Reaction-Bait Rods

[masterbass]

My philosophy with my arsenal on a budget:  money goes into bottom contact rods, less money into reaction bait rods (spinnerbaits, jerk baits, crank baits, topwater, etc...).  My carbonlite makes a fine spinnerbait/buzzbait rod.  My omens make fantastic topwater/jerkbait rods.  My question is for those who own $250+ rods for these types of presentations.  What do you feel you gain from using more expensive rods over your average $100 rod for techniques that don't require extreme sensitivity.  Tell me about the rods you use and why. 

[ww2farmer]

I will share this from my perspective. My last deep cranking rod was a $250 St Croix Legend Tournament 7'10" "Magnum cranker"....My current deep cranking rod is a 7'6" Abu Garcia Veritas Winch. I have not lost any feel, I now have a lighter, less tip heavy rod. Does that mean the St Croix was not "worth" the $250?? No....it was priced fair. Why do I think that? Let me lay it out for you.

 

#1 The St Croix comes with the better warranty...........life-time vs. 3 years on the Abu..................that's not "free", it's built into the cost of the rod.

 

#2 The St Croix is built in the USA with higher labor costs vs. China and low labor on the Abu..........some people want to pay for that, some don't.

 

#3 The St Croix is built with top shelf, brand name components, vs. Abu which uses in- house sourced, or "no-name" components....

 

and #4 the St Croix name itself is worth a few extra bucks and they know it, and charge accordingly.

 

With all that said, you might be asking yourself why I wouldn't have kept the St Croix. The simple answer is because .............I was bored with it......

[Hogsticker]

Weight, balance, looks, components, grip style, reel seat, foregrip, and so on. Satisfaction and happiness. Its also nice to have a reaction stick that is versatile and can be used for other purposes. I use all KLX rods for moving baits because of the above mentioned comments. The build quality is above par and they fit me very well.

[DirtyDeuceGoose]

^^^ x2. As much as I love to have one rod for one technique, sometimes I like to switch it up. And I just really like nice gear

[Hooked_On_Bass]

 

#1 The St Croix comes with the better warranty...........life-time vs. 3 years on the Abu..................that's not "free", it's built into the cost of the rod.

 

#2 The St Croix is built in the USA with higher labor costs vs. China and low labor on the Abu..........some people want to pay for that, some don't.

 

#3 The St Croix is built with top shelf, brand name components, vs. Abu which uses in- house sourced, or "no-name" components....

 

and #4 the St Croix name itself is worth a few extra bucks and they know it, and charge accordingly.

 

I use G Loomis GLX's. The above pretty much sums up my thoughts, obviously with Loomis inserted where St. Croix is.

[shanksmare]

I have been fishing spinnerbaits for close to 40 years and by far my favorite rod is one I purchased a few months ago. It is an Eagle Claw Rick Clunn heavy action fiberglass rod. Dicks had them on sale at  the ridiculously high price of 2 rods for $50. I found that using more sensitive rods, especially with braid, caused me to pull the lure from the fish before it was fuilly engulfed. The slower action rods allow the bait to be fully engulfed before it is moved by the hookset. This philosophy is shared by Rick Clunn, bass fishing legend and Brett Hite who's expertise with a chatterbait is fast becoming lengendary and many other pro fishermen. These parabolic action rods are also preferred by the sharpies who ply the night time surf fro striped bass.

If you think that rod you are about to buy is worth $250, you should try building a couple yourself before hand. Its easy ... even I can do it. Once you do that, you will become more cognizant of the components used. Trim wraps, diamond wraps, inlays and such are just window dressing and contibute zero to the fishability of the rod. I noticed a long time ago that the rod companies didn't use much better components on the over $300 rods than were used on the $100 rods.

[roadwarrior]

Moderate and Slow Action rods have many applications, but I prefer a firmer tip

for single hook lures. I think you might find that sensitivity comes into play the more

you fish "reaction lures", especially crankbaits. You cannot read the bottom with a noodle.

[lmbfisherman]

For reaction rods I learned last year that you can't go too cheap.  I had a cheapo BPS rod that I bought as a combo (Pro Qualifier Tournament Combo).  The combo was 79.99, obviously the value was mostly because of the reel, I decided this rod as a spinnerbait rod would be fine since I believed you could feel a bite easily because of the nature of reaction baits.  BOY was I wrong!  There were many times where I didn't know I had a bite or feel any differences at all.  Once I switched up rods to a Shimano V Rod and Compre, it was night and day.  So I now I believe the rods even for reaction at least have to be sensitive enough or you miss fish like I did last year.  There were many times I didn't know a fish was on until it was too late. But you don't have to go too high in price, like I do with bottom contact.

[Arv]

I have a Dobyns 705cb. I just love the way they balance and feels in my hands. It is also a sensitive rod and I can handle many treble hook presentations, though there are other rods that are capable of that.

[Tywithay]

I've found that the higher priced rods have more accurate tapers. I can pinpoint the action I am looking for and know I have the proper rod. A lot of cheaper "reaction" rods are just flimsy, and they call it a crankbait rod. It hasn't actually been engineered for those particular baits. I also like the better components and build quality.