What makes the 844c mbr great for topwater?

[clemsondds]

Matt from Tacticalbassin has said several times that the 844c mbr is his favorite topwater rod. Just curious what makes it so good. I wonder if he is using it mainly for walking baits, or just all around (walking/popper/buzz). I know he knows what he is talking about so just wanted to see what you thought. I couldn’t find a video where he explained why. 

[Deleted account]

Anyone who claims a rod (any rod) to be good or not good for "topwater" either doesn't know what he/she is talking about, doesn't know how to express themselves, or both...

[Tennessee Boy]

18 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

Anyone who claims a rod (any rod) to be good or not good for "topwater" either doesn't know what he/she is talking about, doesn't know how to express themselves, or both...

or they are being paid to say it.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

17 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

or they are being paid to say it.

Only people paying them are the same people paying BassResource.....Tacklewarehouse

 

Beyond that, he has favorite rods for everything, and few share a same mfg'r.   He has MegaBass, Loomis, Shimano, etc.    He's making money teaching people how to fish on youtube through Adsense anyways.      

[NorthernBasser]

42 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

Anyone who claims a rod (any rod) to be good or not good for "topwater" either doesn't know what he/she is talking about, doesn't know how to express themselves, or both...

A 7'11" punching rod would be terrible for poppers. 

[waymont]

47 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

Anyone who claims a rod (any rod) to be good or not good for "topwater" either doesn't know what he/she is talking about, doesn't know how to express themselves, or both...

Didn't read what he said dude. The person the OP quoted stated the 844 is his favorite top water rod.

[Jig Man]

I have one and used to have two.  It is my least favorite rod for top water.

[Deleted account]

6 minutes ago, NorthernBasser said:

A 7'11" punching rod would be terrible for poppers. 

LOL. Haven't figured out how to topwater punch, and when I get it to work, the catch ratio is terrible and I'm shivering to the bone...  

[Bigassbass]

IMO light, ultralight and med power rods can fish top water lures just fine.  Any brand works for fishing, you pick the rod and brand that is your favorite to use to fish whatever technique you're trying to execute.  

[clemsondds]

If I had to guess, he probably uses it mostly for walking baits. It’s a pretty stiff 7’ rod but still has a pretty good moderate bend.  So it can walk the bait pretty easily with its power, but still can keep those trebles in with its more forgiving action. 
 

[roadwarrior]

The MBR 844 is a great rod for jigs and weighted soft plastics, but can also

be used as an "all-around" rod. However, I do not think it is the "best" topwater

stick.   My main rod for topwater is the PR844C which is much more flexible

than the MBR.

[clemsondds]

1 hour ago, roadwarrior said:

The MBR 844 is a great rod for jigs and weighted soft plastics, but can also

be used as an "all-around" rod. However, I do not think it is the "best" topwater

stick.   My main rod for topwater is the PR844C which is much more flexible

than the MBR.

Ok thanks! Yeh it does seem like a great rod! 
thanks everyone for the great feedback! 

[PhishLI]

4 hours ago, clemsondds said:

Matt from Tacticalbassin has said several times that the 844c mbr is his favorite topwater rod.

If this is actually true, that it's his favorite, then that's all it means. It doesn't mean best. I have a bunch of pizza joints near me. I've decided which one out of all of them has my favorite slice. There's an equally good chance that upon tasting it yourself you'd think it's just meh or your favorite too. It's difficult to qualify what someone else's tastes add up to unless they're literally your clone. All you can do is try it out for yourself and see for yourself.

 

Also, if you've followed their buyer's guides over the years, they've been heavily biased towards Shimano/Loomis which is one and the same company. Who knows what incentive they have for recommending a high percentage of that company's gear, or a particular model at a particular time.

 

They're salesman because they need to be in order to do what they do, which is fine. There's nothing wrong with that. Whatever. Ultimately I've been left mystified by plenty of their gear recommendations in the past, so just take those with grain of salt and, as usual, roll the dice.

[clemsondds]

Thanks. I guess I should have left Matt completely out of it.  Really had nothing to do with the question.  I guess I am just asking qualities of the 844c mbr make it good for topwater lures. So if you have fished the 844, then I would love to hear your thoughts.  

[Jrob78]

To me that's a very strange recommendation for a topwater rod. I guess if you're focused on really large walking baits and large Ploppers it might make sense but definitely not as an all around TW rod and definitely not what I would reach for.

 

Those guys being on Shimano/Loomis payroll has nothing to do with it though. There are tons of other Shimano/Loomis rods that they could have recommended so I'm sure the 844 is what he likes. 

