Assumptions

[FrnkNsteen]

There's an old saying about what happens when you "assume",....

 

Well, I bought a different jerkbait rod from a local startup company to give them some business and try them out, and had been using a Dobyns Champ 704cb. I had a Fury 705cb set up with a 6spd Curado MGL and thought I'd move that reel ro the Champ 704cb thinking it is lighter in weight, lighter in power, and would make a good setup for light flatsided cranks like the OG Tiny 4 and Tiny 7.

 

Out of curiosity, I threw the Fury on the scale and it weighed 4.58oz and thought,.... Well that's not bad.

 

I next put the Champ 704cb on the scale, curious how much lighter it would be. It weighed 4.78oz. I never would have believed a Champion DC 704cb would be heavier than a Fury 705cb! Granted,... Not by much.

 

Now,.... That being said, the Champ 704cb is a full handle rod and the Fury is a split grip. With the full handle, the Champ balances about 1/2" closer to the handle, so it actually feels a tad lighter in your hand, ....so I'm leaving it on there for now.

 

Just goes to show though that you can't assume more expensive means lighter,.... and also that the Fury 705cb is a good crankbait rod and not a huge drop in feel and performance from the higher level crankbait rods.

 

Surprised me though, so I thought I'd share.....

[casts_by_fly]

I don't know if its true for the champ you have, but dobyn's also is known to add weight to the back end of their rods for balance purposes.  Absolute lightness is not their priority- balance and feel are.

[FrnkNsteen]

Just now, casts_by_fly said:

I don't know if its true for the champ you have, but dobyn's also is known to add weight to the back end of their rods for balance purposes.  Absolute lightness is not their priority- balance and feel are.

Agreed... Big fan of Dobyns and have a BUNCH of them ranging from Fury, Sierra, Kaden, Champ XP and Champ extreme. 

 

I was just surprised that a Champ 704cb weighed more than a Fury 705cb. A step down in power and 2-3 steps up in product line levels weighed more?? Seemed strange!

[Skunkmaster-k]

I haven’t weighed them , yet I feel the difference in hand . 

[RipzLipz]

@FrnkNsteen Could also be the supposedly higher grade cork, which (here comes that word again) I would assume means fewer voids in the cork & heavier pieces. Might even be different wall thickness in the blank, though if that were true, the thicker one I’d expect to be a bit stiffer feeling under load. The full handle vs. split grip doesn’t surprise me - does the Fury have EVA on the lower grip as I’m seeing on their website? If so, there you go (I assume 😂).

 

The rabbit holes we often dig for ourselves…..

[new2BC4bass]

According to an article I read the 704CB weighed 4.8 oz. while the 704CB Glass weighed 4.6 oz.  Not what a person would normally 'assume'.

[FrnkNsteen]

3 hours ago, RipzLipz said:

@FrnkNsteen Could also be the supposedly higher grade cork, which (here comes that word again) I would assume means fewer voids in the cork & heavier pieces. Might even be different wall thickness in the blank, though if that were true, the thicker one I’d expect to be a bit stiffer feeling under load. The full handle vs. split grip doesn’t surprise me - does the Fury have EVA on the lower grip as I’m seeing on their website? If so, there you go (I assume 😂).

 

The rabbit holes we often dig for ourselves…..

Could be,.... Just kind of goes against what you would expect. And Yep,.... Fury has the EVA down on the butt grip

[RipzLipz]

28 minutes ago, FrnkNsteen said:

Could be,.... Just kind of goes against what you would expect. And Yep,.... Fury has the EVA down on the butt grip

Possibly, however the marketing of split grips has always been the weight savings as well as properly positioned hands for 2 handed casting so I’m honestly not surprised by the mass difference, especially after seeing the EVA grip. But I do see your point, paying more you’d think the XP would be lighter.

 

Another possibility is that the Champion line has been around for a long time, before the Fury, unless I’m mistaken. The Dobyns’ YT channel has 2 videos covering both of these rod models. Gary discusses the "new" Champion XP, having upgraded cork, guides & updated appearance. Nothing mentioned about upgraded or improved blanks. The Fury is mentioned as a new rod line for $100 price point & he mentions specifically the blank having Toray, which from my understanding one benefit is reduced mass, along with other marketing keywords. It’s possible the Fury blanks are lighter, due to newer tech, materials and/or processing.

