I Need Some New Rods....

[Fat-G]

I have 7 cumara's and they are NASTY rods I have caught some big ole' Catfish as well as gar, and multiple 5+ # bass on them. They are still relatively new to me (8 months old), but they have given me no issues WHAT SO EVER. I am a firm believer in the Cumara line and there durability. Oh yeah on a side note if you break a Cumara send it back Shimano!!! They back their rods with the best warranty in the Business.

That gar was sweet, what a great fight.

Shane, I can see how a snakehead fighting THAT hard would break a rod. Pretty sure it would break most of the rods we fish with for bass, especially if it thrashed around with only a fott or less of line. I would get a cheap BP rod, the more I think about it.

[Jaheff]

Fat G, Don't ya think the Shimano teramar is a good fit for what he wants? Surprised you didn't suggest it.

[Fat-G]

Fat G, Don't ya think the Shimano teramar is a good fit for what he wants? Surprised you didn't suggest it.

Yes I do, can't believe I didn't think of it. Those rods are BEASTS. I love them.

They would make a great snakehead rod!

[pitchinthejig]

I snake heads a lot and have tons of fun doing I wouldnt use many of my Steez sitcks for them but I have caught plenty of them on my 7.1 Complie-X and never had a issue but the four setups I use for them when thats my target fish is a Steez SVF-XBD frog stick/Zillion Type R(Tons of power very light and plenty tough) Awesome combo, two Zillion 6.9MHXF/Steez 103's and a Daiwa Light and Tough frog rod 7.4Hvy and a Zillion 100SHA.

The Steez XBD is a big money rod and I bought 2 of them for frogging and flipping matts for Large mouth of course but decided to snake head fish with one once and was amazed at the job it did so it goes with me most the time when chasing heads however I WOULD NOT BUY IT AS A SNAKE HEAD ROD!!!!!

The 2 6.9MHXF Zillions are awesome snake head sticks, Tough, light and plenty sensitive for light biting bass and with the normal Head bite it feels like a bolt of lightning lol...

The L&T Frog stick is IMHO the perfect Head rod its TOUGH TOUGH TOUGH, fairly light and has enough feel to get by with and has GOBS of power and the next time I buy another setup that will be used for just heads it will be another L&T Frog rod and Zillion 100SHA

the rod is 145-150 and well worth it as it will handle them and you wont have to worry about breaking sticks with that rod and it has the power to yank that out of the nasty stuff and also because its a cheaper priced rod and you wont be scared to really lean on it when fighting them.

[The Rooster]

That's laughable at best. I have yet to break one in all of my time fishing, and I fish a lot, averaging in excess of 200 days a year. I've fished Cumara rods since their release and have had zero issue. I fish several of them in choice over my NRX. If you're breaking Cumaras under normal fishing circumstances, it's pilot error, guaranteed. When YOU PERSONALLY have owned and fished them, you're free to offer your opinion, but it seems to me you don't own a single Cumara so are going by hearsay...

I'm free to offer my opinion after I've personally owned one?? What you really meant to say there was I'm free to offer my opinion anytime I want and YOU are free to pay no heed to it if you don't want. Now that we're clear on that.....

I wouldn't own one of those rods just based on what I've read alone, but as luck would have it I've also had the personal privilige to see them in use up close with my brother-in-law who owns 2 of them (not hearsay, actual witnessing). They've both broken multiple times, and each time it's been pretty well in the same place, within 10 inches of the tip, and each time he has exchanged them with no problems but it gets old after a while. He was told by the shop owner that he has issues with those rods commonly and constantly doing this same thing and he had no idea why but it happens a lot.

I've also read this numerous times as well all over the internet so forgive me if I don't take your single example of never having a problem over all those other glowing examples of many problems by others, some of which I've personally observed. I do not need to have actually held the rod in hand and fished it to offer my opinion on it or to know that this rod is J U N K.

If it's laughable, go ahead and laugh. I am.

