Author Topic: Rods (Read 8392 times)

crappiekid24 · « **on:** Nov 09, 2007, 04:38 PM »

Looking for some good rods this year. Any one have any good suggestions? I was looking at St. Croix Premier rods and they look good! Any one have any suggestions on some rods for gills, crappies and perch. I am not looking at custom rods yet. Maybe next year.

zamboni · « **Reply #1 on:** Nov 09, 2007, 05:06 PM »

If you can find any Jig-A-Whopper combos, snatch them up, I kept dragging my feet last season on them, and they soon disappeared, and I recently found out they went out of business. Luckily, I went into a Sportsmans Warehouse in Sioux Falls, SD a couple weeks ago and they had a few left over from last season. They are beautiful combos.

Sven936 · « **Reply #2 on:** Nov 09, 2007, 05:16 PM »

For panfish I use the ICE Blue rods from HT. THe tip is really sensitive and the rods are inexpensive and have they worked really well for me.

Otherwise I run a gambit of rods for larger fish. I use St. Croix premiers pretty much throughout with abu cardinal reels, reed sports rod for perch, and so many others.

Yoiu will find that once you start, it is hard to not want more. I have way to many rods,

but I use them all for different things. Some brands work better than others for certain situations.

Good luck

icejunky · « **Reply #3 on:** Nov 09, 2007, 05:24 PM »

for gills, you cant go wring with a frabil panfish popper, but anything larger like perch or crappies I use St.Crix legends with the sprint bobber tip, they are expensive at $50, but well worth it.....the Genz stix ar not bad either, the reel is not the best but the rods hold up well

adkbrookie · « **Reply #4 on:** Nov 09, 2007, 11:37 PM »

i am partial to the st. croix w/ the woven graphite handle and no spring bobber. they don't make this modle any more. cost ~$30. add my own homemade spring bober, the tip tops aren't actually wrapped on there and tend to loosen up at some point so i just take it off and use srink tube and epoxy to put on the bobber.

jimmygunns · « **Reply #5 on:** Nov 10, 2007, 12:36 AM »

Dude, just suck it up & buy a Thorne Bros. rod. I wish I had done the same from the start & not wizzed away money on all the other garbage. I have a bunch of rods & reels in the garage that are dust collectors on my rod rack out there. Put a good Tica reel on, & it will last years. Spend the extra money & put a hidden hood handle on it too. They don't have it as an option on thier website for all rods, but call your order in, & they will put one on any rod. I'm not fond of taping to a cork handle over time.

baldy · « **Reply #6 on:** Nov 10, 2007, 12:19 PM »

I've been building some this year. I got some IM7 fly rod tip sections (4.5 ft) from a local rod builder that wanted to get rid of them. They've turned out pretty nice and since there is 4.5 ft to work with, I can varry the action from pretty light for perch to a laker rod.
Nick

polarfisher · « **Reply #7 on:** Nov 10, 2007, 04:10 PM »

Quote from: Sven936 on Nov 09, 2007, 05:16 PM

For panfish I use the ICE Blue rods from HT. THe tip is really sensitive and the rods are inexpensive and have they worked really well for me.

masterangler70 · « **Reply #8 on:** Nov 10, 2007, 08:45 PM »

contact bobberstop in the chatroom. he makes the best panfish rods around.

Tautog Rich · « **Reply #9 on:** Nov 16, 2007, 08:26 AM »

Best I've found is Schooley & Sons Arctic Ice Blue ab-24's.

minorintrusion · « **Reply #10 on:** Nov 16, 2007, 08:49 AM »

I'm with a bunch of these guys... the St Croix premium are nice rods. I have the 32"ML for Perch and a 32"H for the BIG fish. (I am full of hope this year

)

My workhorses for everything in between are two HT Artic Bay rods (solid carbon with rosewood handles...mmmm rosewood) with Abu Cardinal reels. There is a Berkley combo that puts an Abu Cardinal 100U reel on a not-so-bad Berkley rod for $42, the reel alone sells for $42, so you get a M rod as a back up!

