central.PA.bass Posted January 23, 2011 Posted January 23, 2011 Hey all.. I need a cheap but sensitive dropshot rod. I don't use this technique very often but i feel like any rod would work better than the current one I use (Berkely Amp.) I think i have it narrowed down to these... 7'0 Medium Light Abu Garcia Vengeance 6'9 Medium Light Abu Garcia Vendetta 6'9 Medium Light Abu Garcia Veritas 6'6 Denali Jadewood Dropshot 7'0 Light Shimano Clarus Like I said.. please don't recommend any 120$+ rods.. I'm looking to spend under a hundred bucks if possible.. I have a tournament on Lake Erie this summer and my best friend and former college fishing partner (who never dropshotted in his life) won the FLW College Fishing tourney at Lake Erie this summer using the Dropshot.. So any input is appreciated! Quote
Evans Posted January 23, 2011 Posted January 23, 2011 Plenty of rods under $100 that are good dropshot rods. I used a berkley lightening for a long time and did pretty decent on it. It definately lacks in sensitivity obviously. I use an All-star ASR right now and it works great, it's retail is $100 but you should be able to find one cheaper. Any of the abu garcia's you mentioned should work well but I would buy the veritas over the others. The veritas just feels like a high dollar rod in my hands! Not that the Vengeance and Vendettas wouldn't be a good rod, but buy what you can afford. Also you couldn't go wrong with a St Croix mojo rod in either 6'9" ml or 7'm, also around $100. PLENTY of good drop shot rods out there. I would definately try to feel of a lot of them and see which one you liked before making your choice. Quote
basscrusher Posted January 23, 2011 Posted January 23, 2011 My friend just picked up one of those Denali Jadewood rods (exact model you're referring to) and its really nice. Light, comfortable, soft tip seems perfect for the drop shot. Plus a lifetime warranty for $80. If I didn't already have a St Croix LTB with the same specs, I'd have bought one too. Quote
Super User ww2farmer Posted January 23, 2011 Super User Posted January 23, 2011 6'9" ML/X-fast St Croix Mojo if you want a rod just to drop shot with, other wise the 6'8" M/XF Mojo it's more of an all purpose rod that will fish the drop shot just fine. Both are $100 If you want to spend less and still have a nice rod, my first drop shot rod was a 7' ML/Fast St Croix Triumph, that was $70, I upgraded that rod to an Avid, but the Triumph was more than adequate. Quote
RandySBreth Posted January 23, 2011 Posted January 23, 2011 Some of the guys who fish Erie might need to chime in on this, but I thought most of the time the weights used by people drop-shotting there were a little heavier than what I'd use. I'm just thinking you might want a little heavier power than Med/Light if you're using 1/2-ounce or bigger weights. Quote
Vinny Chase Posted January 23, 2011 Posted January 23, 2011 Check out the Cabelas Magtouch line, great rods with tons of sensitivity Quote
BossHoss Posted January 23, 2011 Posted January 23, 2011 There might be a few Daiwa Ceilo's floating around if you look... their DSS rod is designed to be more drop-shot specific than possibly any rod on the market because of their titanium tip. They use the same blank as the steez rods and you can get one for 100$ or less. If not one of those I would take a serious look at the Veritas rods from Abu. I liked the carrot stix I had for drop shotin, but I have not gotten to try out the new ones. Quote
kLuo Posted January 23, 2011 Posted January 23, 2011 There might be a few Daiwa Ceilo's floating around if you look... their DSS rod is designed to be more drop-shot specific than possibly any rod on the market because of their titanium tip. They use the same blank as the steez rods and you can get one for 100$ or less. If not one of those I would take a serious look at the Veritas rods from Abu. I liked the carrot stix I had for drop shotin, but I have not gotten to try out the new ones. I own one of the Cielos. The blanks are extremely sensitive, but they are not the same as the Steez as they are commonly mistaken to be. The technology to make them is the same, but the quality of the graphite is different. Nevertheless, they are absolutely amazing for a rod that's around $100 (they used to retail for $340, until they were discontinued). Keep in mind though, if you get the drop shot specific one, the tip will be so incredibly soft that you will not be able to use this rod for anything besides for drop shotting. Quote
central.PA.bass Posted January 23, 2011 Author Posted January 23, 2011 does anyone have experience with the Okuma Trio high speed reel? by looks alone, i think this would look absolutely amazing paired with a vengeance.. and i could get both for under 80 bucks from TW with a discount.. what do ya think? Quote
ChiCityBasser Posted January 24, 2011 Posted January 24, 2011 Check out the Cabelas Magtouch line, great rods with tons of sensitivity I just picked up the Magtouch dropshot rod for $70 but lakes are iced over here right now but the rod is normally $100. Quote
dave Posted January 24, 2011 Posted January 24, 2011 Give the Denali Jadewood a shot. I've held that rod, pretty nice. Quote
central.PA.bass Posted January 25, 2011 Author Posted January 25, 2011 Thanks for all of the suggestions! Anyone have any experience with the vengeance? I can get that from TW for cheap, and it'd give me some room to buy one of the Okuma Trio High speed reels... Quote
Super User ww2farmer Posted January 25, 2011 Super User Posted January 25, 2011 Thanks for all of the suggestions!Anyone have any experience with the vengeance? I can get that from TW for cheap, and it'd give me some room to buy one of the Okuma Trio High speed reels... I have a buddy who I think has one of every rod made. We went to Erie last fall, and he had a Vengeance, a Vendetta, Mojo's, Carrot Stix's, Kistler's, Cumara's, and the list just goes on. I brought my stuff, but fished with his when I broke off and we were on fish and retied later. I used just about all of those rods that day. Honestly, I liked the Vengeance, but it was the lowest end rod in his line up, and I can't remember the length/power/action it was. 7' M sounds right, but I am not sure. I could feel bites just fine drop shoting in 35 FOW, but it was calm that day, and they were just about ripping the rods out of our hands. Weight wise, it was fine, not to heavy. I actually like the handle better than the Vendetta, no big metal reel seat nut to bug my fingers. Quote
central.PA.bass Posted January 25, 2011 Author Posted January 25, 2011 Thanks for all of the suggestions!Anyone have any experience with the vengeance? I can get that from TW for cheap, and it'd give me some room to buy one of the Okuma Trio High speed reels... I have a buddy who I think has one of every rod made. We went to Erie last fall, and he had a Vengeance, a Vendetta, Mojo's, Carrot Stix's, Kistler's, Cumara's, and the list just goes on. I brought my stuff, but fished with his when I broke off and we were on fish and retied later. I used just about all of those rods that day. Honestly, I liked the Vengeance, but it was the lowest end rod in his line up, and I can't remember the length/power/action it was. 7' M sounds right, but I am not sure. I could feel bites just fine drop shoting in 35 FOW, but it was calm that day, and they were just about ripping the rods out of our hands. Weight wise, it was fine, not to heavy. I actually like the handle better than the Vendetta, no big metal reel seat nut to bug my fingers. Thanks! The fiancee wants to get me a new rod n reel for Valentines Day so I will have to request one Quote
jdw174 Posted January 25, 2011 Posted January 25, 2011 You might consider a Lamiglas Excel ($109 from TW). I have the 703S that I bought for dropshotting and I love it. Got it when TW had a sale on them at $79 Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.