Quality spinning rods

[davkoz]

Hey guys! I have been bass fishing for about 3 years now and I learned a lot about the sport not only with the fish but tackle and equipment. I have been looking to upgrade to a nice medium action spinning rod around in the 200$ price range. The techniques I will be mainly using it on will be 1/8-3/16 ounce shakey heads, 1/6 ounce ned rig, weightless senkos and wacky rigs and few 1/4 light wire lures. I have been looking into shimanos, Dobyns, st Croix and g loomis rods but none of the companys offer what I mostly want except the Dobyns sierra and champion xp rods where I was considering them. I was looking for your guys input for what rod would be the best pick for me preferably from the companys I mentioned since they are mostly popular.

[FishTank]

Welcome to the forum......

 

I think you may be talking about too many techniques for just one rod but if I had to pick just one.....  I like the St.Croix Avid 6'8'' M x-fast.  It has enough power in the butt of the rod for shaky head hook sets and the fast tip is great for weightless senkos.  It is a great all around rod.  I have used it for spinner baits as well. 

[Log Catcher]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I've never used a rod in the price range you are looking at so I can't help you with it.

[davkoz]

3 hours ago, FishTank said:

Welcome to the forum......

 

I think you may be talking about too many techniques for just one rod but if I had to pick just one.....  I like the St.Croix Avid 6'8'' M x-fast.  It has enough power in the butt of the rod for shaky head hook sets and the fast tip is great for weightless senkos.  It is a great all around rod.  I have used it for spinner baits as well. 

Isn't X-Fast made for lighter wire hooks? To be specific I am only going to be using shakey heads and wacky/weightless senkos pretty much on it. The shakey heads I use are Owner Ultrahead and I assume they are not light wire as well as the gamakatsu ewg hooks 1/0-2/0. Will the St Croix avid 7'0 medium fast work for 1/8-1/4?

[Darren.]

Welcome aboard!

 

For the techniques you mention, realize St. Croix can be a tad stiffer 

than other brands. I would go with a M St. Croix in that case, as an

XF will flex closer to the tip and the M will be a little bit more of the rod

flexing.

 

I use both M and ML for Ned rigs. A St. Croix MLXF would work very well

with all the techniques, IMHO.

[MickD]

Take a look at the very extensive St Croix Avid offerings-they have to have something that will work.  Don't confuse power and action ratings.  What you want is a fast action in my opinion, certainly not moderate, possibly XFast.  It is true that St Croix will most likely be more powerful than the others at the same power rating, but not that much.  I find the St Croix line in fast action fine for what you want.

 

My favorite rod for most of your techniques is a 7 foot medium power fast action St Croix Legend, but it's too pricey.  The AVids (SCIII) are great rods, not that much below the SCV for performance.  I would choose St. Croix or Loomis over the others if you can find the power/action combination you like.

[new2BC4bass]

I wasn't enamored with the original Villains.  My spinning model...okay, casting model...bad taste in mouth.  However, the 2.0s seem to be another animal.  Excellent reviews on TT.  TW reviews also good.  Picked one up, but fish outings this year has been few and far between so no comment on how it performs.  Based on what I have read, I wouldn't mind having another Villain or two.

[Hulkster]

Quote

 I would choose St. Croix or Loomis over the others if you can find the power/action combination you like.

Agreed. they are my two favorite rod manufacturers.

[TBAG]

Don't think you can really go wrong with any of those manufacturers.

 

Are you able to handle any of them in person before purchasing? But, you really can't go wrong with a St. Croix Avid. I own several and they are great. But I'm currently using a Loomis GL2 spinning rod for my ned rig setup, so far it's a great rod.

[burrows]

Phenix, feather a good sensitive rod for a decent price. 

[Choporoz]

I'd be mighty appreciative if you pick up the 702 here and remove any further temptation:

 

[davkoz]

6 hours ago, TBAG said:

Don't think you can really go wrong with any of those manufacturers.

 

Are you able to handle any of them in person before purchasing? But, you really can't go wrong with a St. Croix Avid. I own several and they are great. But I'm currently using a Loomis GL2 spinning rod for my ned rig setup, so far it's a great rod.

Sadly none of the stores carry rods that I mentioned, I am considering now the Avid 7'0 M Fast action though. I would love to get a g loomis but I did not hear good reviews about the e6x, Ive seen that they came out with a new version. I don't know how much it is better compared to the old one but my brother owns a few and they seem alright. I wanted to get a shimano zodias at first but it frustrates me with the fact that the actions on the higher end shimano rods are not meant for all around techniques which bummed me out. It will either be the Dobyns sierra or st Croix avid.

[WRB]

My thoughts on fishing tackle is buy what you can afford and have the disposable income for. For me spinning tackle makes up less then 20% of my rods and reels and only used for finesse light line (5 lb to 7 lb test) presentations.

The reel IMO is more important then the rod for spinning tackle. The reel needs to be smooth and quite with a highly reliable drag and balance with whatever rod is selected.

The OP is looking for a 2 power or medium light or medium depending on the rod mfr choosen. I have been using Major Craft NAS-JW701M spinning rods the last 2 years and they are light weight 3.6 oz and good quality. Dobyns rods are good quality and supported by excellent customer service and ST Croix is another good choice. 

Tom

[Loomis13]

5 hours ago, davkoz said:

Sadly none of the stores carry rods that I mentioned, I am considering now the Avid 7'0 M Fast action though. I would love to get a g loomis but I did not hear good reviews about the e6x, Ive seen that they came out with a new version. I don't know how much it is better compared to the old one but my brother owns a few and they seem alright. I wanted to get a shimano zodias at first but it frustrates me with the fact that the actions on the higher end shimano rods are not meant for all around techniques which bummed me out. It will either be the Dobyns sierra or st Croix avid.

If you do not think you will like the XF action, then that would be a good choice. I personally like the XF actions, but some people do not. A fast action will lend itself to a few more applications. For example, you could get by throwing light crank baits and jerk baits on a fast spinning rod. I would lean toward the medium power, however keep in mind that a XF action could possibly help in casting the lighter lures.

[GeekOutdoors]

I own a St.Croix Mojo Bass 7'1" M/F and a Fenwick Aetos in the same specs. I prefer my Aetos over the St.Croix any day but that is just my humble opinion. To be fair, the Aetos is pricier though but still in OP budget

 

[Oregon Native]

Just purchased a Dixie custom rod out of Tennessee.  Lifetime warranty and the action is spot on.  May be getting more.

(jerkbait special)  Spinning rods in the store had great action too but the lifetime warranty I've heard is amazing.  Good Luck

[Chance_Taker4]

Kistler Magnesium 2 7' Light-Med-Heavy. It have a soft tip like a ML rod but the backbone of a MH rod. It is the only rod I will use for shakey and weightless techniques. A bonus the blanks are made by Gary Loomis himself at NFC.