Budget Swimbait rod

[Noahn Guyen]

I was trying to get into big swimbait fishing (mostly glide baits) and was wondering if there was a rod that would be under $130. I also think im gonna get a cardiff but if there are any better reels for around the same price please let me know what they are. thanks

[MN Fisher]

Diawa DX series - right around $100

[Phil77]

The Cardiff will be fine, might see if Dobyns has a 7'4H - 8H in your price range. I like the Huddleston Deluxe but that's quite a bit more.

[Hammer 4]

I had an Okuma Guide Select swimbait rod years ago. For the $$ it worked really well.

The new ones now days look even better, at $139.99.

Normally I'd suggest an Irod, but most of their rods are sold out at TW.

[Phil77]

 

10 minutes ago, Hammer 4 said:

I had an Okuma Guide Select swimbait rod years ago. For the $$ it worked really well.

The new ones now days look even better, at $139.99.

Normally I'd suggest an Irod, but most of their rods are sold out at TW.

That's the way to go until you see if you like it. I started out with a meat hunter that had a 3/4 to 4oz rating and it did fine.

[Bluebasser86]

Dobyn's Fury 795 or 806, or Okuma Guide Select are both good rods in that price range. Which model kind of depends on how big of baits you plan on fishing. 

[DogBone_384]

4 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Dobyn's Fury 795

A second vote...

[Catt]

9 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Diawa DX series - right around $100

 

I second this...$99.99 Tackle Warehouse!

[ATA]

10 hours ago, Noah N Fishing said:

I was trying to get into big swimbait fishing (mostly glide baits) and was wondering if there was a rod that would be under $130. I also think im gonna get a cardiff but if there are any better reels for around the same price please let me know what they are. thanks

what kinda swimbait, how big? 10oz plus ?

[Firstoutfisher]

The new st croix bass X swimbait rods for treble hook lures

[J Francho]

A Cardiff and an Okuma Guide Select would be great.  I still use my Guide Select quite a bit. There's two models, so pick the one that handles the bait weight you're tying on.

[Oklahoma Mike]

16 hours ago, Catt said:

 

I second this...$99.99 Tackle Warehouse!

Just picked one up and love it so far. Great rod for the $$$. 

[WRB]

The Daiwa DX SB H rod to me is heavy weight 8 1/2 oz as I recall and the handle is too long for me. Good top hook Huddleston 8” type swimbaits, too fast action for treble hook glides imo.

Tom

[NorcalBassin]

For glides the Fury 806 is tough to beat at that price point and the Cardiff pairs nicely with that rod. 

[Dumbbassanglr]

 

Towards the end of this video they talk about the new bass x swimbait rods. Around the 43:00 mark.

[Noahn Guyen]

On 12/8/2021 at 6:46 AM, ATA said:

what kinda swimbait, how big? 10oz plus ?

2-6 ounce like s waver 168s, 200 and huddleston deluxe 68

[ATA]

the Shimano curado will do the job.

Thats my set up for that application(I use that for frogging as well).

[jbsoonerfan]

I use a Cardiff and a 7'8" XH Intenza. Works well enough for me since I throw them about 1.33% of the time LOL

[Cody28]

The new line of St. Croix Bass X rods look promising. Got to handle one but wasn’t in the market to buy. Don’t get caught up in the extra heavy vs extra extra heavy. The extra heavy would be my glide bait rod and the 2 X would have to be one giant hook I would think. Not sure I’d have any use for that one. 

[Cody28]

After reading this post + now that I have some Christmas money I’ve been thinking about grabbing an A Rig swim bait rod as well. Sorry to piggy back off your post but I was curious if anyone has on water experience with the new Bass X swimbait rods or the Mojo A-rig/swimbait rod. They’re the same power and action plus the mojo is only 10 more bucks. Any thoughts? 

[Cody28]

On 1/1/2022 at 2:44 PM, Cody28 said:

After reading this post + now that I have some Christmas money I’ve been thinking about grabbing an A Rig swim bait rod as well. Sorry to piggy back off your post but I was curious if anyone has on water experience with the new Bass X swimbait rods or the Mojo A-rig/swimbait rod. They’re the same power and action plus the mojo is only 10 more bucks. Any thoughts? 

 

On 12/18/2021 at 11:51 PM, Noah N Fishing said:

2-6 ounce like s waver 168s, 200 and huddleston deluxe 68

So I researched a lot and also contacted St. Croix. At the end of it all, I pulled the trigger on the new Bass X 7'10" HF rated for 3/4-3 oz. The extra heavy falls more in line with what you seem to want being rated 2-5 oz. Apparently the guys over at Hook Up Tackle had a lot of input on the build / taper of the 3 new swim bait rods. They usually focus on very high end gear and seem to really know their stuff. According to them, they thought they were working on a high end rod and were surprised to see it was released in the new bass x line. Also according to St. Croix, the new version SCII blanks rival if not surpass the SCIII blanks for moving baits. They are also less tip heavy. I'm planning to primarily throw A-rigs, 5-6 inch bull shads, and the S-waver 168, but the extra heavy is what you would want if you're going to be throwing the S-waver 200. I would not throw the 168 on that rod though, so if you are looking for a 168 rod, I would definitely go with the heavy version like I did. The hudd you mentioned is also only 2 oz so the heavy is plenty for it. Overall I am very impressed and highly recommend this rod. 

[Dan N]

How many eyes are on the Bass X rod? 
I looked at a couple, but they seemed to have at least 2 less than all my other casting rods.

[FishTank]

I have a 13 Fishing Omen Black that I have been happy with. Cast well, loads well, and gives a good hook set>  To me, that's all you really need in a swimbait rod.  Bass don't nip or slurp a big swimbait, they crush it. 

[Cody28]

11 hours ago, Dan N said:

How many eyes are on the Bass X rod? 
I looked at a couple, but they seemed to have at least 2 less than all my other casting rods.

It has 8. One less than the Mojo Bass rods, but when building rods there is a “best” number of guides. More is not always better. I think in this case it probably is a cost thing, but who knows. It’s a great rod, but still entry level for swimbaits. In this type of rod especially, I don’t believe it would make much, if any difference though. The rod blank is plenty beefed up enough to handle the pressure of any fish it’s going to hook into even if the pressure isn’t distributed in the perfect dispersion. 

[Hammer 4]

On that rod that's rated to 3 oz. The norm is that the sweet spot will likely be about 2 oz, anything heavier will possibly make the rod feel over loaded, which then requires a LOB type cast, so you may lose some distance. 6" hudds depending ROF can weigh up to 2 1/2 oz's.