Looking for the "One" Rod.

[Alex Ball]

    Hey everyone. I got a 13 fishing Concept A gen 1 earlier this fall. I had given up on casters because my experience with Kastking (Bassinator is good, meh to the others) and Lew's reels wasn't great. This reel will be the only brand I ever buy again. It's absolutely perfect for me.

     I've been using two rods with it: A Berkley Cherrywood MHF and a 13 Fishing Omen HF. I like both rods but I feel like I can find one that does everything in one. I use the Cherrywood(my superstitious rod) for cranking and jerks. I use the Omen for jigs/Plastics. I'd like to find one that does all that.

     I had a Favorite White Bird I got for early Christmas. If you only take one thing from this post, let this next part be it: DON'T BUY A WHITE BIRD!!! Just awful. 

     I'm looking for advice. A Mod Fast 3/8 to 1 or 1.5 on lure weight. 6'6"-7' preferred. On the action, it needs to be the stiffer end of mod fast. I don't care if it's composite or straight graphite. It needs to be stiff enough to bang on a hookset but soft enough to sweep my RK 55 into the mouth. 

     I know it's a lot of requirements. My budget is around $150-200 here. Any advice or suggestions are welcome. This will be my bank bassin' setup for the rest of my life hopefully. 

 

Thanks

Al

[SproDD79]

Look at the Dobyns Champion XP 704c or 705c, you can find them 25% off right now. The new Daiwa Tatula rods are awsome as well and those are like $100.

[Alex Ball]

3 minutes ago, SproDD79 said:

Look at the Dobyns Champion XP 704c or 705c, you can find them 25% off right now. The new Daiwa Tatula rods are awsome as well and those are like $100.

Got a good friend that has multiple of those 2 rods. He's sponsored by them. The Dobyn's. It was definitely on the list and I can actually try it out before I commit. Thank you.

Oh and BTW Happy New Year everyone!?

[LCG]

Daiwa Rebellion 6'10 MH-R 1/4-1oz. I use this rod for texas rigs, spinnerbaits, Jigs, chatterbaits, buzz baits, etc. It has a great action that loads deep into the blank.

[badfish79]

Check out the Dobyns Champ XP 610-4c or 704c. The Dobyns 4 power is pretty versatile. Sierra 704 or 684 if you want a slower action.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

You can get a rod that will do alot but not everything.  If the rod excels with cranks it will lack the power to get a good set with a jig or t rig at distance. 

Ive tried to do the same thing and have found I need 2 rods.  One for light cranks/JBs and one for just about everything else.  I have an advantage too, because my local water is really shallow, so I dont have to worry about deep cranks or heavier chatterbaits.    

I went the MH mod F and had success, but found a 7'3 or 7'4 MH F to be far more versatile and efficient.  Arks 40t 7'3 MH F blank is one you should look at closely.  The other way to go IMO would be a Mag Bass taper.  

[Alex Ball]

19 minutes ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

You can get a rod that will do alot but not everything.  If the rod excels with cranks it will lack the power to get a good set with a jig or t rig at distance. 

Ive tried to do the same thing and have found I need 2 rods.  One for light cranks/JBs and one for just about everything else.  I have an advantage too, because my local water is really shallow, so I dont have to worry about deep cranks or heavier chatterbaits.    

I went the MH mod F and had success, but found a 7'3 or 7'4 MH F to be far more versatile and efficient.  Arks 40t 7'3 MH F blank is one you should look at closely.  The other way to go IMO would be a Mag Bass taper.  

Funny you mention Ark. I'm getting the catalyzer series delivered soon. It's for a customer but he might let me have the 7'3" MH F. Good rods according to him. At $33 each on sale, it was a no brainer. Money all day.

[Deleted account]

You can certainly fish most lures with one rod, but it's going to be a compromise somewhere, I certainly wouldn't want to do it if I didn't have to. I can get away with 3 rods though, and be good with everything but the largest and smallest lures.

[Alex Ball]

14 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

You can certainly fish most lures with one rod, but it's going to be a compromise somewhere, I certainly wouldn't want to do it if I didn't have to. I can get away with 3 rods though, and be good with everything but the largest and smallest lures.

   I absolutely agree with that. If I'm compromising, I'll go with something more geared towards cranks. I'm also running 3 setups on my bank runs. A 5'6" LMF combo for the smalls, a Cherrywood MHF Concept A for trebles and a HF combo for the power stuff. 

   I know I won't get everything I want here. I'm just head over heels about the Concept A. I use it the most. It got me believing in the Baitcaster. I'm just hoping to find a rod I can take as the All Purpose setup for long excursions where 1 setup is ideal. 

