Cumulus Needs A Reel

[Arv]

I just got a 7'1 MHXF Shimano Cumulus today. The rod feels great so far although I'm not 100% on how it balances with my Lews TP, which is the only kind of reel I have. I was wondering what you guys have used on this rod that might balance a bit better. Thanks in advance.

[Cgrinder]

Core 51, clearly.

[Arv]

Core 51, clearly.

That is a sexy choice. I'm also thinking the new Chronarch might not look too bad either

[lmbfisherman]

That is a sexy choice. I'm also thinking the new Chronarch might not look too bad either

I have my Cumulus and exact rod, it is paired with the Chronarch CI4.  Awesome setup! 

[Diggy]

That is a sexy choice. I'm also thinking the new Chronarch might not look too bad either

#core

 

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

I just got a 7'1 MHXF Shimano Cumulus today. The rod feels great so far although I'm not 100% on how it balances with my Lews TP, which is the only kind of reel I have. I was wondering what you guys have used on this rod that might balance a bit better. Thanks in advance.

 

Well if the TP at 6.7oz isnt balancing the rod well for your liking going lighter reel will make it worse.

Too you wont want to go much heavier cause sort of defeats the purpose of very light rod. Could try 7.4 Curado I or Tatula type-R at 7.6oz. 

 

As a side test I think 5 quarters are very close to one ounce. Take 5 quarters put them on your reel and feel if there is any change. hehe get it change  

[Arv]

Well if the TP at 6.7oz isnt balancing the rod well for your liking going lighter reel will make it worse.

Too you wont want to go much heavier cause sort of defeats the purpose of very light rod. Could try 7.4 Curado I or Tatula type-R at 7.6oz. 

 

As a side test I think 5 quarters are very close to one ounce. Take 5 quarters put them on your reel and feel if there is any change. hehe get it change  

This is more along the lines of what I was thinking. I wouldn't say I'm displeased with the way it balances with the TP. The simple fact of how lightweight the set up is seems to make up for the bit of tip-heaviness that I'm experiencing right now. I was just wondering if an ounce would take the balance point back enough to my liking. I'll try out the quarter trick though and see how it works. 

[Arv]

Actually now that I'm thinking about it I'll be going to BPS this weekend so I'll bring the rod with me and try some reels on it. Still curious to suggestions anyone has though. Thanks for all the feedback so far.

[kickerfish1]

The red/blac,k/greyish look of the Cumulus rod sets up nicely with a reel with similar color accents. I have the Core 50mg7 sitting on the 6"10 MH Cumulus rod. The outfit is around 8.5 ounces and looks incredible without any modifications. The balance is pretty darn good as well. The 7"1 MH Cumulus rod may be a touch more heavier and prone to a slight degree of tip heaviness with such a light reel on it. You may want to try a slightly heavier Core 100mg7 or Chronarch Ci4. Both of the reels are a bit heavier but still maintain a similar look while offering perhaps a bit better balance. You could always do a Chronarch 50E and buy some red accent pieces from Hedgehog Studios or have the folks at Hawgtech help you with some anodizing ideas.

[Jrob78]

To me the Cumulus just begs for a Core.  A CI4 or Metanium would fit the bill too though.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

OK I got to ask.

Why are you guys offering up reels that weigh less than the reel he is using now and he says doesnt balance well for him???

[thehooligan]

The red/blac,k/greyish look of the Cumulus rod sets up nicely with a reel with similar color accents. I have the Core 50mg7 sitting on the 6"10 MH Cumulus rod. The outfit is around 8.5 ounces and looks incredible without any modifications. The balance is pretty darn good as well. The 7"1 MH Cumulus rod may be a touch more heavier and prone to a slight degree of tip heaviness with such a light reel on it. You may want to try a slightly heavier Core 100mg7 or Chronarch Ci4. Both of the reels are a bit heavier but still maintain a similar look while offering perhaps a bit better balance. You could always do a Chronarch 50E and buy some red accent pieces from Hedgehog Studios or have the folks at Hawgtech help you with some anodizing ideas.