 

To know for sure, one would have to convince Gary to speak on the subject, IMO.

[detroit1]

I assume i could not feel any difference in .2 of an ounce.

[rgasr63]

1 hour ago, detroit1 said:

I assume i could not feel any difference in .2 of an ounce.

You hit the nail on the head.The big question is does the rod feel just right to fish with the way the Op wanted it. That is the most important detail.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

4 hours ago, RipzLipz said:

Possibly, however the marketing of split grips has always been the weight savings as well as properly positioned hands for 2 handed casting so I’m honestly not surprised by the mass difference, especially after seeing the EVA grip. But I do see your point, paying more you’d think the XP would be lighter.

 

Another possibility is that the Champion line has been around for a long time, before the Fury, unless I’m mistaken. The Dobyns’ YT channel has 2 videos covering both of these rod models. Gary discusses the "new" Champion XP, having upgraded cork, guides & updated appearance. Nothing mentioned about upgraded or improved blanks. The Fury is mentioned as a new rod line for $100 price point & he mentions specifically the blank having Toray, which from my understanding one benefit is reduced mass, along with other marketing keywords. It’s possible the Fury blanks are lighter, due to newer tech, materials and/or processing.

 

To know for sure, one would have to convince Gary to speak on the subject, IMO.

Toray is just a carbon fiber/graphite supply company. They’re a trusted source but not the magic blank makers would have you believe. 

[RipzLipz]

@Delaware Valley Tackle Poor choice of words on my part. Intent was weight reduction is a supposed benefit of Toray materials, hence the "marketing keywords" I mentioned. I could care less from what a rod is made or where a blank is sourced. If I like it, I’m using it.

 

Just giving food for thought to OP, more or less.👍

[Skunkmaster-k]

When I add weight to the butt of my rods to balance them a quarter of an ounce can make a big difference in how it feels. 

[WRB]

13 hours ago, FrnkNsteen said:

There's an old saying about what happens when you "assume",....

 

Well, I bought a different jerkbait rod from a local startup company to give them some business and try them out, and had been using a Dobyns Champ 704cb. I had a Fury 705cb set up with a 6spd Curado MGL and thought I'd move that reel ro the Champ 704cb thinking it is lighter in weight, lighter in power, and would make a good setup for light flatsided cranks like the OG Tiny 4 and Tiny 7.

 

Out of curiosity, I threw the Fury on the scale and it weighed 4.58oz and thought,.... Well that's not bad.

 

I next put the Champ 704cb on the scale, curious how much lighter it would be. It weighed 4.78oz. I never would have believed a Champion DC 704cb would be heavier than a Fury 705cb! Granted,... Not by much.

 

Now,.... That being said, the Champ 704cb is a full handle rod and the Fury is a split grip. With the full handle, the Champ balances about 1/2" closer to the handle, so it actually feels a tad lighter in your hand, ....so I'm leaving it on there for now.

 

Just goes to show though that you can't assume more expensive means lighter,.... and also that the Fury 705cb is a good crankbait rod and not a huge drop in feel and performance from the higher level crankbait rods.

 

Surprised me though, so I thought I'd share.....

What about new companies rod?..

Tom

[Eric 26]

@FrnkNsteen ⬆️ I’m with Tom, interested in the start up company.

[FrnkNsteen]

16 hours ago, WRB said:

What about new companies rod?..

Tom

@WRB @Eric 26

 

The new company is a local company out of Mooresville Indiana by me called Bird Dog Rods. I bought their 6'9" Jerkbait, popper, topwater rod.

 

I weighed the rod once I got it home to put a reel on it. I think it weighed out at abot 5.1oz which is actually a tad heavier than the 704cb I had been using, but the slightly shorter 6'9" rod balanced out well with the SLX 71 reel I put on it nicely.

 

I ran it over to a friend's pond yesterday since the ice came off it and made a few casts. It throws a vision 110 style jerkbait pretty nicely and is comfortable working it back.

