Rod Review: Basspro Johnny Morris Platinum Signature Series Rods

[Ryanralston07]

Overview and Purpose: I purchased this rod in 7'1, Medium Heavy, Fast action, a few months ago. When I got the rod, I was surprised at 2 things: how light the rod was and that the rod was on the heavier end of MH. I bought the rod with the purpose of using it for T-rigs for bass, but with the upcoming trip I was taking to Alaska, figured I'd take it along for pike. I've had a Tatula CT, 7.3:1, left handed reel on the rod with 40 lb Power Pro braid, the entire time. Link to rod: https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-johnny-morris-platinum-signature-casting-rod

 

Using the Rod: Before my trip to Alaska, I fished our farm's pond for a few hours with the setup and another local reservoir. Initial impressions were good. The rod casts well, is very sensitive, and I loved the comfort of the grips. When we arrived in Alaska, pinks were running, so I figured I would tie on a Wicked Lure (favorite lure for salmon fishing, btw), and go after some pinks with the setup. This rod handled every pink extremely well, even the 8+ pound pinks. After catching several pinks, I figured I would go out with the group for sockeyes and silvers since they began running a day after we arrived at the creek. I caught several sockeyes and silvers with the setup, and the rod handled the fights extremely well. Several of the sockeyes and silvers were 10+ pounds, putting up a fun fight with several strong and long runs. The rod, though shorter than I prefer for big salmon, handled the load well and made turning the fish to control them no more difficult than the longer but more flexible rods the guide had. I fished the Wicked Lures slightly differently than some of the other guys I fished with, reeling slowly and bouncing on the bottom, and on average caught more fish than the other gentleman in our group, I believe in part to the sensitivity of the rod. The braid and rod helped me feel the bottom and soft bites of many of these salmon. Even with the sensitivity of the rod, the rod was extremely light, and made fishing from 7 AM to midnight or later, an easy and enjoyable "task." The rod averaged fighting 20-30 fish a day and was as stiff and straight as the day I bought the rod. Impressed! 5/5

 

What I Liked: I liked how sensitive the rod was and how light the rod was. Also, one interesting feature of the rod was the line display at the butt end of the rod. You can turn a dial on the butt end of the rod to change a display to the line weight you have, which is handy. I also liked the color of the rod. I know it's not for everyone, but the red was one of my favorite colors in a rod. Last, the grips were super comfortable, and even when my hands were wet and slimy, the grips never slipped out of my hands, making for a fun and enjoyable few days on the water. 5/5

 

What I Didn't Like: I've never had a rod with micro line guides, and while they may have had a negligible impact on the sensitivity of the rod, the line guides made running FG knot for braid to leader almost impossible. The tiny line guide at the tip of the rod would often contact the braid to leader knot, so I made the leader shorter than preferred for bass fishing to keep the knot out of the eye. Even though the line weight display at the butt end of the rod was an interesting feature, there was no option for 40 lb line like I run. The options close to 40 were either 40 or 50. I'm sure that might not be a problem for some because I know several guys who run 50 lb line, but I prefer 40 lb Power Pro for t-rigs. 4.5/5

 

Cost Assessment: This rod was certainly not a budget friendly option like my other rods in the $75-125 range, coming in at an MSRP of $199.99, but in comparing the weight, strength, look, feel, and durability of this rod, I believe this rod is underpriced in comparison with other rods in that price range. I feel like this rod is well worth that price. 5/5

 

Final Thoughts: While fishing locally and in Alaska, I allowed several guys to use it, and they all ranted and raved over the rod for all the reasons I mentioned above. Several of the guides at the lodge said they were picking up a rod like that for themselves. I didn't plan on using it the entire time we were in Alaska, but after the first few hours of catching several salmon, I decided to, and I'm glad I did. This rod is a great rod, and I can't recommend it enough. Basspro's Johnny Morris Platinum Signature rod is not a signature rod in my fishing arsenal.

 

4.9/5 Stars

 

[dodgeguy]

I've used bass pro rods for years . I have a patriot which is awesome. The rest are johnny Morris signature series. Great rods for the money. Also have a ten year warranty.

[Mike L]

I’ve been tempted a few times to pick one up but never did. 
Those platinum reels are excellent also!

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Kevhead19]

Nice review!

 

The 7'4 MH and 6'9 M Platinum casing models are also great. These are staples in my dail driver rotation. 

 

7'4 MH does my soft plastics. I assume it's the same as your 7'1 MH with a longer butt section. 6'9 M is topwater and nearly a dedicated Popmax rod. Handles that 1/2oz size wonderfully.

 

I am able to get an FG knot through the guides with 30lb braid to 14lb mono leader. Any larger and it's a noticible catch on casting.

[dodgeguy]

I'd get rid of the leader or use straight mono or fllouro . I use straight braid all the time.

[Ryanralston07]

2 hours ago, Kevhead19 said:

Nice review!

 

The 7'4 MH and 6'9 M Platinum casing models are also great. These are staples in my dail driver rotation. 

 

7'4 MH does my soft plastics. I assume it's the same as your 7'1 MH with a longer butt section. 6'9 M is topwater and nearly a dedicated Popmax rod. Handles that 1/2oz size wonderfully.

 

I am able to get an FG knot through the guides with 30lb braid to 14lb mono leader. Any larger and it's a noticible catch on casting.

Thanks! I kind of wish I had gotten the 7'4" model, but most of my fishing is out of a kayak, so the 7'1" is a good compromise. Having a longer handle would have been beneficial fighting the salmon and big pike, but it's perfect for the bass back home in GA.  

59 minutes ago, dodgeguy said:

I'd get rid of the leader or use straight mono or fllouro . I use straight braid all the time.

 

Since this is primarily for T-rigs, I've been debating moving over to straight flouro Seagar invisx.