 

I agree completely with this. I had that rod with a core51 on it and it was a bit tip heavy. Id bump up to something in the 6-7oz class. ci4, core 100, new curado, chronarch/curado e

[new2BC4bass]

Everything I've ever read about the Cumulus rods suggests they are great rods.  As such you can't put too nice of a reel on one.  Can't help with a suggestion for the correct reel for you, but can wish you the best of luck finding the right one. 

[skeletor6]

The red/blac,k/greyish look of the Cumulus rod sets up nicely with a reel with similar color accents. I have the Core 50mg7 sitting on the 6"10 MH Cumulus rod. The outfit is around 8.5 ounces and looks incredible without any modifications. The balance is pretty darn good as well. The 7"1 MH Cumulus rod may be a touch more heavier and prone to a slight degree of tip heaviness with such a light reel on it. You may want to try a slightly heavier Core 100mg7 or Chronarch Ci4. Both of the reels are a bit heavier but still maintain a similar look while offering perhaps a bit better balance. You could always do a Chronarch 50E and buy some red accent pieces from Hedgehog Studios or have the folks at Hawgtech help you with some anodizing ideas.

He's right. The 7'1"MHXF is very light but is slightly tip heavy. That being said, adding a heavier reel to balance it out kind of defeats the purpose of the rod.

I've put everything from a Exsence DC to a steez 100 on it to see what works best. I highly prefer the lighter end of that spectrum and having the rod tip heavy. Having the combo overall light beats whatever adding weight to make it balanced accomplishes.

[JGBassinAL]

He's right. The 7'1"MHXF is very light but is slightly tip heavy. That being said, adding a heavier reel to balance it out kind of defeats the purpose of the rod.

I've put everything from a Exsence DC to a steez 100 on it to see what works best. I highly prefer the lighter end of that spectrum and having the rod tip heavy. Having the combo overall light beats whatever adding weight to make it balanced accomplishes.

 

A balanced setup is less tiring to fish all day (especially in a tournament) than a lighter setup that is not balanced. I am selling a Metanium 100HG that I just got because it doesn't balance with the rod that I have it on. Balance is way more important than overall weight in my opinion. But, to each his own.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

But ask any Dobyns guy and they say balance trumps lightness in a rod. That a slightly heavier balanced rod feels weightless in hand.  

 

Ha JGBassinAL we had the same tought at the same time.

[JGBassinAL]

Yeah QuakenShake it is true. I used to have a few Dobyns and some Ducketts. The Dobyns balanced better but the Ducketts were lighter, and I would fish the balanced setup 10/10 times. I don't have any of those rods anymore, but from my experience a balanced setup is far superior to a light unbalanced setup.

[Arv]

Thanks for all the input guys. This is the first casting rod other than a Dobyns I've purchased in a while and the main reason is because of the balance of the Dobyns.

I think I mentioned it before but I'm not saying the balance is bad with the combo of the tp and the Cumulus. Just not exactly what I'd like. And I'll add that the light weight of the rod doesn't seem to make it cumbersome to overcome the tip heaviness.

In the end it's all going to come down to personal preference. I'll try a bunch of reels on this weekend at bps and see what I like, if anything haha.

[skeletor6]

A balanced setup is less tiring to fish all day (especially in a tournament) than a lighter setup that is not balanced. I am selling a Metanium 100HG that I just got because it doesn't balance with the rod that I have it on. Balance is way more important than overall weight in my opinion. But, to each his own.

Have you used this specific rod? For the most part I would agree as a rod out of balance makes it feel heavier. However, this rod is extremely light. Refer to kickerfish1 combo the 7'1"MHXF is only slightly heavier.

Adding an 8 oz reel to balance this out would be increasing the overall weight of the setup by ~200% this rod is so light that even the tip heavy is not heavy. It is out of balanced towards the tip on a very light rod.

