MediumMouthBass Posted January 17 Posted January 17 Since DSG is blowing out their old stock of discontinued rods and reels i went to look at some Team Lews Custom Pro casting rods today, one is the 7' MH F and the other 7' M Moderate-Fast. I tried here, youtube, reddit, and more but theres not many reviews or talk about these rods (aside from a few replies from years ago or sponsored 2 minutes videos). There were some old reviews about the guides flattening, but anything in recent years seems to be praising these rods. But thats on TW and Lews site, so who knows what true or not. I love the look of them, the handles look/feel amazing, and the weight of them is like holding a paper towel, the 5 year warranty is nice too. Im going tomorrow to get one or both but was just looking for any advice thats not 5 years old, or by a paid Lews staffer if im making a mistake or not. The material is an X5 Graphite blank, for what little i know its very light and sensitive. Quote
PBBrandon Posted January 17 Posted January 17 How much are they on sale for? I hear good things about Lews rods. I’ve only ever used the $30-50 Hank Parker ones which are great for the price Quote
Brian11719 Posted January 17 Posted January 17 I haven't used this one but it looks like it has a hm 85 blank which is what the newer custom lite rods have. I have used a couple of those and generally speaking I felt like the spinning models were a little too stiff for my taste. That might have been what the Tackle Warehouse reviewers were alluding to when they did their review on the custom lite rods a while back as well. That said these look like they might be casting models...I do have a Lew's TP1 black casting rod that is actually a lower mod blank that I like for frogging and flipping. Overall my experience is their casting rods seem pretty good and in this case I think that is a pretty good deal. Another thing to note w/ Lew's is the warranty on that is 5 years but it's a 'replace at their discretion' warranty so I'd double check their warranty policy on their site and make sure you are ok with it. I've also never had to warranty a Lew's rod so there is that... Aside from that if these were these lengths and actions that you were looking for anyway? I'd also probably try just one out first if it were me. Holding it in the store is one thing but getting out and fishing with it is another...even if it's just for an hour or two that would probably give me a lot more insight in terms of whether or not I wanted to head back to the store and pick the other one up...and if you are worried about them selling out just get them both but leave the tags on one and just try the other and keep the receipt...then if you decide you don't like it as much as you thought you would you can still return the other one. 1 Quote
MediumMouthBass Posted January 17 Author Posted January 17 4 hours ago, PBBrandon said: How much are they on sale for? I hear good things about Lews rods. I’ve only ever used the $30-50 Hank Parker ones which are great for the price $80 and 90, paired with a 10% off coupon. 4 hours ago, Brian11719 said: and if you are worried about them selling out just get them both but leave the tags on one and just try the other and keep the receipt...then if you decide you don't like it as much as you thought you would you can still return the other one. Very good advice, thank you. Quote
billm6767 Posted January 17 Posted January 17 Just an FYI....St Croix has a retired Bass X 7'2" Medium Heavy Moderate for $60 on their website. I know you were asking about Lew's rods but it a great deal on a similar rod. Quote
Brian11719 Posted January 17 Posted January 17 I ended up going by my local store today and they had a few of these. The blank actually reminds me more of the tp1 black I have more than the custom lite (in a good way) and even though the custom lite and custom pros are both hm85s this one seemed a bit softer and had a good overall feel to it. They had that medium mod fast, the medium heavy fast and a heavy fast in stock...I honestly liked the heavy fast the best and felt like it would make an awesome flipping / frog rod, but the medium heavy fast one was nice too. I don't really know what I'd to with that medium moderate fast one...I currently have 5 casting setups that I use for the following: 610 m mf - hard jerkbaits / mini max / poppers 73 mh mf - standard size bladed jigs / lipless cranks and spooks 73 mh f - literally everything else 74 f - frogs / flipping / big spinnerbaits 76 xh f - swimbaits / punching so I guess I'm just not sure where that one would fit in for me (I'd get a 6'10 kaden or expride for this setup) but