which of the cheap rods?

[kingfisher85]

hello to all.. im new here and just getting into bass this year.. usually im either trolling on a lake or flyfishing. ive got a bass pro shops extreme reel that should be here any day now and im looking for a rod.. im on a very low budget due to just finishing school and still being laid off and trying to support a family.. ive been looking at an ugly stik lite, berkley shock lightning rod with the amp tip or whatever it is. and last a fenwick eagle gt. they are around the same price range. i preferre not to order online as i do not want to wait another two weeks to try my new reel so these are the options ive narrowed it down to here locally.. what would be your choice and why? thank you in advance.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Shimano convergance

[DINK WHISPERER]

Out of those i would go with the Fenwick rod. They are known for great rods at a reasonable price. i have owned a few HMGs and Techna AVs and they are sweet!

[kingfisher85]

right on, thanks.. im pretty sure that eagle gt has 5 yr warranty as well.. as for the convergance i just looked it up.. im assuming they are a good rod as well? the one site has it listed at $50.. i will deffinately take a look and see if they have any in the local shops around here.

[moby]

I don't know if you have one close, but Cabelas has a nice sale on XML rods right now.  $130 dollar rods for $30-40.

[Muddy]

Of the rods you listed, I can tell you the Fenwick GT served me well

[Tanker4lyfe]

If youve got an academy near by they have some reall god rods at great prices. you can get castaways for $50 and even american rodsmiths for $80. i would stay away from those rods you described

[esoxangler]

I would opt for the Fenwick GT. I have owned a few in the past and they performed very well. I would also give some serious thought to moby's suggestion, if you have a Cabela's in your area.

[Hinkle2891]

i like the pfleuger trion with a BPS balancer system. amazing.

[kingfisher85]

i took a look on the cabellas site at those rods.. deffinately has my interest.. i really need a 2 piece rod though and id like a 7' for $30 but its a H.. im thinking a MH would be ok but i think H might be a bit too much.. any opinions? there is a M for $69 but by the time i pay exchange and shippin ill be over what i want to spend..

[sweet daddy]

The ugly lite gets my vote. You can throw all three lines with it, and if you can break it, you get a new one for free.

[kingfisher85]

that is a very good selling point on the ugly stik lite.. so far out of the 3 originals ive heard ugly stik lite has decent backbone and i wont wreck it.. sensitivity on it might not be so great... that berkley lightning rod or whatever ive heard was good sensitivity and backbone for the price.. and the eagle gt ive heard is just a nice rod all around for the price..

the durability of the ugly stick will come in handy because if im out witht my two yr old son and he get a fish or anything like that my rod is getting dropped and im running to help him out.. or if i get a fish i will let him bring it in or help bring it in and if when hes reeling it in if he accidently hits the tip on the ground or something im worry free.. as much as i would like to get a nicer graphite like the eagle i dont want to tell him "no you cant touch my rod" (even though its still cheap)

[roadwarrior]

This should help:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1246539286

I suggest buying a big retailer's house brand, on sale.

[kingfisher85]

so i went to pick up a rod today.. looked for some shimano rods but they were out of my price range.. the berkley lightning shock or whatever was only a 6' which i wasnt really wanting a 6' rod, the eagle gt was sold out, and the ugly sticks were all spinning rods where i want a casting/trigger rod. so i seen a shakespeare "intrepid titanium" for $40 so i thought what the heck and grabbed it. all i know is its a mh 6'6" im7 graphite rod.. wont get to use it until tomorrow or wednesday but for all i know its a garbage rod that was discontinued years ago..

p.s. the money i saved on the rod went into a bunch of spinnerbaits and other lures.

[sweet daddy]

The ugly lite costs the same at you know where, but I like the way you think.

[kingfisher85]

if i could have found an ugly stick that was a casting/trigger rod i would have deffinately got it but i couldnt find one in town anywhere though, all spinning rods.

ive found a couple reviews on the internet for this intrepid rod and it sounds like it will be a good rod (for the price)

the reviews i found were all good including one from field and stream, it was short but sweet. as for the rest, they might be from people who dont know the difference between garbage and gold.

from what i read on this site here alot of these guys know what they are talking about so i believe this would be a better place to ask if anyone knows of this rod rather than some random reviews on some random site..

as long as it doesnt break on a cast or hookset or something dumb like that im sure it will be fine as i dont believe im experienced enough to really know the difference

[Northern Strain]

going back to the fenwick... i snapped a $120 hmg in the middle setting the hook the other day... but they are nice rods otherwise... they got a life time warranty so ill see if they can replace it

[kingfisher85]

im kinda dissapointed with the lack of options in this town.. only reason for not ordering a rod is because ive been itching to get out with this new reel and didnt want to wait another couple weeks for the rod.. now that ive got this cheap rod ill see how it feels and use it until i get a better one.

[Red Bear]

so i went to pick up a rod today.. looked for some shimano rods but they were out of my price range.. the berkley lightning shock or whatever was only a 6' which i wasnt really wanting a 6' rod, the eagle gt was sold out, and the ugly sticks were all spinning rods where i want a casting/trigger rod. so i seen a shakespeare "intrepid titanium" for $40 so i thought what the heck and grabbed it. all i know is its a mh 6'6" im7 graphite rod.. wont get to use it until tomorrow or wednesday but for all i know its a garbage rod that was discontinued years ago..

p.s. the money i saved on the rod went into a bunch of spinnerbaits and other lures.

my 6'6MH shakespeare rod just happens to be my favorite. seems ive caught more fish and bigger fish on it than others i own. ive seen it bend like a "U" and never had a problem with it. it just proves to me that in some cases expensive isnt necessarily that much better(in many cases it is though). i paid $20 for the rod and prefer it over the berkley rod i own. i hope yours is as good to you as mine has been to me...

[kingfisher85]

thanks, i hope so too.. you have the shakespeare intrepid as well?

[Red Bear]

actually i have one of the shakespeare tiger combos. i picked it up on the fly a few years ago when i was without rod and reel and the opportunity to fish came up. i dont know what it is, but i have incredible luck with it and it will cast and handle anything i throw, i ripped all the prespooled line on it and i put 20lb stren on it and it casts lightweight stuff fine for me too. the drag is getting a bit weak on the cheap reel but i always said i would use it till it broke, then put a much better reel on it, because i really like the rod

[kingfisher85]

right on.. looking at the rod and feeling the rod everything seem nice although the rod has titanium inserts on the guides and i have to say they were a little sloppy with the glue there.. other than that looking at how the guides are wrapped on the rod and the other little things seem to be good..

[bandsr4me20]

the berkley shock is amazing!  its not heavy and very sensitive