    I fish Bull Shoals Lake. It's a different animal. I descend/ascend vertically to some spots. It's part rappelling, part fishing. Extreme bank angling. It'd be much easier if I only have to carry one setup. 

    Thanks for the advice. I feel exactly the same. Just want to experiment a little.

 

[SproDD79]

5 hours ago, LCG said:

Daiwa Rebellion 6'10 MH-R 1/4-1oz. I use this rod for texas rigs, spinnerbaits, Jigs, chatterbaits, buzz baits, etc. It has a great action that loads deep into the blank.

I absolutely love all mt Daiwa Rebellions casting and spinning, they totally punch way above their price point. 

[LCG]

1 minute ago, SproDD79 said:

I absolutely love all mt Daiwa Rebellions casting and spinning, they totally punch way above their price point. 

Agreed 100%. I have the 6'8" ML-F spinning rod as well, sensitive, great action, and very nice feeling rods. 

[Alex Ball]

5 hours ago, LCG said:

Daiwa Rebellion 6'10 MH-R 1/4-1oz. I use this rod for texas rigs, spinnerbaits, Jigs, chatterbaits, buzz baits, etc. It has a great action that loads deep into the blank.

Just looked it up. Hmmm. Very interesting rod. On point on price. Thanks. That's a serious contender.

4 hours ago, fish_burrito said:

Check out the Dobyns Champ XP 610-4c or 704c. The Dobyns 4 power is pretty versatile. Sierra 704 or 684 if you want a slower action.

Second time that XP has come up. Definitely gonna test that one out. My buddy has those. Multiples. They just give em to him. 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

23 hours ago, Alex Ball said:

Funny you mention Ark. I'm getting the catalyzer series delivered soon. It's for a customer but he might let me have the 7'3" MH F. Good rods according to him. At $33 each on sale, it was a no brainer. Money all day.

I dont know that I would buy ther flagship models, but theyre budget to mid range rods are very good.  I dont know of any other company that offers a 36t blank for 60$ or a 40t for 100$.  

[Big Hands]

If I wouldn't mind carrying three rods and if this was about cost, I'd get a Daiwa Aird-X MH/F and a Dobyns Fury 705CB. If it was about carrying more than two rods, I'd consider a less expensive MH/F, again like the Aird-X because less expensive rods like that tend to be a little less 'fast' than more expensive rods and maybe back off on the drag a little. I caught my PB (12 lbs 14 oz) on a MH/F casting rod with a crankbait on 10 lb monofilament. It can be done with some skill and a little luck. The monofilament can also add a little stretch so your MH/F rod setup has a little extra forgiveness.

 

I'd have a little less confidence in feeling like I could drive a jig or larger worm home with a mod-fast rod. 

 

You could also fish crankbaits on the M/F spinning rod knowing that line twist is going to be an issue. 

 

Obviously none of your gear will spontaneously combust if you use it for something it isn't ideal for, but that's a personal issue and you'll have to figure out how to negate/reduce the concerns with technique and more focused bait choices.

[Alex Ball]

On 1/3/2023 at 4:19 PM, Big Hands said:

If I wouldn't mind carrying three rods and this was about cost, I'd get a Daiwa Aird-X MH/F and a Dobyns Fury 705CB. If it was about carrying more than two rods, I'd consider a less expensive MH/F, again like the Aird-X because less expensive rods like that tend to be a little less 'fast' than more expensive rods and maybe back off on the drag a little. I caught my PB (12 lbs 14 oz) on a MH/F casting rod with a crankbait on 10 lb monofilament. It can be done with some skill and a little luck. The monofilament can also add a little stretch so your MH/F rod setup has a little extra forgiveness.

 

I'd have a little less confidence in feeling like I could drive a jig or larger worm home with a mod-fast rod. 

 

You could also fish crankbaits on the M/F spinning rod knowing that line twist is going to be an issue. 

 

Obviously none of your gear will spontaneously combust if you use it for something it isn't ideal for, but that's a personal issue and you'll have to figure out how to negate/reduce the concerns with technique and more focused bait choices.

    Best comment so far. I have 2 Aird rods. Excellent for the price. I have a Abu Garcia Vengeance Pro Spinnerbait/Buzzbait rod mh/mf I use for jigs. That's why I'm okay with that action. The Dobyn's look like a good answer. 

     I do 90 percent of my cranking on spinning stuff. Always have. I use a snap swivel to avoid line twist. This is an experiment to see if I can find one rod that can be a go to. It's really because of how versatile the Concept A is. It'll do everything. I'd like a rod that can keep up.

