Dobyn's Colt and It's Sensitivity

[t_bone_713]

Good Afternoon,

 

Does anyone have any experience with Dobyn's Colt spinning rod? What are your thoughts? How is it's sensitivity for finesse presentation?

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Dobyns_Colt_Series_Spinning_Rods/descpage-DCSCR.html

 

How does it compare to Fenwick Eagle? Which one is more sensitive?

https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/fenwick-eagle-spinning-rod-15fenugl5ft6nl2pcrod/15fenugl5ft6nl2pcrod

What about Shimano SLX? Same question for $20 dollars more.

https://www.fishusa.com/Shimano-SLX-Spinning-Rod

Or should I spend the extra $40 dollars on the "Renown" Dobyn's Fury? Catch Black Friday Sale?

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Dobyns_Fury_Casting_Rods/descpage-DFC.html

 

Other rods I should pay attention to in the $70-$120 dollar range? I am a just picking fishing back up in my adult life. I have some bass and catfish experience as a kid and some topsail cat and red fish experience as an adult. This will be a 7' Medium Fast spinning rod that I will be using from the bank for Texas Rigs, Weightless, Wacky Rig, Mojo Rigs, and Shaky Heads, so sensitivity is key.

 

Thank you for your time!

 

PS - I am using RW's guide with a slight change in order to fit my needs. Next will be the MHF baitcaster in July and then finally the MM baitcaster for treble hooks Black Friday 2020. I have some $20 dollar spinning combos from big box stores now that I am learning on.

) 

[bwjay]

I can't offer any advice on Dobyns unfortunately, as I have not been able to hold or use the rods I'd like to try, but at the top end of your price range, take a look at St. Croix's Mojo Bass and Premier lines. I haven't owned any Mojos, but I've bought 3 Premiers (casting: 6' MF, 7' MHF, spinning: 6' MF) and besides being a bit tip heavy (pretty common TBH), I've been pretty satisfied with them. They feel durable, they're fairly sensitive (compared to my very sensitive Helium3s), and they have been comfortable to use. They also have a good warranty and customer service which is why a lot of people like them.

 

As for your desired rod, a 7' MF, you may consider St. Croix's 6'10 MLXF blanks which a lot of people seem to like. Their power ratings tend to be a bit understated (so the rod is a bit more stout than they say, ML being more like M, MH more like H) so you could definitely get by with their ML power blanks, if you're looking for a "true" M. As a bank fisherman who broke an Expride by trying to free a Ned head from a tree branch (it came off and hit the blank, glad it wasn't my eye/sunglasses), I would recommend you go for a shorter rod if possible. It will be more accurate, and being lighter weight, it should be more sensitive as well. St. Croix has a lot of 6' to 6'6" rods. Their warranty is important too for bank fishermen such as myself, who may accidentally damage their rods.

 

Best of luck in your search!!

[Hammer 4]

I had a Colt spinning rod 7' mf..I liked the action of it, and the sensitivity was fairly good. However, 8" of the tip broke off after fishing for 1 1/2 hrs. Sent it back to TW. got a refund and bought another brand. I had owned Dobyn's Champion rods years ago and loved them..I would look at the Diawa Tatula XT rods, very light, good action, I have 3 of them but they are baitcasting.

[Wacked worm]

I use a fenwick eagle ML with a president xt paired with 15 lb braid and love it. Its a fantastic combo, I am buying my buddies a couple for Christmas presents this year. 

 

[Dangerfield]

I own a Fury 703sf and I really enjoy using the rod from the boat/dock but not so crazy about it from the kayak. It has to do with how dobyns designs the grip on his spinning rods, Gary seems to prefer the palm grip where the reel seat arm fits between your index and middle finger. Some like to hold the reel seat arm in between different fingers or in my case when I'm fishing from the kayak, I find myself with the reel seat arm between my ring and pinky finger. Which means that my index, and middle finger are gripping the blank and not cork/foam/etc. There's many times where I've missed a hookset because my fingers or hands have slipped because they're wet. I can think back to my first spinning rod, an Ugly Stik and they have a 2-3" cork grip above the reel seat which was easy to grab and jam the hook home. This was my 1st season with the 703sf and I might just buy some Winn grip tape and make my own grip.

 

RE: Colt Series, the guides are probably a little cheaper, you're getting no cork on the reel seat and the blank is likely stiffer and less sensitive than the Fury. If it was me I would use the Colt series for all treble hook applications where sensitivity isn't a huge requirement. I would reco pairing braid or fluoro if you go this route. The SLX is getting good reviews, I would choose that over a Colt, but a Fury over the SLX.

 

Like others have said, hold out 2 more weeks for BF and you can probably get a good deal on a Fury at TW.

[WRB]

My recommendation is Major Craft NAS-WJ701MH spinning rod for what you plan to use.

Tom

 

[Cgolf]

If you go with St. Croix, I would look at the premier and not the Mojo line. All I will say is when we visited the factory store, one of the workers convinced me to never buy one unless it was in the musky line up or the 1-4 ounce swimbait rod I got. They convinced me the premiers would be a much more durable option than a Mojo.

 

This was a couple of years ago though, so maybe the Mojo lineup has improved. 

 

Last year on the TW 25 days sale I got a dobyns sierra spinning rod for 115. That is probably the best rod I own, great sensitivity and balances really well with a president reel. Wish I had bought 2 or 3 more.

