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Michael
Joined: 28 Jan 2012
Posts: 3823
Location: Bridgeport
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 Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 3:53 am Post subject: Inexpensive Rods well Worth It |
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Thought I'd start a topic similar to what's on another fishing website.
After many years of fishing salt and/or fresh, many people like to try new rods and compare them. Some people prefer more expensive top-of-the-line while others try and save money under $100.
How many of you have fished with inexpensive rods under $100? Did you get great action with it for the price vs more expensive rods or did it not work out for you? If you got great action with it, which expensive rods would you compare it to even though the more expensive rods have a bit more to them?
My newest medium power 6 footer for largemouths, walleye, pickerel, and catfish is a Field & Stream Inferno. Got it at Dick's last year for $31.79 and also paid an extra $6.99 for warranty coverage. If I had to compare it to other rods of much higher price ranges, I'd say I'm getting the action of a St Croix Triumph or Mojo Bass.
I compared the Inferno to a 6' Ugly Stik and a 6' Daiwa TriForce. The TriForce started showing wear after a few months of heavy usage and sent it back to Daiwa for exchange before selling what they gave to me in return. The Ugly Stik didn't have the action and backbone feeling like the Inferno does. The only signs of wear that have happened so far is the main guide from the tip fell out, but I'm not finding any shredding done to 8 pound mono line.
My basic 5'6" freshwater rod for smaller bass and pickerel, river smallies, panfish, and spring trout fishing is an Eagle Claw Powerlight. Bought it for $27.99 in February 2013 and haven't gotten 1 single piece taken out of it for all the fishing I did with it in 2013, even when I landed a 6 pound 1 ounce largemouth with it. It is an amazing rod that can cast, catch bigger fish, and set the hook. For $27.99, I'm getting the feeling and action of a rod around the $100 mark, such as a ST Croix Premier.
2012 is when I decided to sell 2 older 8'6" St Croix rods I had been using for a long time with surf casting and replace them with modern and lighter 8 footers for heavier lures and 7 and 7 1/2 footers for lighter lures and smaller fish.
3 8 footers that I put to the test were a $19.99 Sea Striker SS800, $74.26 Daiwa Emcast, and $73.25 Star Rods Aerial Surf. The Emcast didn't get much usage. It was a bit on the heavy side and was very stiff like a piece of steal, which I didn't like. The Sea Striker was a good value for the money that gave me a good evening of striper fishing on the Housy. But once I bought the Aerial, I was in love. The Aerial is giving me the feeling of something between a St Croix Triumph and Mojo and something like the Daiwa TD S Surf Classic. I'd go with the Aerial instead of a $125 Tsunami.
The first 7 footer I bought was an Okuma Nomad Inshore Travel for $156.39. I enjoyed it throughout the November 2012 schoolie run at Seaside. Then came April 2013 when I compared it to a $52.21 7'6" Okuma SST Salmon and a previous generation $68.53 7' Daiwa Procyon. As I got into the spring schoolies and weakfish and started hitting blues in late May, the SST and Procyon showed action for value vs the Nomad. I stuck with those 2 and stuck with the Procyon because it had that extra $10 action and feeling.
Then I ran into issues with the Procyon in July. I was landing a basic sea robin and the tip broke. I shipped it to Daiwa and they gave me the last of that generation Procyon they had. I had already sold the SST so that's when I decided to buy a backup, which was a 7' Okuma Tarvos.
Finally got tired of the upper half of the newer Procyon slipping in the water every 10 casts or so, so I shipped it to Daiwa as I hung onto the Tarvos. Daiwa gave me another Procyon but it was the newest generation. Found the newest generation to not be comfy on the hands due to it having a blank area behind the reel seat. Sold it and hung onto the Okuma, which gave me great action throughout the rest of October and into November. The only issue I've had with the Okuma was the first one broke in half when I went to cast a 3/8 ounce Rapala. All I had to do was put a piece of the broken part in an envelope to Okuma and they replaced it. The new Tarvos has been hanging in there longer than the Procyons.
As I became happy with the freshwater 6' F&S Inferno after selling the Procyon, I decided to pick up a 2 piece 7'6" version of it for $37.09 plus the warranty service charge. For the money, this rod I find to have better action than the Procyon and feels like a 2 piece version of a 7' ML St Croix Mojo.