if you think it would work well for one or more lures that you throw regularly I'd say go for it...also looks like these were pretty popular back in their heyday just looking at the sheer number of comments about them from various sites which is a pretty good indication that they aren't all bad. Long story short I got my tp1 black for a bit under $100 a year ago and I still consider that a good deal. The heavy fast version of this series seemed even better and I almost considered getting that one after seeing it but I like my tp1 black rod enough that I decided not to replace it right now...plus I was there for shimano spinning reels anyway...sadly the vanfords were long gone but I did manage to grab the last 3000 size ultegra they had for $75 ...also used to own the st croix bass x model mentioned above and will say I'd go for any of these rods over that one...not a knock on st croix (they're actually one of my favorite rod brands and i use a legend xtreme for my drop shot rod) but that particular version of that specific series was not my favorite. 1 Quote
Motoboss Posted January 18 Posted January 18 Buying a new rod (or 2) tomorrow, any help would be appreciated waaaaaaaaaattt! 🫣 Quote
MediumMouthBass Posted January 19 Author Posted January 19 Update. I bought the 7'3" MH F last night instead, was going to get the 7' since the ratings were much higher and more aligned with what i throw most. But as soon as i seen the split grip i ran towards the 7'3". The ratings arent very high (tops out at 5/8) but it should make for a great football jig and Texas rig rod for the lighter weights i throw when im not fishing deeper areas. And if it starts getting overloaded with heavier trailers i already know i would love it for my lipless cranks. Since it had some marks on it from the new rod holders they got in store i tried to get a few bucks knocked off but from it being on clearance already for such a low price, paired with my $20 off coupon they couldnt do it. Still got it for a smoking deal though so im not upset about the little amount of what some guys call boat rash. On 1/17/2025 at 3:52 PM, Brian11719 said: plus I was there for shimano spinning reels anyway...sadly the vanfords were long gone but I did manage to grab the last 3000 size ultegra they had for $75 My first store had 0 in stock for either reel, 2nd one had 1 2500 left in stock. Got it for $55. Im betting the employee i was talking to for a half an hour picked up the last 3000 they had too. He told me he only works there to pay for his fishing addiction and goes around scanning items constantly to see whats on sale. Mans playing the ultimate game of chess, and they are paying him for it. Quote
Brian11719 Posted January 19 Posted January 19 6 minutes ago, MediumMouthBass said: He told me he only works there to pay for his fishing addiction and goes around scanning items constantly to see whats on sale. Mans playing the ultimate game of chess, and they are paying him for it. LOL Pretty sure @Smirak just started with a similar gig... I'm still not in love with DSG after they shipped me a rod in a flimsy cardboard box and it showed up broken but they did take it back at the store and ended up with some killer deals from them this last month...two poison adrenas for $139 ea and an ultegra for $75...at this point I've got the app on the phone and bookmarked their sale page to check periodically. Plus if you get their card you get double points so I ended up with a $20 credit to use there...I'm hoping Academy starts another clearance soon...last year they had a 75% off stuff already on clearance and ended up some stuff was insanely low. Still have a couple of thunder crickets from that one that I got for under $5 each... Quote
Smirak Posted January 19 Posted January 19 11 minutes ago, Brian11719 said: LOL Pretty sure @Smirak just started with a similar gig... I'm still not in love with DSG after they shipped me a rod in a flimsy cardboard box and it showed up broken but they did take it back at the store and ended up with some killer deals from them this last month...two poison adrenas for $139 ea and an ultegra for $75...at this point I've got the app on the phone and bookmarked their sale page to check periodically. Plus if you get their card you get double points so I ended up with a $20 credit to use there...I'm hoping Academy starts another clearance soon...last year they had a 75% off stuff already on clearance and ended up some stuff was insanely low. Still have a couple of thunder crickets from that one that I got for under $5 each... That I did sir, that I did… 😂😂 Quote
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