Duckslayer · « **Reply #11 on:** Nov 16, 2007, 07:52 PM »

I second Thorne Bros. rods. I have one and hardly use the other half dozen or so. I'm thinking of selling everything and buying just one or two Thorne Bros. Excellent quality and a fine fishing rod IMO.

something smells fishy · « **Reply #12 on:** Nov 18, 2007, 04:31 PM »

I just got the Frabill popper and wow it has some flex for those lite bites , but I also use HT I like there rods the have never let me down . but you can never have too maney rods .

dkfry · « **Reply #13 on:** Nov 18, 2007, 05:49 PM »

IMO the best rods for under $31 are the older Berkley Genz Lightning rods. (Old Ones that they stopped making) They cost $30 have a smaller handle and the blanks are very good. The Berkley Prolite uses the same blank and actions but the handles different. Those Frabill panfish popper rods are nice but that little spring bobber will freeze very quick.

Van_Cleaver · « **Reply #14 on:** Dec 11, 2007, 07:31 PM »

The panfish popper is one of the best rods for the money (12.95 at fish us) IMO. However, as mentioned above it will freeze up very easily if you're not in a shack. My St. Croix Legend is usually my go to rod when the bite heats up. The big loop is easy to keep clear on the spring bobber.

ChillerThriller · « **Reply #15 on:** Dec 11, 2007, 08:29 PM »

I love my panfish popper as well. i just took the stupid spring bobber off of it becasue it was freezing ALOT. just popped it off and it kicks butt now. its got good action and its sensitive

brown-time · « **Reply #16 on:** Dec 19, 2007, 09:51 PM »

Quote from: adkbrookie on Nov 09, 2007, 11:37 PM

i am partial to the st. croix w/ the woven graphite handle and no spring bobber. they don't make this modle any more. cost ~$30. add my own homemade spring bober, the tip tops aren't actually wrapped on there and tend to loosen up at some point so i just take it off and use srink tube and epoxy to put on the bobber.

I loved those rods. Got a Frabill Ultra last season with the woven graphite handle, vibration discs and big guides, but it was kinda high at thirty-five bucks from Dicks. It was a 32" medium, perfect for trout. Found a bunch of the lighter ones a week ago at Sportsman's Warehouse here in Colorado for $20. Best deal in the country for that quality and sensitivity IMO. Can't wait to get the perch on the light action on Saturday at Blue Mesa.

lotwfisher · « **Reply #17 on:** Dec 22, 2007, 12:05 PM »

I am a thornebros user. I would recommend being cautious buying a new st.croix. They are having major guide allignment problems. When I took the time to look at them and talk to some people about them, it seems the blanks twist. This causes the guides to get all twisted and goofy. Besure to take the time to check them out thoroughly before you buy one.....If you have to, just lightly grab one of the guides and kinda twist it lightly and see if it will twist the whole blank. Each rod I checked one day did this and I was not impressed much.

bigfoot697 · « **Reply #18 on:** Dec 23, 2007, 05:34 AM »

i just purchased 2 shakespeare combos at bps and for the price and sensitivity, you cant go wrong. 9.99 with a little reel included. its come with 4 lb sigma line on it and i figured kinky and stiff. no way, it was usable right off the shelf. no its not a croix or a genz but ive owned LOTS of ice rods and i was impressed. i like getting what i pay for and with these you cant go wrong imo.

crappie_attitude · « **Reply #19 on:** Dec 24, 2007, 03:08 PM »

Quote from: dkfry on Nov 18, 2007, 05:49 PM

IMO the best rods for under $31 are the older Berkley Genz Lightning rods. (Old Ones that they stopped making) They cost $30 have a smaller handle and the blanks are very good. The Berkley Prolite uses the same blank and actions but the handles different. Those Frabill panfish popper rods are nice but that little spring bobber will freeze very quick.

Second on the Berkley Lightning rods...have caught everything from perch to carp to a 35" muskie (not intentionally) with my Ultralight model without any creaking or cracking. Even the UL model is a little stiff though, and a spring bobber helps a lot.

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Author Topic: Rods (Read 8392 times)