[Alex Ball]

On 1/2/2023 at 7:10 PM, GetFishorDieTryin said:

I dont know that I would buy ther flagship models, but theyre budget to mid range rods are very good.  I dont know of any other company that offers a 36t blank for 60$ or a 40t for 100$.  

I honestly thought it was a misprint when I saw the price. You get the entire series for $150 after tax. Nutso.

   I'd compare them to the Abu Vendetta or the Veritas. Excellent features for price. Pretty sensitive. 

    I ended up with the ml rod. My customer has multiple of that one. It's just wonderful for my Berkley Shad cranks and my Shad raps and little x raps.

Just now, Alex Ball said:

I honestly thought it was a misprint when I saw the price. You get the entire series for $150 after tax. Nutso.

   I'd compare them to the Abu Vendetta or the Veritas. Excellent features for price. Pretty sensitive. 

    I ended up with the ml rod. My customer has multiple of that one. It's just wonderful for my Berkley Shad cranks and my Shad raps and little x raps.

Never had a high end Ark. What about them is questionable to you? The flagship I mean. Or is it that you can do better at the price?

     I asked because I got to look at a Daiwa Rebellion the other day. At $200, I'm not sure anything else compares. It looks like a $400 custom rod. It feels like a $400 custom rod.

[FrnkNsteen]

My favorite all around, multipurpose rod is the Dobyns Sierra 734c. Others have mentioned the Champion series, but in my opinion they are a faster rod than the Sierra series.

 

The Sierra seems to be slower and a better compromise between a fast and moderate actions. I have used my 734c for everythi,g from jigs to swim jigs, chatterbaits and spinnerbaits, as well as some topwater and square bills.

 

Its rated a Heavy, but Dobyns run light and I would call it more of a Medium Heavy. Technically it is rated for 1/4 - 1oz. If you want a slightly lighter rod, check out the 733c. It's a Medium Heavy, but fishes like a heavier Medium to me.

[WIGuide]

My pick would be the St. Croix Victory 7'1" MH/F "The Grunt" You're never going to get a rod that's perfect for everything, but it's a very versatile rod. It's got a softer tip allowing you to cast lighter baits, but enough backbone to drive bigger hooks home. It's rated down to 3/8 oz. but I regularly throw 1/4 oz. jigs on it without any issue. 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

I havent seen the Reinforcer, but I cant imagine it would be equal to or better then an Orochi or Adrena.  The lifetime warranty is really nice, but I had a rough experience with Arks customer service.  They sent my rod back to me in a tube with virtually no packing or plastic sleeve over the rod, so it bounced around for over 1000 miles, which beat the hell out of a rod that I had taken good care of.  While it wasn't a Reinforcer it wasn't a cheap rod @180$, but even if it was a Catalyzer a packing job like that is absolutely unacceptable.  I sent my rods back to have a broken component epoxied back on.  I could have done it, but I didn't want it to look sloppy.  Unfortunately whoever worked on it put a ton of epoxy on it and it turned out sloppy anyway.  If Ark could work on QC and had great customer service like 13, they would be far more popular.  

Those Rebellions look really nice, id like to actually see one.

 

[badfish79]

I just noticed you are looking for a slower than fast 3/8 to 1 or 1.5 oz rod. If you go the Dobyns route, you might want to try a Sierra 705C

[Alex Ball]

On 1/12/2023 at 1:00 PM, GetFishorDieTryin said:

 Those Rebellions look really nice, id like to actually see one.

 

I was at a BPS in Springfield the other day. The big one. They have everything. It was crazy. I'm absolutely sold on that Rebellion. It's very nice. Light as air. 

Welp. I've decided on the Sierra which I'll order very soon and the Rebellion when I get another trip to BPS in Springfield. Tried both on the trip. The Sierra will be my AP rod and I'll be getting a slower Concept A for the Rebellion for straight cranking. 

    Thanks a bunch guys. This is a personal project for me. I'm hoping to have everything set up and tuned in by mid February. That's 2-300 test casts each to optimize my tackle selection for each setup.

    I'm excited. My favorite part of fishing so far is the tinkering. It's very stimulating to have a constant, unending puzzle to solve. I'm just happy as can be. 

    Thanks, 

         Al

 

[lunkerboss923]

I will say that the 610-4C is closer to a 5 power than a 4 power. Gary Dobyns said that on a podcast last year. This rod is perfect for skipping and pitching to hard to reach spaces in and around cover. If you want an XP, go with the 734 or 704. I like the extra 3 inches on the rod, but that's just my preference. The 704 in any Dobyns line is the most versatile rod I've ever used.