The Inferno is a great value if you need a 2 piece ML surf rod. Okuma makes a 1 piece 7'6" version of the Tarvos, which would be another great value, unless you need a 2 piece.
This year I will be comparing 2 7'6" 1 piece saltwater surf rods. 1 is under $100 while the other has a value more like $175, even though I paid $50 for it. They will be for when I get out with other people in a vehicle. |
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fishfinder
Joined: 19 Jun 2011
Posts: 1672
Location: Naugatuck, Ct.
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| Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 7:09 am Post subject: |
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Have you used the Tsunami trophy seriss Mike as I seen you say youd buy 1 rod before that.
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PECo
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 5203
Location: Avon, CT
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| Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 8:20 pm Post subject: |
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Buy a good rod with a good warranty from a good company. I've had good warranty service and replacements from St. Croix and Shimano. I think Shimano's lifetime rod warranty starts at the $80 price point with its Clarus rods. They're well worth the cost, in my experience.
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Michael
Joined: 28 Jan 2012
Posts: 3823
Location: Bridgeport
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| Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 8:32 pm Post subject: |
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| fishfinder wrote: | | Have you used the Tsunami trophy seriss Mike as I seen you say youd buy 1 rod before that. |
I used to have a 9' Trophy Series that got tucked away for a long time before rotting. I used it whenever I'd go to Cutty Hunk Island with my dad for the big stripers. It's the rod that landed me my all time biggest striper, which was 44 3/8" and chunky. Threw heavy duty Redfins and Long A with it.
If I remember correctly, the Tsunami had a very similar feeling to the 8' Aerial I currently have, such as perfect balance in weight, flexibility, and backbone. When I let my dad do some casting and swiping with the Aerial, he said if I were to have it rigged up with strong line and a good reel, I could haul in another 40"er. I now have a second generation Penn Pursuit (aka Pursuit II) 4000 on it rigged with 30 pound Spiderwire Stealth. I used to have a Pursuit 5000 with 17 pound mono on it before getting the good deals for the Spiderwire and seeing great reviews for the new Pursuit II vs the original Pursuit.
Star Rods and Sea Striker rods I found to be more common down South and many people buy them specially for their value instead of spending double the amount. |
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Michael
Joined: 28 Jan 2012
Posts: 3823
Location: Bridgeport
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 12:01 am Post subject: |
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Today while I was at the CT Post Mall I decided to go into Dick's to do some comparison, by swiping rods to get a feeling for the action and weight.
Saw a $119.99 Tsunami Trophy Series Surf so I did some overhand swiping with it. Felt just like the Star Rods Aerial.
Dick's has many St Croix Triumph and Mojo Bass freshwater spinning rods, so I took a 6'6" Triumph and 6'6" Field & Stream Inferno to compare them. The $79.99 Triumph felt just like the Inferno. |
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chud059
Joined: 29 Mar 2011
Posts: 413
Location: Manchester
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| Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2014 12:35 am Post subject: |
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| I've had the same 5'6" ugly stick since the 80's....no problems ever with it. Right now I have a shimano ax 100 with 6lb test attached to it. |
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rvolkers
Joined: 23 Oct 2011
Posts: 359
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| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 6:58 pm Post subject: |
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in the 60 years i have been fishing i have well over 100 rods my collection from metal - glass - graphite etc. - including fly rods - spin rods - bait cast rods - salt water rods and etc!
the most i ever spent was $200.00 and that was for a fly rod! - the same can be said for reels!
i have always been a firm believer that a rod and reel is a tool to fish with AND if you know how to fish PRICE doesn't matter! over the years i can never think of a time i thought to myself (i wish i had a pricey rod). I CATCH all the fish i need to! - BUT - i am also not a tournament fisherman things are probably different in tackle needs!
again thats just me! - everyone has their own style and needs
(LOL) we all like buying fishing stuff - don't we! |
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Wanna Fish
Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 662
Location: Earth I Think
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| Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 2:07 pm Post subject: |
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| rvolkers wrote: | in the 60 years i have been fishing i have well over 100 rods my collection from metal - glass - graphite etc. - including fly rods - spin rods - bait cast rods - salt water rods and etc!
the most i ever spent was $200.00 and that was for a fly rod! - the same can be said for reels!
