W&M Skeet Reese Rods ?

[ChrisD46]

I noticed Brent Chapman had a deck full of the yellow W&M Skeet Reese technique specific rods - curious how the performance & quality are as looking on TW they have about every technique covered for under $100 each ?

[CroakHunter]

I have the magnum crank rod and it fishes really well. 

[Junger]

I bought the 6'8 Jerkbait W&M Skeet Reese Tournament rod. I returned it before I fished it, but initial thoughts were that the guides were flimsy and cheap. The reel seat was interesting, a front and rear trigger grip, but it also felt like pretty cheap plastic. I also bought the 6'8 KastKing Speed Demon Jerkbait rod for about the same price. The Kastking guides looked nicer and sturdier (fujis), and the blank was lighter than the W&M. There was a significant difference in the thickness of the blanks too, the W&M had a thickness like a fiberglass rod and the KastKing more like a graphite rod. No opinion on sensitivity on both rods, but the action seemed appropriate on both rods. I returned both because they both had longer handles than I wanted for a jerkbait rod.

 

For $50 though, I think the Daiwa Aird-X beats both of them if you can find the right action/power that you want, since there aren't many versions of that rod.

[evilcatfish]

I have a bud that swears by them, and from my little experience handling his they seem like nice rods for the money, especially if you can order them during a sale. There are a lot of other options at that price point I might give an edge too though. Plus, I can't get over the yellow color, I'd rather have the pink W&M trait Zaldain rods haha

[Bluebasser86]

They'd be okay if they were $40, no way I'd pay $100 for them. I got a couple for next to nothing, very dead feeling, guides are terrible and pop out constantly. I broke the senko rod the second time I set the hook on a 1lb fish. I sold the crankbait rod before it had a chance to fall apart on me too. Pros can fish them because when they break they just get a new one. 

[ChrisD46]

Thanks for replies ... Changing up a bit - then who has better technique specific rods under $100 that you like OR enough different rod options to cover most techniques such as :

*Top Water / Jerk Bait

* Jig / C-Rig

*Worm

*Crank Bait

*Frog

[Junger]

Daiwa Aird-X is an amazing rod for $50 (or less), but they only have models which would cover jigs, worms, and frogs.

 

 

[DSTN]

I have a few year old version of the crankbait rod and it's been solid for me. I like it and it's worked well enough I'd consider another if the price was right. They have the Performance series at Dick's and those had a much cheaper feel to me than the Tournament series you can find at Cabelas for $70-$100. 

 

Cabelas ZX series had technique specific rods for $100 regularly but they seem to selling off what they have left of those and don't have many options left to choose from.

 

Maybe check out the Abu Garcia Vendetta or Veritas lines. They have a fair amount of size, power, and actions available they just don't put technique specific labels on them.

[kens]

I just bought the crank bait rod at Dicks for $33. Works well for me.