Rod shopping on a budget is a nightmare 2024

billmac reply :

Now I realize that part of this is my own fault because I'm not willing to spend major $$$ on fishing tackle, but I stopped in at Runnings today to see if I could get some decent, inexpensive rods. It's not like they didn't have any, but finding what I wanted turned out to be impossible. They weren't sorted in any particular order or categories that I could divine. I found several that looked pretty good, only to find they had the action listed but not the taper. Fully half the rods were two piece. Aaaagghh! Who uses two piece rods except backpackers? I don't think I saw a single rod with an extra fast tip. 7 feet seems to be an unpopular length, as most of the rods were 6 or 6'6". I'm going to pop in at Dick's tomorrow, so fingers crossed.

jbsoonerfan reply :

There are a ton of budget rods out there. Shouldn't be too hard to find one at Dick's.

BTW, I guess I should have asked. What's the budget?

dave reply :

Previously owned...

Angry John reply :

Buying used gets you a lot more but rod shipping prices are so bad now you will have to buy local for any real deals

billmac reply :

I was looking in the $50ish range.

hwright38 reply :

For $50 the Abu Vengeance isn't terrible. I'd rather go up another $10 though and get a Fenwick Eagle. Lew's also has their Laser SG-1 line, which seems serviceable, if only a bit heavier weight-wise than ideal.

greentrout reply :

shakespeare ugly stik elite...bps tourney special...berkley lighting rod...kastking perigee II ...

good fishing ...

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Sports-Outdoors-Fishing-Rods/zgbs/sporting-goods/3409871

BoatSquirrel reply :

For us poboys, I have had excellent results with 13 Fishing Defy rods. Numerous offerings for a mere $59.

Do all rods need to be super light or sensitive? Naw.

If not at your local tackle shop, they can be had from our friends at TW with free shipping.

Glaucus reply :

For $50, you literally can't beat the Daiwa Aird X. If I had a $50 budget for rods, I'd get Aird X casting rods with Fuego reels and Fenwick Eagle spinning rods with President reels.

I got my son the Aird X / Fuego combo and it's excellent.

r83srock reply :

I really like the lighting rods, and lighting rod shocks for the price. Walmart has em’.

BaitFinesse reply :

The new Lightnig Rods (not the shocks) are pretty good for $40. Great budget sticks. The Daiwa Aird X rods are also very well liked.

WRB reply :

St Croix Reign series.

Tom

zell_pop1 reply :

I am in agreement with the Fenwick Eagles, good rods for the money.

billmac reply :

Is there some kind of default taper? If the taper isn't listed on the rod, should I assume fast? Moderate? If it's not listed I just put it back. Am I being too fussy with the little I'm willing to spend?

LionHeart reply :

What do you consider to be the difference in taper and action? Do you mean power?

redmeansdistortion reply :

On 6/7/2019 at 9:34 AM, greentrout said:

shakespeare ugly stik elite...bps tourney special...berkley lighting rod...kastking perigee II ...

good fishing ...

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Sports-Outdoors-Fishing-Rods/zgbs/sporting-goods/3409871

I have every one of those, no complaints at all. The Perigree is my favorite due to its weight and sensitivity. Second would be the Tourney Special, followed by the Ugly Stik Elite and finally the Lightning Rod.

NYWayfarer reply :

$50-$60 range: Kastking Perigee II, Abu Garcia Vengeance, Lew’s Laser SG1, Lew’s Xfinity, Fenwick Eagle. All great choices.

Allen Der reply :

On 6/7/2019 at 12:42 PM, WRB said:

St Croix Reign series.

Tom

I believe if you order two they are $50 each shipped

WRB reply :

Taper usually refers to fly rods where action refers to spinning an bait casting rod.

Fast action (taper) is a general use bass rod, moderate being slower taper for ease of casting lures like crank baits.

Your common bass rod today in spinning rods are 6'6" to 7' long, medium power, fast action using 8 lb test mono line.

re; RGS 66 MF-PC =St Croix Reign 6'6" medium power fast action 1 piece rod, list price $65. American made by St Croix with good customer service.

It's your money spend it wisely.

Tom

MAN reply :

$50 will get you some really nice rods. Same quality rods fisherman used to win the Bass Masters Classics with.

billmac reply :

Well, I picked up 3 Lew's Carbon Fire rods. MH/F casting, M/F casting, and M/F spinning. Not exactly the specs I was looking for, but they were on sale for $40 each and I think I can make do with these. They had a surprisingly low number of bare rods, and about a million rod/reel combos. It looks like if you want something other than a Fast tip, you have to order online. At least with the stores I have access to.

greentrout reply :

you bought an 80 dollar rod for 40 dollars ... congrats ...

good fishing ...

