Lighting Rods

[jwo1124]

I hope this isn't a beaten horse. I did a search and nothing came up for them. I just want to know if anyone has found these rods to be a decent bass rod. I know there are much better rods for twice to three times the money, but I'm not ready to spend that much yet. I have a 6' MH spinning rod and I like the feel of it. I think the rear grip is kind of small though. Plus I wish wal mart had a 7' MH version since I like to opt for a longer rod for distance and hook set power since I fish a lot from shore.

Any opinions on Lighting Rods? I know Berkely is a trusted name, but it seems a lure company should stick to lures...I'm not sure if this is the case with Berekly, but I would do a double take if I saw quantum and shimano lures on the shelves...

If they aren;t that great, can anyone recommend a good $40 graphite rod, maybe a bass pro or cabelas brand name so I'm not paying a lot extra for all the marketing and sponsor bills. I read a lot of BPS rod reviews and they seem to vary a lot. I saw mostly 3-5 stars, but too many 1 and 2 stars with comments that the rods break too easily or they are defective. Any opinions on Bass Pro rod quality? They seem like the quality varies too much to invest in. Is this the case?

[Raul]

I have two Lightning Rods that are over two decades old and still fish with them, back then tehy were top of the line later to be removed from their pedestal by the Bionox and later by the Series One. Of course they are not comparable to the newer ones but for the price they are still quite good, my only beef with them is that they no longer have ceramic inserts in the guides but stainless steel inserts.

Why a rod breaks has a lot of story behind, have had numerous rods in the past and in 34 years of fishing I 've only experienced 3 rod breakings, 2 of which can only be attributed to my own stupidity and 1 due to manufacturer defect ( Lightning Rod with polymer injected tip ), the rod exploded from the tip all the way down to the reel seat when I set the hook on a fish which was later replaced by the manufacturer with the same rod which hasn 't failed in all those years. Funny that you mention them, just yesterday I fished with them and had a blast.

I think those reviews clearly show that it 's easy to blame the manufacturer and in many cases we are the only ones to blame.

[Jeff H]

I also have a bunch of them from years ago stashed away, including 3 from the first year they were out.  I used them throughout my tournament years(along with Series One and Pulse) and never felt they held me back. If I had to I'd use them again and not worry about it.  I think they are a great rod for the price, BUT...I also think the Shimano Convergence is a slightly better rod in the same price range.  You might wish to look into those also.

[jwo1124]

I saw a couple different shimano rods on cabelas, but they dindn't have any reviews so I didn't know there quality. I'll have to check them out though since shimano is a good bass rod.

[Olebiker]

Like many others, I have a couple of them that I have been using for over 20 years.  I also have three that I have bought in the last year.  I would not feel mistreated if I had to fish the rest of my life with them.

[Catt]

I've caught tons of fish and won many a tournament with a lighting rod  

[Ghetto_Basser]

I have had the old lightining rods, several actually. I feel they are to thick and dead feeling. I have caught fish on them but they would not be my first choice.

Now the new ones are grerat. I bought one for drop shotting and I love it.

Now for the price range I would definatley recommend the Lighting rod.

If you have a couple of extra bucks buy something from ST. Croix.

[islandbass]

Other than them being a bit on the "heavy" side, they are okay. I bought a 6'6" MH at Walmart for jigs and t-rigs, but it has never seen a day of fishing.  Why?

Why? Shortly afterward, I stumbled upon a MH Shimano Crucial for $59. I snatched that up and it immediately took the LR's spot. I still have it around as a guest rod.

The newer ones I see now look better but I believe they are still made with IM6 graphite and have stainless steel guides.

I think you would be better off getting a Shimano Convergence. They cost about the same and it will come with much better guides and a lifetime warranty. Much lighter too!! Remember one of the enemies of sensitivity is weight, at least that's what I hear Loomis folks tell me anyway. One of your local sporting goods store probably carries Shimano Convergence rods ($39.99) Good luck!

[dodgeguy]

i would get a bass pro shops tourney special when they put them on sale for $29.

[BassPonder72]

i would get a bass pro shops tourney special when they put them on sale for $29.

I couldn't agree more.  their Graphite special rods are not bad either esp when on sale for 19.99.  After fishing the 2 though, i would have to push the Tourney special.

Lightning rods are not bad for the price though.  I have one that has not let me down.

[bpm2000]

ive broken the foregrip cork on all my LR spinning rods.  i wont be buying anymore.

[FishTank]

BPS had them on sale for one day only back in spring for $14.99.  They had so many, people thought they were free or that they were some type of weird display.  We spent most of the day there and left after their final giveaway.  On our way out we noticed that they still had almost all of the Lightning Rods left.  Eversince then I have skeptical of this rod because at $14.99, you would think people would be buying them left and right.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

i have a few NEW pistol grips they only weigh 2 oz i love um with a pro max 1600 on um

[flechero]

ive broken the foregrip cork on all my LR spinning rods.

That's a new one to me.  Sounds like a rod holder issue or something.  ?

[BassPonder72]

ive broken the foregrip cork on all my LR spinning rods.

That's a new one to me. Sounds like a rod holder issue or something. ?

Sounds like it was tightened down a little too much.  The foregrip on LRs screws down to hold the reel in the seat.  This may not apply to all models though.  I only own one so I can't speak for them all.

[smallfry]

...

The newer ones I see now look better but I believe they are still made with IM6 graphite and have stainless steel guides.

I think you would be better off getting a Shimano Convergence. They cost about the same and it will come with much better guides and a lifetime warranty. Much lighter too!! Remember one of the enemies of sensitivity is weight, at least that's what I hear Loomis folks tell me anyway. One of your local sporting goods store probably carries Shimano Convergence rods ($39.99) Good luck!

Weight is an important piece of the sensitivity puzzle, especially the closer to the tip that you can take out the weight, which is actually one of the advantages to stainless guides.  They are probably lighter than any other guide (except the new recoil guides), definitely lighter than anything you'd find in this price range.  This is far better for reducing weight and improving balance than taking weight out of the handle end alone.  You'll also never have a cracked guide with the stainless guides.  I have some Fenwick Techna AV spinning rods with stainless guides and some of the new ones with Fuji guides.  I actually prefer the ones with the stainless guides.  I use fireline with a flouro leader on on 90% of my spinning rods (straight flouro the others) and haven't had any problems with wear or tear on the guides.  Even had one "spark" as it was hanging out the side of the boat and dragged accross a bridge piling and it still works fine.  The new lightning rods it seems they've even taken more weight out of the handle area and they are very light and a faster action.  Just my opinion, at their price level they are very hard to beat.

On the other hand,  who cares about price range?  The bait monkey has his eyes on a Fenwick Elite tech drop shot rod with those recoil guides and split handle grip at just over $200...    

[bpm2000]

ive broken the foregrip cork on all my LR spinning rods.

That's a new one to me.  Sounds like a rod holder issue or something.  ?

Sounds like it was tightened down a little too much.  The foregrip on LRs screws down to hold the reel in the seat.  This may not apply to all models though.  I only own one so I can't speak for them all.

yes i have a UL and a ML spinning, both models have the foregrips that screw down over the reel.  I think its either a poor design or poor craftsmanship (both?) but either way they both broke the same way.  These rods dont see any time in rod holers (unless you were talking about me!  ;D).  I have a few other rods that work in this manner and they are fine - the cork is the issue here.