Went to the store. Interesting observations

[bgaviator]

I was seriously about to just buy a Zebco Bullet and a Daiwa Aird-x rod online and have it shipped in. But then I saw Academy Sports had them in stock so I figured maybe it would be best to go look at these things in person and get a feel for rods and reels. Well, to my disappointment, the place for the Zebco Bullet was empty. 
I then went to the Daiwa Rods and played with the Aird-X line and some others. Hmmmm

I’m honestly not sure what to think about these Aird-X. They are super light, almost like holding nothing. I didn’t really care for the brown reflective wrap it had around most of the rod. I played with both a 6’6” medium and a 7’ medium heavy. I’ve never had a 7’ rod before and it seemed a little much. I mean granted it’s not THAT much bigger than the 6’6”, but it’s just not something I’m used to and felt a little off. 
 

they also had a Daiwa Procyon rod, and I must say it felt a little more substantial and well built than the Aird-x. And no wrap on it either which I liked. Granted, this rod was about $30 more than the Aird-x. It’s just weird because these Aird-x get lots of good reviews. I even had a guy in the store tell me he owned one and that it was a great rod. I’m just not sure it felt great in my own hands and it makes me feel like something is wrong with me for potentially not liking a rod so highly praised and recommended online. 

next to the Daiwa was a line called Fate V3. These rods came in an all white or black. They felt pretty substantial too and I liked the feel of them just from holding them. These were about $99. I have never heard of this brand before so I wanted to do some more research. 
 

I wish they would have had more selections of rods to hold. I get the impression Academy is more of the budget to mid-tier price range. They really didn’t have anything higher end. So maybe I need to go to Bass Pro for that?

 

I decided to look at the baitcasters while I was there too. They had several on display, mostly in the $40-$80 range. I played with a $40 Abu Garcia. Black Max I think it was called. This may be picky, but I didn’t quite like the feel of the drag wheel on that. It had no click and just felt stiff and weird. Overall the construction didn’t feel that great. Next to it was a Daiwa for about $60. Daiwa CC 80. The construction felt much better on this, and I liked the clicks the drag wheel had on it. It just felt like a more substantial reel, which I guess could be expected for the higher price point. 
 

there were also some baitcast combos with the rod/reel put together and I held some of these. One was a Shakespeare Ugly stick gx2. The rod certainly felt substantial, but the reel on it felt incredibly cheap. One thing I noticed though about some of these baitcast setups...and keep in mind this is my first time ever holding one...is that the weight of the handle off to the side is really noticeable. It makes the rod want to tip over to that side I noticed if you’re just lightly holding the rod. Are all baitcasters like this or is it just depend on the make/model and the kind of rod it is?

 

anyway overall I don’t think I’ll make the mistake of ordering rods or reels sight unseen. I’ll definitely try to go to stores from now on to see what I like the feel of in my own hands. 

[garroyo130]

8 minutes ago, bgaviator said:

I get the impression Academy is more of the budget to mid-tier price range. They really didn’t have anything higher end. So maybe I need to go to Bass Pro for that?

 

I'd consider Bass Pro budget to mid as well. I don't do high end rods or reels (>$300) but I don't think Bass Pro doesn't either. 

[livemusic]

I saw the Aird rods at Academy recently and now I see what all the love is about. I thought it looked and felt great.

 

I think all of my casting rods but one are MH and I seem to prefer 7 ft but I fish a lot of soft plastics and hookset pretty hard.

[bgaviator]

29 minutes ago, livemusic said:

I saw the Aird rods at Academy recently and now I see what all the love is about. I thought it looked and felt great.

 

I think all of my casting rods but one are MH and I seem to prefer 7 ft but I fish a lot of soft plastics and hookset pretty hard.

You didn’t find them too light?  Or is that something desirable in a rod?

[NOC 1]

6 hours ago, bgaviator said:

...they also had a Daiwa Procyon rod, and I must say it felt a little more substantial and well built....

