Setyr rods?

[.ghoti.]

A local shop has a whole rack of Setyr rods onsale for 120 - 130 bucks apiece. They were originally marked 210 - 240. There are medium, med-heavy and heavy power rods from 6' to 8' in length. I wouldn't call any of them moderate action. All seem to be fast or extra fast actions. They are very light in weight and feel very crisp to the hand. Most are a split grip design, and all have no fore grip.

Anybody have any experience with these rods? I have a Quantum Energy PT I bought from Brad Coovert that needs a new rod to call home.

Cheers,

GK

[lubina]

I've fished with the Tactical Swimbait series and it is a super rod, well made, very light and comfortable. Excellent all the way.

[.ghoti.]

Well, only one response. I'm guessing not many people have tried one of these. I pulled the trigger on one anyway. I just couldn't pass up a deal. Bought a spinnerbait model. It came down to a choice between a 7' MH and the 6'6" M. Since I thought that this would also make a decent jerkbait rod, I opted for the shorter version. About 2" of the difference is in the handle. I like a shorter handle for jerkbaits. It's rated for 1/8 to 5/8 oz baits, and 8-15lb test line. I been out with it three times for short trips after work. Here's what I think about it.

The rod has a very soft tip section that transitions into backbone fairly quickly. Whne handling it in the shop, it felt like a fast action rod. In use, I wouldn't call this a fast action; more like moderate-fast. It almost feels like a fiberglass tip section mated to a graphite power section, but not quite, because the transition from the soft tip into the power is smooth. Very strange, but nice. The rod is very, very light. It's a split rear grip, no foregrip design. The rear grip has a slight swell to it. This is symetrical, not like the BPS power hump design, more like the Avid series handles. It's quite comfortable. It has Forecast guides, not Fuji's. They seem to be well made; it looks like the rings are set in the frames such that they will not come out easily. Time only will tell how well they hold up to line wear and other abuse. The reel seat also looks to be other than Fuji. It looks similar, and holds the reels I tried in it very securely. Every thing is well fitted. The guide wraps and finish are neat and even. The blank itself is unfinished. The only complaint I have, at this time, is about the hook keeper. It's mounted on the side of the rod opposite the reel handle. I don't like that; it's in the wrong place, as far as I'm concerned. A minor issue is the threads on the reels seat. They protrude farther forward than I'd like, but it would be hard to do otherwise on a rack rod. The maker's will have no idea what reel will be used, so the threads are more than long enough to accommodate any reel. So far, so good. It appears to be very well constructed.

I put on Quantum Energy PT reel, 6.3:1 with 12lb test Trilene. I like a faster reel for spinnerbaits. First bait was a 3/8 oz tandem spinnerbait. This rod loads very, very easily, so the short "roll-the-wrist" spinnerbait cast was easy and accurate. I found I could toss a low trajectory cast to wherever I wanted. The short handle helps. It does not get in the way at all. The feel was good. I could easily feel the blades, and easily feel whatever I ran the bait into. I then tied on an 1/8oz wolliow blade spinnerbait. The rod loaded nicely with this small bait. The feel was the same as with the bigger bait. Again, so far, so good. Then I tried the biggest spinnerbait I use. A 5/8oz model with a large single colorado blade. This was really too much bait for this rod. Cranking it through the water put a distinct bend in the rod. The rod is rated for up to 5/8oz baits, but I'm not buying it. I just don't like the way this rod feels with the larger spinnerbaits. A 1/2oz version was right on the edge of being too much bait for the rod. With that much bend in the rod, I don't feel in control of the bait the way I want to be.

I then put on one of my Daiwa Millionaire's spooled with 10lb test Sufix Elite. This is my main crankbait reel. Tied on an X-rap, because, in the shop, I thought this would be a good jerkbait setup. So much for thoughtin". Too much bait for the rod. For jerkbaits, i want a rod that will snap that bait. This rod bends too much in the tip section to do that. I then tried a series of crankbaits. For the smaller, shallow baits, this is an excellent rod. It even loaded enough to cast a small #5 Shad Rap a considerable distance. With larger, deeper diving cranks, I got the same, too much bend, not enough feeling of being in control, that I got when using the larger spinnerbaits.

I also tried using this rod for tubes and flukes. I T-rig tubes, using light internal weighting. The rod did well with these light weight baits. I rig Super Flukes on an Owner 3/0 wide gap plus hook, and the rod was also good for these. With the lightly weighted and unweighted plastics the rod delivered more feel than I expected, after the tests with the cranks and spinnerbaits. I was pleasantly surprised.

I haven't caught a large fish with this rod so I don't know how it performs under a serious load. I got several 1 - 1 1/2 pounders and it had no problems with them. I got one 3 pounder on the little Shad Rap, and the rod whipped him easily. I think that once you get beyong the soft tip, the rod has enough backbone to handle anything I'm going to tangle with in my waters.

So, the bottom line. I was looking for a dedicated spinnerbait rod. I did not get that. What I got is a versatile rod for light weight baits. I use small cranks a lot, and this is great rod for those. I also got a very good rod for Flukes and lightly weighted tubes. The rod is pretty good for smaller spinnerbaits, so I have a rod that will go with me most of the time. And I got it for 90 bucks under list price, so I'm happy with it.

If you're in the market for a dedicated spinnerbait rod, you may want to look elsewhere. Perhaps the medium-heavy model would be better. At these prices, I may just get one of those to try. My wife isn't ready to shoot me yet about my tackle addiction, so who knows. If I get one, I'll put up a report.

Cheers,

GK