel. Would the Dobyns Champion 683 be ok? Or even a 702 but its medium light.. Also the Cumara has a drop shot specific rod. I am looking for an all around finesse rod which will include drop shotting.  Crucial is another cheaper option as well. 

[ww2farmer]

I am not going to get into the brand name dropping, but IMHO the thing that is most important in a spinning drop shot rod is a tip that allows you to "work" the bait in place without moving the sinker.  And by work, I mean barely move it..LOL.  The second most important is not having a broom stick, your often working with light line, light wire hooks, etc... and a M or ML powered rod will go along way on helping protect that line. ML fast, or Xfast is my preferred power/action in a spinning rod for drop shotting, but that is also subjective, based on who is making the rod. Some brands M power rods would be better.

[papajoe222]

Don't let the moderate price fool you, I'd put this rod

Bass Pro Shops® Micro Lite™ Graphite Spinning Rod - ML66LS-2

up against some rods costing three times their asking price.  I'm not familiar with what size a 2500 series reel is, but I have a Shimano 2000 on mine and it not only casts the light stuff, I can work a 1/4oz shakey head with it too.

[mjseverson24]

all of the rods you have mentioned are great rods. Personally for dropshot rods I like 7'-7'6" ML fast action. the ML action allows for the nice soft tip that lets you work the bait nicely and also detect bites without the fish feeling much resistance. I find that using a 10-15 lb braided line with a 20 ft 6-12lb floro leader greatly increases sensitivity of this set up. personally I would not spend the kind of money you are talking about on a drop shot rod, there are a lot of good rods in the $100.00 class that will work really well. some of these are the st. croix triumph for $80.00, fenwick HMX $90.00, W&M skeet 7'2" micro honeycomb shaky head rod $100.00, *** 7'1" ML $100.00, abu veritas $100.00, shimano compre $100.00. just a few options...

 

Mitch

[BradGuenette]

The 702 is a great rod! I have to admit before I had the rod I was also concered when first buying about the ML rating, don't let that fool you, this rod can handle weights up to 1/2oz.I have fished a few drop shot rods over the years Crucial,Cumara,LTB and I found the Dobyns to be my favorite. It has the soft tip you want to move the bait,but not the weight but it also has the power I need to move those big smallies.

[motodmast]

YES dobyns 702 is the best dropshot rod ive ever fished. light tip that really lets you shake/work the bait, but then it does have some good backbone for getting those big fish to the boat, and its pretty dang sensitive.

[skeletor6]

Hey guys just looking for some opinions on a drop shot/finesse rod. I was wondering if it it worth spending a lot of money on this rod? Seems the price for rods with the specs of medium fast or extra fast in the 6'6" range vary a lot. I was thinking about a Cumara but seeing all of the great reviews here was also considering a Dobyns. I am going to pair it with a 2500 series reel. Would the Dobyns Champion 683 be ok? Or even a 702 but its medium light.. Also the Cumara has a drop shot specific rod. I am looking for an all around finesse rod which will include drop shotting.  Crucial is another cheaper option as well. 

 

From how higher performing the Shimano Cumara CUSDX72M has been to me, I could not see myself going any less than a DX702SF. That's the one rod I've heard consistently to be a great dropshot rod in the Dobyns lineup. I would recommend looking for a used cumara and select it by length, either a CUSDX72M or a CUSDX68M. The longer the length the better it performs in deeper water, from my experience.

 

These rods have the perfect and designed action to be a dropshot specific rod. Also, its sensitivity is unmatched for what these rods go used. For straight dropshotting its tough to beat a designed dropshot Cumara. I dropshot with my Cumara and a NRX. I have no problem setting down the NRX to fish the cumara once-so-ever.

[Hooligan]

Microlite from BPS is far too light to be an effective drop shot rod, that series of rod has zero backbone.

In a drop shot rod, you're after an overall extra fast taper, and medium to medium light. Length depends very much on what you prefer. I fish a 5-9 or 6-3 vertically and a 7-2 for dragging a shot. In between there is a 6-8 which is my favorite overall.

As has been mentioned a 2 power rod will be adequate, sure, but get a rod that is fast enough to not move anything but the bait.

[lmbfisherman]

If you don't want to spend more than what others stated, I found the previous Generation Crucial at ML/XF to be the best drop shot rod I've used. (look for used) I definitely would second if you are going for a Cumara - get the previous generation.  Or even luckier if you find a Cumulus, seriously regretting not picking up a Cumulus at 159 sale price (Picked up only a casting rod MH/XF), you might be able to find one of those if you looked hard.  The Cumulus is a serious stick and find it fishes just as well as my GLX. 

[cbass12]

Microlite from BPS is far too light to be an effective drop shot rod, that series of rod has zero backbone.

In a drop shot rod, you're after an overall extra fast taper, and medium to medium light. Length depends very much on what you prefer. I fish a 5-9 or 6-3 vertically and a 7-2 for dragging a shot. In between there is a 6-8 which is my favorite overall.

As has been mentioned a 2 power rod will be adequate, sure, but get a rod that is fast enough to not move anything but the bait.

 

Completely agree. I have three of these rods, 1 in 6' ML and 2 7' ML. I use them for crappie and throwing small swim shads on darter jigheads. I would never even dream of using it for anything else, just not enough power to get a decent hookset.

[ColdSVT]

I use a st croix eyecon in a 7ft ML for dropshots

The cumara and dobyns are also great rods...can't go wrong with either!

[mod479]

I've got both the m/XF cumara (7'2") and the ML 702 DX. Both great rods that will handle your drop shot needs, but the dobyns will fish  shakeyheads, grubs, split shot rigs, and light tubes just as well. I find myself doing all those things with it, the cumara has had a dropshot tied on 99% of its life thus far. If you're looking for somrthing to only throw a DS, the Med/XF cumara will fit the bill. Not sure I'll ever get rid of mine.

 

My 702DX handled this laker no problem when he whacked a 3.5" tube this spring. 31inches. 10.9lbs.  It's not a total sissy stick!

 

[ColdSVT]

Another one I forgot...Fenwick elite tech in a ML...6, 6 or 7 ft...pretty darn nuce rod at around 100bucks