 

I looked at some if their spinning rods and not a big fan of the handle and reel seat. Plus they put the hook keeper right in front of the reel seat, so if you fish a spinning reel with three fingers in front of the stem like I do, the hook keeper hoop is right there where your index sits and it's uncomfortable enough to stop me from trying another.

 

While I like to try out startup companies and give them a shot, at a price of $189, there are a lot of other options I like better. They were at the Indiana Fishing Expo today so I chatted with them for a bit and gave them my opinions on the rod I bought and others I handled. Seemed to be good people! 

 

Saw a couple other options at the expo today that caught my eye. One was a company called Thunderhawk rods. They had a Tico model that felt really nice, but at $280, I wasn't in a position to take a chanctoday@Wrb, even if it was Buy One Get One Free. Another one I hadn't seen was a Rapter brand.Nice light rod with yellow grips that was selling for $120

[RipzLipz]

@FrnkNsteen Looks like they have those rods at Honey Creek Tackle which is about 10 minutes away from me. I might check them out sometime. I’m ~20 minutes from Mooresville.

[FrnkNsteen]

3 minutes ago, RipzLipz said:

@FrnkNsteen Looks like they have those rods at Honey Creek Tackle which is about 10 minutes away from me. I might check them out sometime. I’m ~20 minutes from Mooresville.

That's where I bought mine. I didn't see them last time I was in there though. They may have still had them back in the archery section where they were during the expo a couple weeks ago.

[RipzLipz]

27 minutes ago, FrnkNsteen said:

That's where I bought mine. I didn't see them last time I was in there though. They may have still had them back in the archery section where they were during the expo a couple weeks ago.

Not sure. HCT is usually a bit higher on their prices compared to the big online stores, though the gap is closing. I stop in there when I want to see something in person or buying minnows. I love the convenience but the owner changes brands on the shelves quite often or just doesn’t carry what I might be wanting. Was great before he added all the hunting & guns but happy he’s doing well. Lots of outdoor stores & bait shops in this area have closed over the years. I miss Galyans the most - but might have been before your time here.

[FrnkNsteen]

7 minutes ago, RipzLipz said:

Not sure. HCT is usually a bit higher on their prices compared to the big online stores, though the gap is closing. I stop in there when I want to see something in person or buying minnows. I love the convenience but the owner changes brands on the shelves quite often or just doesn’t carry what I might be wanting. Was great before he added all the hunting & guns but happy he’s doing well. Lots of outdoor stores & bait shops in this area have closed over the years. I miss Galyans the most - but might have been before your time here.

I remember and liked Galyans. Sucked when Dick's bought them out shortly after I moved here. I went to the one in Plainfield and Greenwood a few times before they were bought.

[RipzLipz]

 

11 minutes ago, FrnkNsteen said:

I remember and liked Galyans. Sucked when Dick's bought them out shortly after I moved here. I went to the one in Plainfield and Greenwood a few times before they were bought.

I loved Galyans, especially the one in Plainfield. IIRC it was a family owned business & after their Greenwood store was hit by a tornado, they were soon selling to Dick’s. Bought my first Falcon Original UL spinning rod at the Greenwood store & it caught hundreds of nice smallies up north before my dad rammed the boat into the bank, breaking the tip. Was replaced, so all is well. Gander Mountain wasn’t too bad but they went away pretty quickly, or so it seemed. Most of my purchases are online anymore.

[FrnkNsteen]

1 hour ago, RipzLipz said:

 

I loved Galyans, especially the one in Plainfield. IIRC it was a family owned business & after their Greenwood store was hit by a tornado, they were soon selling to Dick’s. Bought my first Falcon Original UL spinning rod at the Greenwood store & it caught hundreds of nice smallies up north before my dad rammed the boat into the bank, breaking the tip. Was replaced, so all is well. Gander Mountain wasn’t too bad but they went away pretty quickly, or so it seemed. Most of my purchases are online anymore.

That tornado hit 2 weeks after I moved down here from MN.

 

My ex and I lived just north of Martinsville off 37. I worked in Spencer and she worked in downtown Indy on the circle. It started by Spencer, went through Martinsville and passed just south of our house on its way to Greenwood.

 

Small world!!