[Fat-G]

I'm free to offer my opinion after I've personally owned one?? What you really meant to say there was I'm free to offer my opinion anytime I want and YOU are free to pay no heed to it if you don't want. Now that we're clear on that.....

I wouldn't own one of those rods just based on what I've read alone, but as luck would have it I've also had the personal privilige to see them in use up close with my brother-in-law who owns 2 of them (not hearsay, actual witnessing). They've both broken multiple times, and each time it's been pretty well in the same place, within 10 inches of the tip, and each time he has exchanged them with no problems but it gets old after a while. He was told by the shop owner that he has issues with those rods commonly and constantly doing this same thing and he had no idea why but it happens a lot.

I've also read this numerous times as well all over the internet so forgive me if I don't take your single example of never having a problem over all those other glowing examples of many problems by others, some of which I've personally observed. I do not need to have actually held the rod in hand and fished it to offer my opinion on it or to know that this rod is J U N K.

If it's laughable, go ahead and laugh. I am.

That's the great thing about this forum, you get a lot of differing opinions! I personally don't think Cumaras are junk at all, but that's just my opinion.

[LuckyHandsINC.]

I'm free to offer my opinion after I've personally owned one?? What you really meant to say there was I'm free to offer my opinion anytime I want and YOU are free to pay no heed to it if you don't want. Now that we're clear on that.....

I wouldn't own one of those rods just based on what I've read alone, but as luck would have it I've also had the personal privilige to see them in use up close with my brother-in-law who owns 2 of them (not hearsay, actual witnessing). They've both broken multiple times, and each time it's been pretty well in the same place, within 10 inches of the tip, and each time he has exchanged them with no problems but it gets old after a while. He was told by the shop owner that he has issues with those rods commonly and constantly doing this same thing and he had no idea why but it happens a lot.

I've also read this numerous times as well all over the internet so forgive me if I don't take your single example of never having a problem over all those other glowing examples of many problems by others, some of which I've personally observed. I do not need to have actually held the rod in hand and fished it to offer my opinion on it or to know that this rod is J U N K.

If it's laughable, go ahead and laugh. I am.

I know their has been some talk online of the cumaras breaking, however if I were.you I would go check the date on these threads you've read. I'm sure you will see they're pretty old. Also if you have read as much as you say then you would've seen the cumara is widely accepted as one of the lightest and most sensitive rods available and fishes well above its price range. Further evidenced by tackletours best value award. I have three cumaras, all different casting models and love them all. So continue to hate on this rod for whatever reason but you may be the only one .

[The Rooster]

They're not that old. Some this past summer. One guy I read about broke 10 Cumara's and one Cumulus. He swore off Shimano rods after that and went all custom built only for fishing tournaments. I don't want to say anymore about it though, or provide links, or proof of reading all this, and drag it all out into a full scale war. Y'all will just have to trust me on it or go look for them yourselves. That's my opinion on the rod and that's that. I'm done. I just don't like being called out for my opinion so some of my replies might sound harsh but I really didn't mean to get in a fight or anything. This thread was just another in a line of threads I've read about them breaking so easily, was all.

[Hooligan]

Oh I'm laughing all right. Laughing at the absurdity of your continued response on something you have NO firsthand knowledge of, when in the past you've gotten on people about the very same thing. If there were a problem with the Cumara, I'd have seen it by now, I will guarantee you that. Do the math, Rooster, average the time I fish the rods and the number of them I fish and I'd have, according to your statistics, broken at least every rod three times. It's positively absurd, what you're suggesting. Newsflash! I've broken 3 NRX this year on fish. One was the first time I fished the rod! There's something wrong with the NRX because I read that some guy broke three of them in a year... Your anecdotal evidence is just that, anecdotal evidence, of which, again, you have zero firsthand knowledge. You don't own any of the rods in question yet you're freely forming an opinion of their quality. Pure absurdity.

