Have Some Rod Questions

[DHiland]

I am getting back in the game after a few years being away. (10) Anyway I'm planning on fishing tournaments again and man a lot has changed. Anyway, I need some help picking out a couple rods. I have used G Loomis and St. Croix in the past but I am not a fan of spending that much on a rod anymore. I have kids now lol. I have been looking at Powell rods, what are your opinions? How do they compare to St. Croix and Loomis? I am looking for a crankbait rod and a flipping rod. I want a 7'6" MH for crankbait and 7'3"-7'6" H for flipping. Any advice is helpful.

[DHiland]

Guess I should add I have a 7' Loomis crankbait rod. I am planning on fishing LBL on Kentucky lake and know I need a bigger rod for those deep diving crankbaits.

[kickerfish1]

Powell and Dobyns rods are close if you need a second option. Chances are between the two you could find a few rods to round out an arsenal. Dobyns has a few more rod options within their lines of rods and a bigger fan base. Powell may provide more value without much sacrifice in performance in the sub $200 rods.

The 805 or 764 Champion rods would be two Dobyns cranking rods that could fit the bill for cranking needs. The 805 is a good deep crank rod. Browse the user reviews on TW for a few opinions.

The Champion 735 or 736 would be a good jig/soft bait rod and flip/pitch rod. You can step up the Champ Extremes if money allows.

I would not particularly suggest a Savy rod for either of your needs. If you are at this price point go with a Powell. I have four Dobyns and 1 Powell rod from those two manufacturers. Good rods and good warranties. If you call Dobyns you will speak to Gary or Richard Dobyns. They know their rods and fishing in gneral. Their suggestions would be spot on their customer service is some of the best in the business.

[DHiland]

Thanks man I appreciate the advice. I always bought GLX and avid rods but I just can't shell out that kind of money at the moment

[kickerfish1]

Understandable. Dobyns and Powell are good rods and rod lines to work with. The older previous gen GLX rods are still highly sought after and still about as good of performing rods of today just without all the fancy bling. The avids are favorites of alot of guys but obviously no where near the performers of the GLX rods. Hang onto the GLX rods you may have. Chances are you wont find a rod that will perform anywhere close to what you would sell your GLX rods for. Just my $.02...

[benthinkin]

Powells are great rods very comparable to dobyns. IMHO i would go with a powell, it seems their actions are more accurate.  And the value is better at that price point.

[gulfcaptain]

Look into Fishing 13's Black *** Cranking Rods.  Run about $180, and their Black *** or Black *** Casting rods are nice.  Depending on what you're looking for the Omens run you between 119-129, and the Envys are about 250 or so.  I use on of the 7'6"MH Omens and that rod is a beast.  More of a heavy compared to some other companies but very light and sensitive.  Wanting to get the "Crankenstein" rod on the Black *** Cranking as it's made to throw those bigger deep cranks.

[Arv]

I really like Powell. Another option that might be worth looking at would be offerings from Phenix. I'm a big fan of dobyns as well, they will just cost you a bit more.

[Megastink]

Can't beat a Duckett for the money! The new Terex rods are awesome at $150!

[roadwarrior]

DHC7-731CAH 7’3” Heavy Fast 3/8 - 1 1/4 12-25 Spinnerbaits, Frog, Casting work, Casting Jig, Buzzbait

 

http://files.dealerease.net/prodpics/pinnacle2014catalog.pdf

[fishinphilly]

check out the denali jadewood j2 series rods, my dad has a couple and there really nice and sensitive

[lmbfisherman]

I am getting back in the game after a few years being away. (10) Anyway I'm planning on fishing tournaments again and man a lot has changed. Anyway, I need some help picking out a couple rods. I have used G Loomis and St. Croix in the past but I am not a fan of spending that much on a rod anymore. I have kids now lol. I have been looking at Powell rods, what are your opinions? How do they compare to St. Croix and Loomis? I am looking for a crankbait rod and a flipping rod. I want a 7'6" MH for crankbait and 7'3"-7'6" H for flipping. Any advice is helpful.

I hear G Loomis is introducing a new sub 200 rod if you want to stick in that range.  It is called the E6X, looks like it will be replacing the GL2s price point.  The rumor is they are better and they are advertising the best sub 200 rod.  Of course this is all market and speculation.  They are going to be available February 20th, 2015.  Here is the ad.