Like I've said, I've tried numerous reels on this rod to figure out which is best. And it is far less tiring and far more performance driven using a 5.5 oz steez making this under 10 ounces total. Fishing with ten ounces just slightly out of balance is not tiring once so ever on this particular setup.

When I placed my exsence dc on the rod. The combo felt much heavier and was far less of a novelty to fish with when compared to the steez. Unfortunately I use the steez on a different setup so after testing was over I now have a Chronarch 50mg which is almost as light and performs very well on the rod.

I do agree that with most rods balance takes precedence over weight savings. However, this specific rod it goes the other way for me.

[Arv]

Have you used this specific rod? For the most part I would agree as a rod out of balance makes it feel heavier. However, this rod is extremely light. Refer to kickerfish1 combo the 7'1"MHXF is only slightly heavier.

Adding an 8 oz reel to balance this out would be increasing the overall weight of the setup by ~200% this rod is so light that even the tip heavy is not heavy. It is out of balanced towards the tip on a very light rod.

Like I've said, I've tried numerous reels on this rod to figure out which is best. And it is far less tiring and far more performance driven using a 5.5 oz steez making this under 10 ounces total. Fishing with ten ounces just slightly out of balance is not tiring once so ever on this particular setup.

When I placed my exsence dc on the rod. The combo felt much heavier and was far less of a novelty to fish with when compared to the steez. Unfortunately I use the steez on a different setup so after testing was over I now have a Chronarch 50mg which is almost as light and performs very well on the rod.

I do agree that with most rods balance takes precedence over weight savings. However, this specific rod it goes the other way for me.

I took the rod out last night for a little bit at a local pond and so far I have to agree. And I really don't see myself changing my mind either. The rod is so light that the balance really is not an issue. I may be saving up a bit more for an even nicer/lighter reel than I had planned but the lews tp is definitely OK with me until then.

[JGBassinAL]

Have you used this specific rod? For the most part I would agree as a rod out of balance makes it feel heavier. However, this rod is extremely light. Refer to kickerfish1 combo the 7'1"MHXF is only slightly heavier.

Adding an 8 oz reel to balance this out would be increasing the overall weight of the setup by ~200% this rod is so light that even the tip heavy is not heavy. It is out of balanced towards the tip on a very light rod.

Like I've said, I've tried numerous reels on this rod to figure out which is best. And it is far less tiring and far more performance driven using a 5.5 oz steez making this under 10 ounces total. Fishing with ten ounces just slightly out of balance is not tiring once so ever on this particular setup.

When I placed my exsence dc on the rod. The combo felt much heavier and was far less of a novelty to fish with when compared to the steez. Unfortunately I use the steez on a different setup so after testing was over I now have a Chronarch 50mg which is almost as light and performs very well on the rod.

I do agree that with most rods balance takes precedence over weight savings. However, this specific rod it goes the other way for me.

 

I have never had a rod as light as a Cumulus I don't believe so I guess I really can't give any good advice on this topic haha. After two of you saying the same thing, I feel that if I had a Cumulus I would feel the same way as you guys. Good luck with whatever you decide to do Arv!

[fishinpunk]

I had the same dilemma . My solution, I took a big enough piece of shrink tube and put it around the butt cap then placed a couple of quarters in the end until I achieved the perfect balance, then heat the shrink tube. It may sound dumb to disgrace such a rod but it looks clean and most importantly, fishes like a dream.

[Hogsticker]

Px type r. I know it's breaking the law, but I bet that would make one sick combo

[thehooligan]

Px type r. I know it's breaking the law, but I bet that would make one sick combo

 

I tried my pxl-r on all of my cumulus rods at one point. The px on the 7'1 made for a sweet froggin combo.

[kikstand454]

Fishinpunk has the right idea. If the rod and your reel are exactly what you want and weigh nothing, then adding some counterweight a 1/8oz at a time to the butt cap is the answer. You will add the smallest amount of weight to achieve perfect balance that way- and lets face it..... 50¢ is way nicer than $200+ for another reel you don't actually need.