3 hours ago, Mike L said:

I’ve been tempted a few times to pick one up but never did. 
Those platinum reels are excellent also!

 

 

 

 

Mike

Do it! Well worth it!

[WRB]

Great review ? 

my only issue is BPS & Johnny Morris, not a fan.?

Tom

 

 

[GRiver]

Thanks for the review.

[volzfan59]

@Ryanralston07, Great review! I only use BPS rods and casting reels. I couldn't agree with your findings more. I've got four of the Platinum rods and six of the reels. Two of the Platinum reels are on Crankin' Stick's. I've also own three Patriot spinning rods, they're great too!

I always use either straight braid or straight mono so the knot thing has never been an issue for me. That said, I can see where it would be using micro guides.

[QED]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Great review ? 

my only issue is BPS & Johnny Morris, not a fan.?

Tom

 

Why the dislike for BPS?  They were one of the first mail order vendors where a kid could choose from a large selection of lures that weren't available locally.  Haven't used much of their BPS branded gear (just a couple of spinnerbaits - no rods and reels), so I have no opinion on BPS branded stuff.

[WRB]

3 minutes ago, QED said:

 

Why the dislike for BPS?  They were one of the first mail order vendors where a kid could choose from a large selection of lures that weren't available locally.  Haven't used any of their BPS branded rods and reels so I have no opinion on those.

Cabelas Sidney NB, Johnny Morris destroyed the headquarters town buying Cabelas.

Tom 

[dodgeguy]

That always happens with mergers.

 

[WRB]

Just now, dodgeguy said:

That always happens with mergers.

 

No it doesn’t. 

Sidney NB was a isolated small town of 6,000 people with Cabelas Headquarters the primary employer. Closing the Cabelas headquarter killed the town.

Mergers look for synergy to expand their businesses. Take overs often buy competitors to kill it and this happened to Cabelas headquarters by Johnny Morris, ruthless man.

Tom 

[QED]

9 minutes ago, dodgeguy said:

That always happens with mergers.

 

I used to do a lot of M&A work.  The euphemism that the acquiring firms used was "synergy."  Synergy was code for layoffs.

[Cbump]

33 minutes ago, WRB said:

No it doesn’t. 

Sidney NB was a isolated small town of 6,000 people with Cabelas Headquarters the primary employer. Closing the Cabelas headquarter killed the town.

Mergers look for synergy to expand their businesses. Take overs often buy competitors to kill it and this happened to Cabelas headquarters by Johnny Morris, ruthless man.

Tom 

Cabelas was a terrible company that couldn’t handle business. How is this JM’s fault? 

[volzfan59]

I hate it, but Cabela's was headed straight into bankruptcy. Like other retailers, they tried to get to big, to fast and didn't have the capital nor the infrastructure to handle it. They were just trying to keep up with BPS and couldn't. Johnny Morris/BPS couldn't have purchased Cabela's if they weren't for sale. Closing stores that were in close proximity to a BPS store only makes financial sense. As to the Sidney headquarters being closed, BPS already has a headquarters in Springfield, MO. 

 

In my opinion, like Sam Walton and Dick Cabela, Johnny Morris is an American success story. Started in the trunk of his car, moved a trailer and eventually to his dad's liquor store to what BPS is now. Quite the feat if you ask me.

[Drawdown]

Not wanting to derail OP’s fantastic review—but FWIW, my understanding is the merger was primarily the result of a hedge fund manager who bought a 10% stake in Cabela’s, and used his influence to convince the board to sell the company.

 

I’m thankful the BPS-Sportsman’s Warehouse merger got shot down by the Feds.

 

 

[dodgeguy]

They should just change all the Cabela's stores names to BPS.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who likes Johnny Morris rods.

[WRB]

BPS was my go to catalog store for fishing tackle, we didn’t have any BPS brick & mortar stores in California 20 years ago. Cabelas was a good mail order general sporting goods store before internet stores like Tackle Warehouse became predominate with wider choices of fishing tackle.

Everything changes when growing companies by expanding product lines. 

Johnny Morris is a good business man, I don’t like, his ethics.

My choice is buying made in USA or somewhere besides China. $200 I choose SC Victory rods.

The OP did an outstanding write and apologize for hijacking his thread.

Tom

 

 

[volzfan59]

14 hours ago, Drawdown said:

 

I’m thankful the BPS-Sportsman’s Warehouse merger got shot down by the Feds.

 

 

As much as I like BPS/ JM, I'm glad it got shot down too. 

[Eric 26]

First and foremost excellent review @Ryanralston07 although I don’t have any platinum signature rods or reels I have a couple Bionic blade rods, a carbonlite 2.0 b/c combo, 2 panfish elite rods that I highly recommend and feel are an excellent value a carbonlite 2.0 spinning reel and finally a 20+ year old pro qualifier spinning reel that is still one my favorites. I’m not going to pretend to understand the dynamics it takes to run a successful business but hey more power to Johnny Morris. The one thing I miss from Cabelas was their signature line of hunting boots, they were made far above their  price point and took the beating from construction sites for many years from me.

[Woody B]

I've got a couple BPS rods.  A Carbonlite 2 and a Patriot.  I like both of them.  One of the guide inserts fell out of the patriot.  It was due to abuse/ bending them putting them in, and getting them out of my locker.   I'm sure BPS would have warrantied it but I don't expect anyone to warranty my abuse.   I've got a friend who recently retired and started building rods.  He's repairing the guide.  

[Columbia Craw]

Once again the road takes a detour.  Thanks for the review.  

[Ryanralston07]

I think this thread took a detour ?

[Mike L]

It happens from time to time. 
There’s so much knowledge and passion on here it doesn’t take much. 
?

 

 

 

 

Mike