[ChrisWi]

recently got a few Powell rod and like them a lot, want to try a Dobyns someday, however the Powell Inferno is a very nice rod for $130

[carlm01]

I have 6 G.Loomis rods several gl2's a glx and a couple of gl3's and like all of them . Everything is becoming so specialized that it gets tough and expensive to figure out what to buy ??

[DTack]

I am getting back in the game after a few years being away. (10) Anyway I'm planning on fishing tournaments again and man a lot has changed. Anyway, I need some help picking out a couple rods. I have used G Loomis and St. Croix in the past but I am not a fan of spending that much on a rod anymore. I have kids now lol. I have been looking at Powell rods, what are your opinions? How do they compare to St. Croix and Loomis? I am looking for a crankbait rod and a flipping rod. I want a 7'6" MH for crankbait and 7'3"-7'6" H for flipping. Any advice is helpful.

Welcome back to fishing!  I will give my little opinion on a couple things and hope it is not taken the wrong way.  Number one, G-Loomis and St. Croix have solidified their names in the fishing industry.  They've done so in a well deserved way.  Pushed the boundaries on materials and were ahead of the game for a long time.  I think the market has swung a little bit personally, I think there are more options out there now and other companies have caught up in regards to design and materials.  You can't replace the time they've been in the market however. 

My personal pick for rods is Dobyns.  I'm confident in their actions, their overall construction and prefer their balance after fishing them. 

There have been a couple of suggestions so far, If I had to pick for you, the flipping rod would be between a Champion 765c and a Savvy 766c...  The 766 is my favorite rod in the savvy line up.  As for a crankbait rod, if you're open to an 8' rod I would definitely recommend the 805cbrm... if not the 765cb graphite is awesome both in the Champion lineup. 

Enjoy getting back to fishing!

[smalljaw67]

Welcome back to fishing!  I will give my little opinion on a couple things and hope it is not taken the wrong way.  Number one, G-Loomis and St. Croix have solidified their names in the fishing industry.  They've done so in a well deserved way.  Pushed the boundaries on materials and were ahead of the game for a long time.  I think the market has swung a little bit personally, I think there are more options out there now and other companies have caught up in regards to design and materials.  You can't replace the time they've been in the market however. 

My personal pick for rods is Dobyns.  I'm confident in their actions, their overall construction and prefer their balance after fishing them. 

There have been a couple of suggestions so far, If I had to pick for you, the flipping rod would be between a Champion 765c and a Savvy 766c...  The 766 is my favorite rod in the savvy line up.  As for a crankbait rod, if you're open to an 8' rod I would definitely recommend the 805cbrm... if not the 765cb graphite is awesome both in the Champion lineup. 

Enjoy getting back to fishing!

 

Welcome back to the angling world!!  I think DTack is spot on in his assessment of how things are now, there seems to be no secrets or very few left between manufacturers anymore, you can get some great rods without a ton of money now that are equivalent to lower end models from the premium rod makers out there. I was a big Loomis fan, I had a decent collection of them but then I got sick and couldn't go back to the kind of work I use to do, and so my income took a big hit and I feared I was doomed to lower end rods that I'd be sacrificing a lot of performance and they would be heavy clunky rods. Well that hasn't been the case, I tried out a new Fenwick Elite Tech Smallmouth rod and I was amazed at how light and sensitive the rod was considering it was only $130 and then they began to show up for even less and since then they have come out with a couple really good series of rods. I'm now a fan of Fenwick and I'm not a brand loyal kind of person but I found rods that have the perfect actions for how I fish and I believe you can do it while saving some money too. Right now the rod market is saturated with rods in the $100 to $200 range and in order to get attention they have to be pretty decent, what is happening is we are now getting rods with high quality blanks along with solid components for prices that you would never would have saw back in the day. My favorite rods right now are the Fenwick rods, the Elite Tech series along with the new HMG and Aetos rods but there is *** that have super quality stuff and then there is Phenix, Duckett, Kistler has come back strong with the KLX and then there is Powell and other brands that are just making really great rods, you really can't go wrong. What I would do if I were you is pick a price point, decide what length, action, and power you need and then go to Tackle Warehouse's website and look to see what you might like, the Abu Garcia Veritas rods get a lot of praise and even lower in price is the Vendetta that also gets high marks for being an inexpensive model. Go shopping and have fun, you now have a lot to choose from without sacrificing a ton of performance or durability, good luck.