Dobyns champion spinning rod

[Smallieseeker]

Looking to buy a new Dobyns spinning rod but not sure where to start as this is my first spinning rod from them. The baits I’ll be fishing will mainly be light shakey heads under 1/4 oz and weightless soft plastics. Won’t be fishing around much cover except for rock and occasionally brushpiles. Haven’t decided if I want to go to the extreme series yet or just stay with the xp’s. Do any of you find that the extremes are worth the extra hundred or so? How to the actions compare to each other? I prefer  a softer rod for fishing smallmouth. Some of the models I was looking at would be the 742 in the extreme or the 732/733 in the xp line up. And the last thing to add would be this rod would be paired with the new tatula lt spinning reel which is a seriously light reel. Would any of these rods have trouble balancing well with this reel or should I go to one of the shorter 7 foot rods.

[Columbia Craw]

I have two Champion 703's, a 702SF and an Extreme 742SF.  (Pre-XP)  I will be ordering another 742, maybe next week to be paired with a new Ballistic LT 3000.  I think the XP is worth the extra money. I'm a fan of full rear grips and the balance on the Extreme is exceptional.  For a rod with such a moderate tip, it has serious back bone.  I have landed fish over seven pounds with it. I wish they were smallmouth but they were green fish.  If the 733 and 732 would have been available when I purchased my Champions, I would have gone to them right off.  Once again full rear grip. The 742 has a bit more power in the middle third of the blank.  Word is, according to another site, the high end models to be released later this year will have a 752SF. I may wait for this model and save a few more bucks to get it. You only live once.

[Smallieseeker]

32 minutes ago, Columbia Craw said:

I have two Champion 703's, a 702SF and an Extreme 742SF.  (Pre-XP)  I will be ordering another 742, maybe next week to be paired with a new Ballistic LT 3000.  I think the XP is worth the extra money. I'm a fan of full rear grips and the balance on the Extreme is exceptional.  For a rod with such a moderate tip, it has serious back bone.  I have landed fish over seven pounds with it. I wish they were smallmouth but they were green fish.  If the 733 and 732 would have been available when I purchased my Champions, I would have gone to them right off.  Once again full rear grip. The 742 has a bit more power in the middle third of the blank.  Word is, according to another site, the high end models to be released later this year will have a 752SF. I may wait for this model and save a few more bucks to get it. You only live once.

Thank you so your saying the 742 will have enough back bone to use weightless Texas rig? And I have also heard about this rod but I thought Dobyns scrapped the idea because they couldn’t get it right?

[PatrickKnight]

I fish everything you listed on a 703 Sierra. I would not use a Dobyns 2 power for anything other than light wire exposed hook rigs. 

 

I have been really thinking about a new St Croix or Loomis but I might end up with a Champion 732 because I like my Sierra that much.

 

Also I agree with mr craw a full rear grip is a must for me at this point and I truely wish they offered that in the Sierra line because I would just stick to that line of rods.

[Smallieseeker]

4 minutes ago, PatrickKnight said:

I fish everything you listed on a 703 Sierra. I would not use a Dobyns 2 power for anything other than light wire exposed hook rigs. 

 

I have been really thinking about a new St Croix or Loomis but I might end up with a Champion 732 because I like my Sierra that much.

Thank you I was thinking a two power might be to light but from everything I read the 742 extreme has a little more back bone to it. I might try the 733 in the xp lineup. 

[PatrickKnight]

From my experiences longer rods have more room to work with per say. So it can still have a good tip while being able to have more backbone simply because the rod is longer. I have never used an extreme but that does hold true for some of the 7'6" inshore rods I have used in the past. I would assume the 732 would be the same, with the 762 and 792 being even more so.

[junyer357]

I have a champion 683sf with a pfluefer supreme 30 and its perfect to me for throwing weightless senkos. Great tip for sensitivity, and lods up quick with plenty of backbone for setting hook and pulling from cover.

Im saving for a 702sf now for ned/shaky finesse rigs now.  

[fishnkamp]

Between my wife and I we fish some Champion XP DC series rods and some Sierra rods. You mentioned you like a softer (slower) action rod, so I would consider the Sierra series. If it were me I would order a Sierra SA703SF.

Both of the Champion XP and Champion Extreme series rods are faster taper rods.

[Smallieseeker]

46 minutes ago, fishnkamp said:

Between my wife and I we fish some Champion XP DC series rods and some Sierra rods. You mentioned you like a softer (slower) action rod, so I would consider the Sierra series. If it were me I would order a Sierra SA703SF.

Both of the Champion XP and Champion Extreme series rods are faster taper rods.

I have given the Sierra some thoughts too but didn’t know much about them. Do you find the extreme to be more of a faster taper than the xp or are they similar in action

[Columbia Craw]

The 702 or 732 Champion does not lock up quite a quick as the Extreme so the 3 power would be better suited to your described uses in that series. If you decide to pull the plug on an Extreme, I hold on the 742 HP as the rod of choice. Both series are great. I know it's a stressor to buy a rod without handling it.  I was there with my 742 but I am happy I went with it.

 

Regarding the expected Dobyns upper tier series.  They had it right. The issue of a proprietary material in the blank came under the control of a single rod manufacture.  That's old news though.  Gary Dobyns had to regroup and obtain another material source to meet the standards already set.  That delayed the development.  We will see what the result is soon I hope.

 

Doug

 

 

[lunkerboss923]

Yep, I'm getting a 732SF. I fished a 702 and 703 side by side and the 702 did a better job at finesse fishing. I was pitching a finesse worm on a small shaky head and was killing it. The 702 also threw a stupid tube fairly well. However, I nearly lost a 6.5 lb greenie because the fish nearly ate my entire rod. It jumped out of the water shook, I had him pinned, he wasn't going anywhere. However, I'm convinced that a longer rod would have had the backbone to get him in, no problem. Maybe I'm wrong but a 732SF would be a 732.5 basically bridging the gaps giving you a firmer rod with all the sensitivity, with the added backbone in the middle 3rd of the rod. It would be an all around spinning rod, yet finesse enough to throw open hooks and use a 2500 reel.