 

....next to the Daiwa was a line called Fate V3. These rods came in an all white or black. They felt pretty substantial too ...

 

....One was a Shakespeare Ugly stick gx2. The rod certainly felt substantial....

 

 

Substantial is not a word that I associate with a top notch bass rod. Sounds to me like you are shopping for a fishing rod the same way you'd shop for a lawn mower, looking for the heavy duty strong build. It doesn't really work that way though.  You can find tough and heavy (like that Ugly Stick), but that is about all you'll get out of it.

 

Mostly the less build stuff is on the rod and the lighter it is the better. If you are used to the old 6' fiberglass rods, it is a different world now.

[BrianMDTX]

I have two Aird-X’s (both baitcasters) and one Procyon (spinning). All are nice rods. The cork grips on the Procyon surprised me. They are nice grips. 

 

Not sure what Academy you frequent, but the ones close to me have some decent rods. I just picked up a Dobyns Fury FR705CB there a few days ago. 

[islandbass]

16 hours ago, bgaviator said:

You didn’t find them too light?  Or is that something desirable in a rod?

That’s the thing. Sometimes what might be intuitive to us or what we perceive as true is 100% wrong. You want the rod to be as light as possible and yet still have the backbone. This is a very general statement and there will always be exceptions the lighter rod the greater its potential to be very sensitive. 
 

If you do a search for posts about very high end reels and are very light, sometimes the “feel like a toy” instead of a “real” reel but rest assured, those will function as advertised or people wouldn’t buy them. And then you’ll have the inexpensive reels that feel cheap because the are indeed inferior. 
 

Just keep up your exploring and researching as you have done and you’ll be well on your way gaining knowledge and developing your personal preference. ?

[brophog]

10 hours ago, bgaviator said:

One thing I noticed though about some of these baitcast setups...and keep in mind this is my first time ever holding one...is that the weight of the handle off to the side is really noticeable. It makes the rod want to tip over to that side I noticed if you’re just lightly holding the rod. Are all baitcasters like this or is it just depend on the make/model and the kind of rod it is?

 

Some reels, namely bigger reels, will tend to wobble from side to side, but what you’re feeling isn’t noticeable when you’re fishing. 

 

Yes, the weight is not balanced from side to side on low profile baitcasters. You’ve got all the gears and handle on all one side and the other side is just a side plate with some small magnets or something. But, when you’re fishing your cranking hand is supporting the handle side and you’ll be palming the other side, lending your hands weight to balance that out. It works really well in practice even if in the store it may feel like that thing wants to rotate in circles.

[jeffo21]

I have to of the Arid X rods and love them. I paired them with Lew's Tournament MB reels.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

On 5/15/2021 at 3:12 PM, bgaviator said:

next to the Daiwa was a line called Fate V3. These rods came in an all white or black. They felt pretty substantial too and I liked the feel of them just from holding them. These were about $99. I have never heard of this brand before so I wanted to do some more research. 

The Fates are made by a company called 13 Fishing.  13 hasnt been around a real long time compared to Daiwa, but IMO they make some good rods.  

[bgaviator]

2 hours ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

The Fates are made by a company called 13 Fishing.  13 hasnt been around a real long time compared to Daiwa, but IMO they make some good rods.  

The looked nice and felt good in the hand

[galyonj]

On 5/16/2021 at 1:21 AM, brophog said:

Yes, the weight is not balanced from side to side on low profile baitcasters. You’ve got all the gears and handle on all one side and the other side is just a side plate with some small magnets or something. But, when you’re fishing your cranking hand is supporting the handle side and you’ll be palming the other side, lending your hands weight to balance that out. It works really well in practice even if in the store it may feel like that thing wants to rotate in circles.

 

It seems that several aspects of how we handle and interact with gear can be a bit counterintuitive.

 

Chief among them is, as you touched on, how to hold a rod and reel.