[NYWayfarer]

13 hours ago, cgolf said:

If you go with St. Croix, I would look at the premier and not the Mojo line. All I will say is when we visited the factory store, one of the workers convinced me to never buy one unless it was in the musky line up or the 1-4 ounce swimbait rod I got. They convinced me the premiers would be a much more durable option than a Mojo.

 

This was a couple of years ago though, so maybe the Mojo lineup has improved. 

 

Last year on the TW 25 days sale I got a dobyns sierra spinning rod for 115. That is probably the best rod I own, great sensitivity and balances really well with a president reel. Wish I had bought 2 or 3 more.

The Mojo was redesigned in 2016

 

Perhaps the worker told you what they did because the Mojo is handcrafted in Mexico and the Premier is handcrafted in the USA factory you visited. It would make sense they want people to but the Premier.

[bwjay]

I did read about Mojo tips breaking more often than they should, but you never know the scenario, could have been a misuse of the rod, or maybe those rods got damaged in shipping or something. Personally I like the look and feel of the Premiers I've had, and I really do prefer to buy US-made over anywhere else, so I'll continue to recommend them.

 

A Dobyns Sierra for $115 is a great deal though and I would definitely jump on one for that price.

[Cgolf]

5 hours ago, NYWayfarer said:

The Mojo was redesigned in 2016

 

Perhaps the worker told you what they did because the Mojo is handcrafted in Mexico and the Premier is handcrafted in the USA factory you visited. It would make sense they want people to but the Premier.

What he told me was at the time, there were more returns for broken tips on the Mojo. This was in June 2017. He said the Musky rods and swimbait rods were fine. Honestly since we were looking at the B rods I felt his opinion was genuine, didn’t feel like it was a buy built local plug. He did specifically comment the mojo I picked out was fine when I asked, didn’t say go check out this other rod instead. 
 

Editing to add I just read the post from @bwjay and it seems that the guy at the store seemed to confirm the tip issue. The question is it a thing of the past. 
 

The deals on the B rods at the store at that time were great. I got an Avid X and the Mojo swimbait rod for 165 before taxes. 

[r83srock]

I can’t offer any help on Dobyns, always wanted to try one though.

 

I have handle a few St. Croixs, the first gen mojo was made in park falls very brief, before the Mexico plant was running. I had it for 8 years and never an issue. I have a twin to it that is 6 years new. The triumph was made in China for a few years prior to the Mexico plant and there were definitely issues with those at that time. What I was told by another factory store employee is that ALL St. Croix blanks are rolled in park falls, who know, maybe some are. Mileage may vary. 
 

I have had a few gen 2 Mojos and I feel they fish really well, the tips are softer than the gen 1, and balance better. I did break a gen 2 mojo fighting a bass in thick reeds. I think I put a lot of strain on that blank, pop! I have some premiers also, two that are 18 years old, I think, never an issue. I also have two Bass X rods. I like those as much as any, idk maybe I’m not as picky with rods as I am reels. 
 

I never noticed much difference in sensitivity between any model St. Croix, the legend tournament on up has a more crisp feeling blank for sure, but the honestly have all been plenty sensitive. The sc2 graphite St. Croix uses has a very good track record with me, it’s probably my favorite blank material, I’m just confident in its durability.

[bwjay]

18 hours ago, r83srock said:

I can’t offer any help on Dobyns, always wanted to try one though.

 

I have handle a few St. Croixs, the first gen mojo was made in park falls very brief, before the Mexico plant was running. I had it for 8 years and never an issue. I have a twin to it that is 6 years new. The triumph was made in China for a few years prior to the Mexico plant and there were definitely issues with those at that time. What I was told by another factory store employee is that ALL St. Croix blanks are rolled in park falls, who know, maybe some are. Mileage may vary. 
 

I have had a few gen 2 Mojos and I feel they fish really well, the tips are softer than the gen 1, and balance better. I did break a gen 2 mojo fighting a bass in thick reeds. I think I put a lot of strain on that blank, pop! I have some premiers also, two that are 18 years old, I think, never an issue. I also have two Bass X rods. I like those as much as any, idk maybe I’m not as picky with rods as I am reels. 
 

I never noticed much difference in sensitivity between any model St. Croix, the legend tournament on up has a more crisp feeling blank for sure, but the honestly have all been plenty sensitive. The sc2 graphite St. Croix uses has a very good track record with me, it’s probably my favorite blank material, I’m just confident in its durability.

It's interesting you say that, because I have sort of seen the same sentiment echoed by others. When people talk about high end NFC blanks, the NRX, Exprides, etc. you always hear about how sensitive they are. But I really don't see much of that with any St. Croix rods, even Legend Tournament, Elite, and Extreme (SC4/5/6) blanks. They just seem to get lighter weight, and the cork is nicer. But surely there must be more than weight savings. Still, because people don't tout the high end SC blanks as being really sensitive, I've looked elsewhere for my bottom contact applications where I really want ultimate sensitivity. I still would love to try/own a Legend Elite though.

 

As for the confidence in the SC2 Premier blank, I hear you there. They honestly feel like you could whack them against a tree and they'd be just fine. They're not the most sensitive rods I've tried or owned, but I can feel blades turning/knocking, tails paddling, and different rock structure, so they're really not bad. It's not the same as my Helium3 NFC blank which allows me to feel sand vs mud vs rock, which allows me to feel when my crankbaits are ticking grass, and when the action of a lure is messed up because I ran it through weeds. But again, the Premiers are no slouch and I am pretty confident in them as durable, dependable rods.