Bass pro spring sale (carbonlite combo?)

[Trey J]

 

So this week bass pro is starting their spring classic sale... they are running a deal where if you buy the carbonlite reel you get the rod for free. This essentially saves $120, but on top of that if you trade in a reel you can the carbonlite reel for only 100 dollars. Does anybody have experience with the rod and reel and would you recommend it? There's not too much out there on the carbonlite 2.0 so I was just wondering if I'm getting a good deal here. 

[ratherbfishin1]

I have heard really good things about the rod and i have the older reel. The older reel is really good IMO and it is comparable to about a $150 lews reel.  I am assuming the new ones are just as good but not certain. I'm planning on selling my bow and use some of the money to get the combo.  I'm really excited for the sale to start so I can get myself a  present.

[Fishin' Fool]

I'm not sure what level of enthusiast you are but I'd say it's a nice mid level set up. After using a G Loomis NRX for a while and then switching back to the Carbonlite 1.0 I wanted to toss it in the trash. Yes it's a good deal for the price.

[Dirtyeggroll]

1 hour ago, Trey J said:

 

So this week bass pro is starting their spring classic sale... they are running a deal where if you buy the carbonlite reel you get the rod for free. This essentially saves $120, but on top of that if you trade in a reel you can the carbonlite reel for only 100 dollars. Does anybody have experience with the rod and reel and would you recommend it? There's not too much out there on the carbonlite 2.0 so I was just wondering if I'm getting a good deal here. 

Not 100% sure any trade ins will count toward the Carbonlite 2.0 combo. It specifically states in the flier that "This program does not apply to any combo purchase".

 

Since the add says "Buy the reel and get our #1 selling rod for free!". You might be able to apply the coupon toward the reel. I doubt it though since the item is listed as a "baitcast combo" which will likely have a different SKU than the reel alone. Maybe @volzfan59 can comment?

[Trey J]

7 minutes ago, Dirtyeggroll said:

Not 100% sure any trade ins will count toward the Carbonlite 2.0 combo. It specifically states in the flier that "This program does not apply to any combo purchase".

 

Since the add says "Buy the reel and get our #1 selling rod for free!". You might be able to apply the coupon toward the reel. I doubt it though since the item is listed as a "baitcast combo" which will likely have a different SKU than the reel alone. Maybe @volzfan59 can comment?

I was thinking the same thing, might not take the trade in but still a good deal

[Dirtyeggroll]

Just now, Trey J said:

I was thinking the same thing, might not take the trade in but still a good deal

Confirmed in the other Spring Classic thread that the Carbonlite 2.0 combo will not be eligible for the coupons.

 

[ratherbfishin1]

Even without the few dollars off i'm still gonna try it out. Not too much to possibly lose considering it's less than most of rods or reels alone.

[volzfan59]

"Dirtyeggroll" is correct, no trade-ins on the combo. It's basically 50% off, or buy one get one free already. You can use the trade-in on just a rod, or just a reel.

[SDoolittle]

I hit the Bass Pro Shops in Broken Arrow, OK when the doors opened this morning. Those Carbonlite combos were going fast!

[FishDewd]

I just got back from there... yeah, they were selling fast. I saw several people buy anywhere from 2-7 of them at a time!

[Trey J]

21 minutes ago, FishDewd said:

I just got back from there... yeah, they were selling fast. I saw several people buy anywhere from 2-7 of them at a time!

Good thing I'm going tonight!

[FishDewd]

They were bringing more out in carts as fast as people were buying them... so I have no idea how many they actually have in stock lol.

[ratherbfishin1]

Went to order one online but for some reason they weren't showing up so i called to order on the phone and there were so many people calling it took like 40 minutes but finally got a 7' mh 8.3:1 reel for a flipping, pitching, and frog rod.  I guess that means it truly is a good deal if everybody is going insane over them.  Hope they have some for you guys, i ordered early this morning to make sure i got one.

[FishDewd]

Well, all I've been able to do for now was toss the carbonlite around the yard for an hour to get a feel for her, but I'm liking it! It'll sling a 1/8 and 1/4 dropshot rig a fair distance with minimal effort. I think it'll be a finesse monster when I take it out next week! I wouldn't mind having another in a longer medium action to replace my Lew's. Not a big fan of where they put the hook keeper though

[Trey J]

2 hours ago, FishDewd said:

Well, all I've been able to do for now was toss the carbonlite around the yard for an hour to get a feel for her, but I'm liking it! It'll sling a 1/8 and 1/4 dropshot rig a fair distance with minimal effort. I think it'll be a finesse monster when I take it out next week! I wouldn't mind having another in a longer medium action to replace my Lew's. Not a big fan of where they put the hook keeper though

I just got back from bps too. I’ve been casting in the backyard and love it! this is the best $120 dollar combo I’ve ever bought. Although, they were out of 7’ MH so I had to settle with M but it’s all good. I wonder if I could take it in after the sale and trade it out for a different action rod?