Shane, like the guys above said, the Teramar would likely be a really good candidate for it. The West Coast 8' H would be a stellar rod for plugging snakehead, it's wicked powerful with a really, really nice feel for how powerful the rod is. It will also turn a fish with no hesitation at all. The only rod better might be a Calcutta if you can find it. They're getting hard to come by.

[Packard]

Shane, check out http://www.leveragelandingnet.com/

I first started using them in the kayak, and now in the bass boat. One handed operation.

Cool idea, very overpriced though. I do all my fishing from my kayak and haven't encountered a problem with my frabill rubber mesh trout net. I can even get nice sized pike in there.

[SirSnookalot]

If I read the OP post correctly I don 't believe this is a rod issue if a net would be a big asset, it's more of how the fish is handled once along side of the boat, a shortish gaff solves this problem. I don't know anything about a cumara rod but I think there are better types of rods available. Just to mention, I have broken only 1 rod that I can think of and it wasn't the weight of the fish that did, the rod was stressed in the first place and was going to break at some point in time.

This is not an issue of one brand against another, this is an issue of the type of rod best suited. I routinely catch larger fish than the average snakehead and hoist them up from the jetties which are about 10 feet high, this is done by springing them up, this is not done once in awhile but daily, no question some fish require a pier net. It's the type of rod I use, not the brand as I use a few different brands. A rod with a good backbone to hold them in place and a gaff is the ticket, I don't care what brand you buy, these fish hit hard enough that a phone pole is sensitive enough.

[piscicidal]

For the record, Bass Pro Shops has an across the counter policy with Shimano, including the Cumara.

Jeremy, at the BPS store in Davie where Shane and I both shop, there is a big white sign at the exchanges/returns counter saying that Shimano/St Croix customers must return warranty equipment directly to the manufacturer. The same sign says Abu Garcia equipment can be exchanged in store. I've never challenged that policy, as I've not yet broken any of my St Croix/Shimano rods. However, I have returned BPS and Abu Veritas rods at the store and the process was as painless as could be.

[piscicidal]

If I read the OP post correctly I don 't believe this is a rod issue if a net would be a big asset, it's more of how the fish is handled once along side of the boat, a shortish gaff solves this problem. I don't know anything about a cumara rod but I think there are better types of rods available. Just to mention, I have broken only 1 rod that I can think of and it wasn't the weight of the fish that did, the rod was stressed in the first place and was going to break at some point in time.

This is not an issue of one brand against another, this is an issue of the type of rod best suited. I routinely catch larger fish than the average snakehead and hoist them up from the jetties which are about 10 feet high, this is done by springing them up, this is not done once in awhile but daily, no question some fish require a pier net. It's the type of rod I use, not the brand as I use a few different brands. A rod with a good backbone to hold them in place and a gaff is the ticket, I don't care what brand you buy, these fish hit hard enough that a phone pole is sensitive enough.

Sir Snook,

Snakeheads are difficult to gaff, even the big ones. In fact, at the last snakehead round up Capt Shane's partner caught the biggest snakehead of the tournament (~35"??). Shane has a video of them catching that fish on his you tube channel and they are struggling to gaff the fish. And this was the biggest of the ~150 fish caught that day...imagine trying to gaff the smaller ones.

They have a hard smooth skin, small profile, and they spin/thrash violently at the boat. Couple this with fishing them in a smaller boat rocking around and you get some idea of the issues trying to gaff these fish. Certainly it can be done, and people do it. But gaffing is not always the most expediant method for getting a snakehead in the boat/on shore.

If I am fishing them from shore, I will swing them up on the bank. The preferred method, if there isn't too much debris, is to just slide them right up on the bank. Use their small, sleek profile against them. Either way, I have had no issues with the BPS extreme rod swinging big snakeheads up onto shore.

[SirSnookalot]

good point about the gaffing, it was a thought. I'm quite familiar with the BPS inshore extreme which is an excellent rod, probably a close cousin to the extreme.