 

But where one grips the rod, or whether they palm the reel when they do, can have a massive impact on the balance, overall feel, and amount of control one experiences when using the reel.

 

@bgaviator's observations about side-to-side balance holding a casting combo illustrate the issue quite well, especially if he was holding it the way that one would normally hold a spincast combo -- behind the reel.

 

Casting combos are -- from a physics standpoint -- held with the off-hand ring or pinky finger forward of and in contact with the trigger on the rod, and the index finger wrapped around the front of the reel under the line guide, with the palm against the side of the reel. You don't have to use a death grip, but you want to nestle in tightly against the body of the reel for stability and control.

 

I generally hold spinning combos in front of the reel, with the back of my pinky or ring finger nestled against the reel foot, with my off-hand index finger pointed along the rod toward the tip.

 

Both of these methods at least give us a starting point, while also giving us very fine control of the rod tip. This is because our hand placement on the rod determines the placement of the hand as a fulcrum, which determines how much leverage we can efficiently exert against a weight on the other end of the lever -- the rod.

[Deleted account]

3 hours ago, galyonj said:

I generally hold spinning combos in front of the reel, with the back of my pinky or ring finger nestled against the reel foot, with my off-hand index finger pointed along the rod toward the tip.

 

Like all humans should. This is why spinning rods with no foregrip are silly.

[galyonj]

1 minute ago, BassWhole! said:

Like all humans should. This is why spinning rods with no foregrip are silly.

 

I tend to agree. I always just feel...funny when I've not choked way up on a spinning rod. Doesn't feel like I have any control if I'm not in front of the reel.

[Deleted account]

3 minutes ago, galyonj said:

 

I tend to agree. I always just feel...funny when I've not choked way up on a spinning rod. Doesn't feel like I have any control if I'm not in front of the reel.

Everyone has the right and freedom to fish any way they see fit, but ergonomically and biomechanically, it is just a superior way to do it. I won't buy (or if I do I'll have the handle redone) a spinning rod with the lock nut in front.

[galyonj]

18 minutes ago, BassWhole! said:

Everyone has the right and freedom to fish any way they see fit

 

Everybody except this guy.

 

[Deleted account]

19 minutes ago, galyonj said:

 

Everybody except this guy.

 

I see that at least a couple of times a season.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

20 hours ago, bgaviator said:

The looked nice and felt good in the hand

I thought they were kind of gimmicky at first because it seemed like they relied on YT for exposure.  Later down the road I had a chance to get a Muse at a good discount so I figured I'd buy one as a goof.  I wound up liking it way more then I thought I would, I actually prefer the 7'1 M F Muse over the 7' M F Avid.  I dont think I would buy another Muse for full price because for another 20$ you would be at the price point of some of the best value rods on the market IMO.  The Omen Blacks, Fate Blacks and some of the Defys that Ive gotten my hands on have been good to great IMO.  Ive seen a few of the V3s in stores, havent fished them.  They felt a little heavier then I thought they would be, could be that synthetic material they use it feels dense.     

[the reel ess]

Now that I have a few 7'+ rods, 6'6" seems too short. I still use a couple 6-6 rods though just because they won't break or wear out.

[cdlittle]

The AirdX took a few outings to feel comfortable in my hands, but now it feels like a second home and you couldn't get me to give my two up. 

 

The BlackMax reels are not great. They're useful only for BFS spool conversions. The Daiwa CC80 is a much nicer reel for a few dollars more, as you experienced.

[CrankFate]

If by substantial, you mean heavier and made with more material, you should seriously consider getting acclimated to avoiding anything substantial. Bass fishing is much better with lighter, more sensitive gear.

[Darth-Baiter]

On 5/17/2021 at 7:46 AM, galyonj said:

 

Everybody except this guy.

 

We should all agree to fish next April fools day just like that.  Haha.  GoPro for proof. 
 

I just saw a kid doing that. He was holding the rod at the very end of the handle. I kept silent.