[LCG]

5 hours ago, FishDewd said:

Well, all I've been able to do for now was toss the carbonlite around the yard for an hour to get a feel for her, but I'm liking it! It'll sling a 1/8 and 1/4 dropshot rig a fair distance with minimal effort. I think it'll be a finesse monster when I take it out next week! I wouldn't mind having another in a longer medium action to replace my Lew's. Not a big fan of where they put the hook keeper though

Which model did you purchase? Curious about these rods and how they will do with finesse applications. 

[FishDewd]

1 hour ago, Luke G. said:

Which model did you purchase? Curious about these rods and how they will do with finesse applications. 

I got a 6'6" medium lite in fast action. I only wish they had this in a 7' but to be honest... I don't think it would make much difference really. I'm not the longest caster at any rate, and I catch more fish closer to bank anyway. I already have 2 7' rods so I figure this would be a great change up for me for different situations. I'm gonna reserve my spinning set up for larger cranks and jigs and whatnot... my Lews medium 7' Tp1 I love as a dropshot and carolina rig set up, and this rod can kinda go in between those two as both a lightweight crank rod for tiny minnow cranks, etc, and also as my dedicated finesse rod for unweighted or very lightly weighted plastics. It has a very unique tip action. Reasonable flex up/down for jerking with light jigs, as well as a nice side-side whip action which I like a lot. That could open my possibilities there for what I can do with it. I'm thinking weightless dropshots, unweighted texas rigs, ned rigs, and whatever else I can come up with. I like to be creative sometimes lol. But I think it'll do great as a finesse rod. Even though it's a medium-lite the spine on is pretty good. Easily comparable to my other medium action rods in strength. I also really like the grip on it as well, feels really nice in my hand. Very well balanced. I'm gonna put it through it's paces next week with brush, grass, and grungy bottoms so I'll post here how it went for sure.

 

Edit: another rod I almost bought over this one is available at my Cabela's called a Waterloo Phantom. They wanted $109 for it. It was also a medium-lite, 7' length, fast action. Only thing is to me it almost seemed like a light action. That was by far the lightest action baitcaster I have ever held, but it was almost... too light. Made me a little nervous. But I have no doubt it would launch the smallest plastics imaginable.

 

4 hours ago, Trey J said:

I just got back from bps too. I’ve been casting in the backyard and love it! this is the best $120 dollar combo I’ve ever bought. Although, they were out of 7’ MH so I had to settle with M but it’s all good. I wonder if I could take it in after the sale and trade it out for a different action rod?

 

Maybe you could return it or exchange it with a receipt... that's probably what I should've done actually, I'm just kind of tight on money right now which is why I elected not to spend that extra $20 for a reel I didn't really need. If it wasn't for getting a little tax return I wouldn't have bought the rod. Like I said in the other thread, I wasn't too fond of the spool bearings on the reel anyway. BPS kinda ticked me off anyway with their ad changing like it did lol.

[OnthePotomac]

I have a Carbonlite 2.0, but have not been on the water yet with it. I do have ten other Carbonlites in MH 6'6" and 7' and Med 7' and I have enjoyed the rods for the last five years.  My three spinning rod Carbonlites are 7' medium. The massive tidal Potomac grass beds in my stretch of the river (half way from D.C. to the bay) are pretty challenging to rods in usually murky water with minimal finesse opportunities and snakeheads, which are like freight trains.   I have never had a rod failure in that time and had numerous times when they were seriously bent.  I  fish cranks, tubes and top waters on a medium baitcaster and grubs and worms on the spinning rods. All my plastics and also worms go on a MH 7'.  At 4.0 to 4.5 oz they are easy on my old wrists.  They work for me in my fishing environment.

[fvogel67]

Went half on a combo with a friend.I wanted a 8.3.1 lefty and he wanted a 7MH rod

Pretty happy with only spending 60 on a pretty decent reel.

The Cincy Bass Pro was a total madhouse this morning,The Carbonlite combos

were flying off the rack,Saw a guy grab 7 of them.  Lol

[Tyler.]

On 2/16/2018 at 4:37 PM, FishDewd said:

Well, all I've been able to do for now was toss the carbonlite around the yard for an hour to get a feel for her, but I'm liking it! It'll sling a 1/8 and 1/4 dropshot rig a fair distance with minimal effort. I think it'll be a finesse monster when I take it out next week! I wouldn't mind having another in a longer medium action to replace my Lew's. Not a big fan of where they put the hook keeper though

So I was looking at getting this. Medium light 6’6”. I use mostly light

lures and have trouble casting my bps pro qualifier 2 on medium casting rod  with 1/4oz lures. Need 3/8oz or bigger which I typically don’t use. I like 1/8 and 1/4 oz swimbaits. You say that throws 1/8 pretty good. What size and type

of line you using ?