i have always been a firm believer that a rod and reel is a tool to fish with AND if you know how to fish PRICE doesn't matter! over the years i can never think of a time i thought to myself (i wish i had a pricey rod). I CATCH all the fish i need to! - BUT - i am also not a tournament fisherman things are probably different in tackle needs!
again thats just me! - everyone has their own style and needs
(LOL) we all like buying fishing stuff - don't we! |
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Michael
Joined: 28 Jan 2012
Posts: 3823
Location: Bridgeport
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| Posted: Tue May 27, 2014 10:05 pm Post subject: |
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I got to compare the 2 7'6" 1 piece rods and 1 of them was too flexible after finding out it was an IM-6 graphite. I sold that rod and used the money for a 7' Star Rods Aerial Jetty/Surf 1 piece.
Once I compared the other 7'6" rod to the 7' Aerial, I sold the 7'6" rod and know the Aerial is the 1 piece rod I'm definitely hanging onto. Paid $69.99+$8.99 shipping.
Star Rods Aerial series comes with a 5 year warranty. The 5 year warranty for those rods is the best warranty for the price.
The 7 footer has a lot of stiffness, backbone, and feeling of force when casting, It has excellent hook setting power and can get a 1/2 ounce SP-9 way out there. It is a combination of surf, jetty, and vessel. |
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Stripedhunter
Joined: 30 Jul 2012
Posts: 52
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| Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 9:21 am Post subject: |
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I checked out Cabela's SS combo for $120, that sounds decent to me. (cabela's products are made by Daiwa).
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Wanna Fish
Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 662
Location: Earth I Think
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| Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 10:46 am Post subject: |
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| Stripedhunter wrote: | | I checked out Cabela's SS combo for $120, that sounds decent to me. (cabela's products are made by Daiwa). |
But they are the low end Diawa products. All companies make low end stuff. Theres a bigger market for the consumer looking to save an immediate buck than the long term consumer spending more now and saving even more over a long term.
You'll break 3/4 budget rods before you wear out a better set-up. I've been down that road.
Example Skeet Reese rods $89. Have to replace every year because the ceramic eye inserts fall out. St Croix Mojo Stick. Working on five years and running. $150.
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NorthEastFisherman
Joined: 27 May 2012
Posts: 582
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| Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 1:24 pm Post subject: |
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Buy a shimano or st Croix and you'll never have to get another again unless you're like me and feel the need to buy something every time I'm at a sporting goods store.
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Michael
Joined: 28 Jan 2012
Posts: 3823
Location: Bridgeport
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| Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 10:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Stripedhunter wrote: | | I checked out Cabela's SS combo for $120, that sounds decent to me. (cabela's products are made by Daiwa). |
As Wanna Fish said, they are low end Daiwa products. Low end Daiwa rods and reels I have found are garbage. Daiwa's upper scale stuff is better but meant mostly for the tournament angler. Daiwa used to make good stuff for the price but their lower priced stuff has become garbage. |
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Wanna Fish
Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 662
Location: Earth I Think
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 4:14 am Post subject: |
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| Michael wrote: | | Stripedhunter wrote: | | I checked out Cabela's SS combo for $120, that sounds decent to me. (cabela's products are made by Daiwa). |
As Wanna Fish said, they are low end Daiwa products. Low end Daiwa rods and reels I have found are garbage. Daiwa's upper scale stuff is better but meant mostly for the tournament angler. Daiwa used to make good stuff for the price but their lower priced stuff has become garbage. |
Michael! Stop picking on Tournament Anglers! The Diawa Lexa is $100 to $150 and is one of the best reels on the market. Please do a little research before knocking stuff.
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Stripedhunter
Joined: 30 Jul 2012
Posts: 52
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 9:23 am Post subject: |
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| Wanna Fish wrote: | | Stripedhunter wrote: | | I checked out Cabela's SS combo for $120, that sounds decent to me. (cabela's products are made by Daiwa). |
But they are the low end Diawa products. All companies make low end stuff. Theres a bigger market for the consumer looking to save an immediate buck than the long term consumer spending more now and saving even more over a long term.
You'll break 3/4 budget rods before you wear out a better set-up. I've been down that road.
Example Skeet Reese rods $89. Have to replace every year because the ceramic eye inserts fall out. St Croix Mojo Stick. Working on five years and running. $150. |
Who does not like good and expensive stuffs but sometime you have to balance things out, is it milk for the kids or the good expensive fishing rod at that moment.
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