[newapti5]

Maybe He's talking about over 3/4oz walking topwaters like Super Spook with them beefy hooks, because I can't imagine 844 is better than 843 to handle 1/4oz poppers. 

 

Anyway, taking his opinion, or anyone's opinions, with a couple pinches of salt is what I always do. Heck I don't even like Expride 610M for jerkbaits after his years of praise. 

[Msl819]

3 hours ago, clemsondds said:

If I had to guess, he probably uses it mostly for walking baits. It’s a pretty stiff 7’ rod but still has a pretty good moderate bend.  So it can walk the bait pretty easily with its power, but still can keep those trebles in with its more forgiving action. 
 

That would be my guess too plus the 4 power has enough backbone to drive in hooks, say on a frog, at distance. I have an 844 MBR and see what he is saying. The MBR action makes for a very versatile rod. 

[roadwarrior]

32 minutes ago, clemsondds said:

Thanks. I guess I should have left Matt completely out of it.  Really had nothing to do with the question.  I guess I am just asking qualities of the 844c mbr make it good for topwater lures. So if you have fished the 844, then I would love to hear your thoughts.  

Too stiff for most topwater applications.

[waymont]

28 minutes ago, clemsondds said:

Thanks. I guess I should have left Matt completely out of it.  Really had nothing to do with the question.  I guess I am just asking qualities of the 844c mbr make it good for topwater lures. So if you have fished the 844, then I would love to hear your thoughts.  

I have two 844 mbr rods, I primarily use them for jigs, swim jigs, t rigs, whopper ploppers, and occasionally for not heavy cover frogs. Since every one fishes differently it would depend on how the guy you’re talking about uses his 844. Find out the baits he uses that rod with and you will get your answer for his uses. Can’t go wrong with that rod for tons of stuff.

 

[blackrain]

I don't have the 844c MBR but I do have and love the 843c MBR and for me and the size of bass in the waters I fish, I don't require anything heavier than the 843c. The TB guys catch way bigger (largemouth) bass than I do and thus Matt seems to throw much larger and heavier lures than me so unless you fish for kong-sized bass, I wouldn't recommend a H powered rod for topwaters.

[Jrob78]

1 hour ago, newapti5 said:

Anyway, taking his opinion, or anyone's opinions, with a couple pinches of salt is what I always do. Heck I don't even like Expride 610M for jerkbaits after his years of praise. 

Coincidentally that is my favorite topwater rod. 

[softwateronly]

1 hour ago, Jrob78 said:

Coincidentally that is my favorite topwater rod. 

Mine too^
 

Dobyns 734 for the heavier spooks and 99% of my top water is covered. 

scott

[FishTank]

I have an older 844C IMX that I use for topwater and I have the GLX version but I use it for jigs and soft plastic. I also have the 904C NRX+ and I use it as my dedicated jig rod.  Each of them  are different in feel and action, and of course weight and sensitivity. 

 

Are any of my rods the best at topwater? Again, it's subjective.  It's all in what you want in the rod. I do think it maybe the most versatile rod for topwater. With the IMX I can throw a walking bait, frogs, a bigger popper, and buzz baits. It fishes all of them well. It's strong enough to pull a fish from cover with a frog and just soft enough to let the fish take the bait. It's great with all these baits but I have other rods that might do better with a specific bait. 

 

I had the PR844C GLX mentioned above but lost it overboard.  It is a great rod but I though it was way to soft all around for topwater of any kind (sorry RW).  It felt almost like a Medium rod with a soft tip and a soft middle. You couldn't work a bait with how soft it was. It does work great for paddle tail swimbaits and lipless cranks though. 

[John B.]

When I used to own the MBR844, I never used it for topwater but with its fast taper, and even using FC, I think it would make a great topwater rod for lures like Jackall Pompadour and Pompadour Jr, Deps BuzzJet and BuzzJet Jr, Imakatsu Aventa Crawler GT and RS and any other topwater crawlers, that in my humble opinion, fall into the 3/4oz range. I know that the 844 has a 1 ounce rating but I would really prefer to stay in the 3/4oz range if possible.
 

I have owned the Loomis PR844C IMX and there's no way that I would have ever considered that noodle of a rod acceptable for topwater unless I was using it for Megabass Sigletts. 

 

 

[clemsondds]

Funny you brought that up.  I was just walking through my garage and stopped and looked at the rods.  Was thinking about the 844c nrx and wonder if it would be a good swim jig rod.  What do yall think?  Definitely will use it for topwater...looking forward to trying a few different topwater presentations with it.  What do you think about the 844 as a swim jig rod?  Should have good sensitivity and power...just not sure if it will be able to accurately present a lighter swim jig like 3/8.