H2O XPRESS Premier Baitcast Rod

[gunsinger]

Anybody have any experience with this brand of rod?  I'm guessing it's Academy's in-house brand.  Very inexpensive but, are they worth it?  What do you sacrifice?

 

I'm not a professional so I'm hesitant to spend the money on a high-end rod.  I can get one of these in a 7' medium heavy/fast for about $30.

[garroyo130]

Haven't fished the premier but the Ethos HD has been a good performer for me. I picked mine up for $40. If you are able to go to the store in person, I would suggest taking a few rods and scanning them. The Ethos have the barcode on the blank and some of the ones that were on sale can still be found at sale prices.

[ironbjorn]

If you're going sub $80, always just go with the Aird-X and call it a day knowing you got a rod by one of the leaders in the industry that, at $55, fishes like a $100 rod. It simply can't be beat in the budget rod category.

[MN Fisher]

^X2 - I started with all Aird-X rods for my BC needs and even after adding three Furys, I still have two Aird-Xs in my lineup...and I'm not sure if I'm going to upgrade those in the future unless I get a big windfall and can go to Victory, Avid or Tatula (not XT).

[Fishlegs]

I don't have that particular rod, but I have several H2O rods and I think they're all very good for the price. I have an H2O xpress tac-40 rod that I prefer over my Dobyns, Fenwick, and Daiwa rods. That's not a knock on Dobyns, Fenwick, or Daiwa. They're great rods. I just prefer the tac-40.

 

I agree with the above posters that the aird-x is hard to beat for $50, but I am not hesitant about buying H2O xpress rods. They sometimes ring up cheaper than the listed price too.

[Bluebasser86]

I bought my dad one because he's a once a couple times a month kind of fishermen and it's worked out fine for him.

[Jabo225]

Great question OP. Have used the premier rod. The blank is nice itself -lightweight with a nice moderate action for moving baits. However, when setting the hook, your baitcaster reel seem to move and wobble when fighting a fish within the reel seat. So much so that I have stopped using the rod. Have and use the aird x and ethos HD. For the price difference it is worth the step up in quality for fish fighting ability. Hope that helps. 

[NOC 1]

19 hours ago, ironbjorn said:

If you're going sub $80, always just go with the Aird-X and call it a day knowing you got a rod by one of the leaders in the industry that, at $55, fishes like a $100 rod. It simply can't be beat in the budget rod category.

I'd take a Falcon XD over the Aird-X, but both are decent rods for small cash.