[The Rooster]

Oh I'm laughing all right. Laughing at the absurdity of your continued response on something you have NO firsthand knowledge of, when in the past you've gotten on people about the very same thing. If there were a problem with the Cumara, I'd have seen it by now, I will guarantee you that. Do the math, Rooster, average the time I fish the rods and the number of them I fish and I'd have, according to your statistics, broken at least every rod three times. It's positively absurd, what you're suggesting. Newsflash! I've broken 3 NRX this year on fish. One was the first time I fished the rod! There's something wrong with the NRX because I read that some guy broke three of them in a year... Your anecdotal evidence is just that, anecdotal evidence, of which, again, you have zero firsthand knowledge. You don't own any of the rods in question yet you're freely forming an opinion of their quality. Pure absurdity.

Shane, like the guys above said, the Teramar would likely be a really good candidate for it. The West Coast 8' H would be a stellar rod for plugging snakehead, it's wicked powerful with a really, really nice feel for how powerful the rod is. It will also turn a fish with no hesitation at all. The only rod better might be a Calcutta if you can find it. They're getting hard to come by.

OK, I wasn't going to comment again on this at all, but after reading that you say I've gotten onto people over the same thing I'm supposedly doing now, I want to set that straight right here and now. When have I ever done that?? I get defensive over my opinion or over knowing an outright fact about something and having that disputed, but I've never jumped anyone over their opinion, first hand knowledge or not, and you can't even offer a shred of evidence to the contrary, and if you read that as a challenge, you read it right!

And what are you calling first hand knowledge anyway?? Being there in person and witnessing this happening is not first hand?? That an absurdity in itself.

And it seems you're now suggesting that its like I read one time somewhere that someone broke rods and I formed the opinion that it's a bad rod when I clearly stated I had read it many many times, some of which were people who had multiples of these rods and had several of them break nearly the same way each time, and also I said I had saw this with my own eyes too, on rods I could reach out and touch right in front of me, FIRST HAND.

Here's a newsflash for you now....this is what reviews are all about. Reading other people's experiences with a product and deciding whether or not it might be right for you. If it didn't work and wasn't right then major companies like Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops wouldn't bother printing them in their catalogs or allow posting them on their websites. There are whole dedicated websites for this very thing, but you still want to discount any knowledge gained from reading any of it apparently. So now apparently I not supposed to read what has happened to others and believe any of it, is that what you're saying?? Cause if it is, then that's the real absurdity here, that I should spend $240 on a rod after reading a lot of bad stuff on it while not believing it and have the same thing happen to me too before I can then say, " I now agree with all the others", and at that point finally form an opinion. That's not absurd, that's downright idiotic.

It's also not pure absurdity to form opinions on rods I do not own. Have you ever formed an opinion on anything you do not own, or to go even bigger, maybe about some person you have never met (say the president) based on what you've heard said about that person and any evidence that people might present about that person's actions and words?? Here's another newsflash for you.......the justice system of this country is based on this very thing, forming opinions based on hearing about something that someone supposedly done that they did not see for themselves. People sitting in judge and jury of others whom they've never met before and only just heard things about the person on trial and are presented evidence of what this person is supposed to have done, and then to complicate it the person themselves will deny doing it so then the jury must do what??.......form an opinion, and then this person is sentenced to sometimes LIFE based on someone's opinion who was not there first hand to see what they are accused of. And if it's good enough for something that serious then it sure as @#$% is good enough for me, AND YOU, on much smaller, insignificant things like fishing rods. Now deal with it.

[South FLA]

I can't believe this thread is still going! Anyway, Capt. Shane have you had a chance to pick up some new rods?

[Shane Procell]

Not yet...It'll be awhile. I have a full rack of Carrot Sticks and Shimano Cumaras that will keep me untill I try out some rods. I was hopeing this thread would die before someone got their feelings hurt