Gander Mountain Vortex Rods

[jitterbug127]

They are for sale next to a song in price. I am going to pick up 2. 40 bucks what the heck for two rods. Just wondered what to expect

[PitchinJigz]

I've had two of these rods. I broke one bending it (my fault) so I bought another one. I have the 6'6" M spinning rod and it is a pretty wimpy rod. I pretty much reserve it for weightless wacky senkos. It also turned out to be a pretty good bluegill rod. Is it worth $20? Of course.

[LunkerFisher]

These are always $20 FYI I picked one up (casting) last year for $15 and it just gathers dust

[HoosierHawgs]

Almost bought one, but just wasn't my style. Waited and ended up getting something used that I liked a heck of a lot better.

[WIGuide]

I bought one for a guest rod/backup rod and paid a whole $14 for it. I've used it a few times and it actually doesn't seem too bad. Pretty impressed with it at that price. 

[FloridaFishinFool]

I'd like to weigh in on these rods a little bit...

 

The first thing I would like to say is that the only reason I ever even tried one of these rods is the sale price of $19.99 each down from $59.99 regular price. Price and price alone is why I started buying them. Another reason is because I have two young sons getting into fishing and these rods are perfect for their starter rods. Being so inexpensive if they break one it is not a big deal.

 

I would like to clarify that I will not buy any of the vortex spinning rods. Those are too rubbery and whippy for my taste. Not much backbone to them. So the only vortex rod I do purchase when on sale for $20.00 is the 6'6" MH fast action bait casting rod. And this is the only vortex rod I can comment on since I have not purchased nor used any of the other vortex rods. The model number I purchase is GMVT66C-MH-13.

 

The first time I came across these rods on sale in a store for $19.99 I purchased 3 of them. I did a quick bend check on a few and found that the alignment was all over the place, so I chose 3 rods that bent lined up with the guides on the rods.

 

My reason for purchasing these rods was simply to get my boys into some inexpensive rods with decent characteristics, but I am not a fan of the single foot stainless steel guides used on these rods, but they worked fine for the boys.

 

While out on a fishing trip with the boys, I made the mistake of laying my more expensive rods down in the boat in such a way that when my youngest boy lost his balance in the boat he stepped on the tip of one of my nicer pricey rods breaking off 9 inches of it ruining that rod. So as a quick on the spot replacement I switched that reel, a curado i over to one of the vortex 6'6" MH rods and kept on fishing with it.

 

I was surprised to find that I actually liked the rod more now that I was using it. I found the shorter rod- I was using a 7' MH- but this vortex 6'6" felt more balanced and was actually lighter than my now broken more expensive rod, and I liked the way the tapered handle fit in my hand. It was actually easier to use and less fatiguing than my broken rod was. I could cast a country mile with it. And it handled all the bass I caught as well as any other rod would.

 

And, after that experience I said what the heck, for the price you can't beat it. A $60 dollar rod for $20. So I bought 7 of them so far. I have not had any break on me at all as I have read others have experienced. These rods did well this past summer, and so I took two of my rods and removed the factory guides and ordered up some titanium oxide guides with double feet and I replaced all of the guides on the rods and turned them into sprial wraps- which cost me about $12.00 per rod for the guides and I put them on myself. (I only did this after the rod blank proved to me it was going to hold up.)

 

As it stands right now, I am using several of these rods on a regular basis, my sons use them, my dad has one, and a fishing buddy of mine went out and bought two of them with a total count now of 11 rods purchased between all of us. None have broken. And everyone who uses one likes it. They are not whippy. They have decent characteristics, good backbone, balanced, lightweight, handle fits well in the hand and fairly sensitive too. For $20 there is absolutely nothing to complain about this rod- other than the guides... but with a couple hours of work, even that problem can be solved for under $15.00 per rod.

 

So I am not ashamed to say I actually like a $20 rod! Hey, it came as a surprise to me too!

 

But I will say I don't really use this rod for super heavy duty work load either. I am not trying to use it like a crane to winch bass out of heavy cover or fish 10 inch rubber worms with it. I mostly use it for open water swim baits, crank lures, spinners, etc. and it works fine for that. Compared to some of my more expensive rods, I judge this vortex rod to not be as heavy or strong as some other rods, but it has its place just under the heavy work load rods.

 

This summer I think I kept 3 inch and 4 inch Berkley and Calcutta soft swim baits on it most of the time and it was perfect for that. Really. I could not complain one bit.

 

I did a little bit of internet searches on the vortex rod and found an unconfirmed bit of interesting information... and I wonder if this has anything to do with the last digits of the model number I mentioned above: GMVT66C-MH-13:

 

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/threads/anyone-else-get-this-15-gander-vortex-rods.502139/

 

"for those who didn't know most of gander mountain rods are made by 1 3 fishing (vortex is) gander has good rods the elite are almost the same blanks as 13's higher end rods"

 

Again, I can not confirm what this person posted about these rods, but if true... it just makes me feel just a little bit better about the rod choice.

 

All I can say is for $20 give it a try! I was pleasantly surprised this summer and actually enjoyed using this one rod model.

[QuirkyCarp2000]

A friend gave me a Gander Mountain Vortex baitcasting rod in 6 foot 6. GMVT66C-MH-13. Only problem is the guides don't feel good at all. It has metal inserts. I ran my fingernails on them and they are not slippery at all.  I don't think the guides are even polished. But I like to do rodbuilding, so I may replace the guides and tip. 

[WRB]

Swab the guide rings with a dry cotton Q-Tip to see if any fibers stick to the guide ring.

If you like the rod overall then replacing the guide train isn’t too difficult.

Tom