GReb reply :

From personal experience the key to cheap rods is to stay short in length and light in power. 6’6” MH is as long and powerful of a rod I’d buy under $80 or so. The longer cheap rods tend to get excessively heavy and heavier power become a cue stick

The difference between a $50 and $100 rod is night and day. Definitely worth the money if you can float it. Or I’d try to buy used.

Allen Der reply :

On 6/7/2019 at 11:47 PM, billmac said:

Well, I picked up 3 Lew's Carbon Fire rods. MH/F casting, M/F casting, and M/F spinning. Not exactly the specs I was looking for, but they were on sale for $40 each and I think I can make do with these. They had a surprisingly low number of bare rods, and about a million rod/reel combos. It looks like if you want something other than a Fast tip, you have to order online. At least with the stores I have access to.

use braid if you want those rods to act like an extra fast and mono if you want them moderate fast. simple solution

billmac reply :

These things have tiny guides. I had planned to use braid with a fluoro and/or mono leader. Will the tiny guides hurt my casting?

dodgeguy reply :

On 6/8/2019 at 5:12 AM, billmac said:

These things have tiny guides. I had planned to use braid with a fluoro and/or mono leader. Will the tiny guides hurt my casting?

IMHO microguides are not leader compatible. It's just asking to pop out a insert. Why use leaders? Use either braid flouro or mono.The extra knots are not worth it IMHO

CrankFate reply :

On 6/8/2019 at 5:12 AM, billmac said:

These things have tiny guides. I had planned to use braid with a fluoro and/or mono leader. Will the tiny guides hurt my casting?

Tiny guides are waste. Especially on any rod that’s not tiny. You are in luck, though. Lower priced rods usually have bigger guides. Tiny guides will destroy casting with almost all braid to leader applications.

billmac reply :

All the specs I can find on the Carbon Fire don't mention microguides. They seem small to me, but they might be fine.

Dcbassfishing76 reply :

I use lews rods almost exclusively and have 3 carbon fire rods. I love them and have no problems with the micro guides. I have 2 of them with carbon fire reals and 1 with a Mach 2 reel. However I do not use a leader, I’m either tied straight to braid or mono. I don’t care for fluorocarbon.

NYWayfarer reply :

On 6/7/2019 at 9:34 AM, greentrout said:

shakespeare ugly stik elite...bps tourney special...berkley lighting rod...kastking perigee II ...

good fishing ...

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Sports-Outdoors-Fishing-Rods/zgbs/sporting-goods/3409871

Hard to beat those Carbon Fire rods when they go on sale for half price. I have a ML spinning rod for three seasons that’s seen it’s fair share of action and is still going strong.

billmac reply :

FYI dodgeguy, it was the Dick's in Poughkeepsie where I bought the rods. I don't live near here but I'm down for a training class.

I'm going to give the leaders a try and see what happens. I'm normally a uni-knot guy but I've been looking up Alberto knots and I'll see how it goes. My M/F was meant for crankbaits anyway, so maybe I'll spool that one up with mono.

What size mono is typical for crankbaits? I'm kind of an "8lb mono fits all" guy but that might be a little light for a crankbait setup.

greentrout reply :

On 6/8/2019 at 7:04 PM, NYWayfarer said:

Hard to beat those Carbon Fire rods when they go on sale for half price. I have a ML spinning rod for three seasons that’s seen it’s fair share of action and is still going strong.

he did good ... dick's exclusive ... if they have micro guides .... would be a deal breaker for me ... bps tried that on their bionic blade and it did not go over well ... the blade in the past was once boss ...

good fishing ...

Shimano_1 reply :

I'm pretty sure dicks has the skeet reese rods on sale for like 39 bucks. I wouldn't order one but if I could go put my hands on em and needed a cple sticks on a budget I'd be all over those. Some people dont like em but I'm a fan of their actions especially for that price.

billmac reply :

I saw the skeet reese rods but they didn't have the action listed, and the color was pretty awful. Good price though.

Hook2Jaw reply :

As a budget rod guy myself, I use the 13 Fishing Defy Black series for jerkbaits, topwater, small paddletail swimbaits, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and squarebills. Basically, anything that's a tight line presentation with either treble hooks or excessive feedback. They're not the most sensitive rod I've ever thrown, but they're sensitive enough. They're also budget friendly and in my opinion, attractive.

As far as bottom contact goes, I step up to the *** line, and they're light, sensitive, and strong. I also plan to get two more, one for frogging and the other for pitching jigs. I've seen some of these sticks go for 60 bucks on Amazon and eBay.

I still haven't decided which line to go with for crankbaiting, but I think the devil is in the details with that technique so I might opt for more sensitivity.

3550

Rod shopping on a budget is a nightmare 2024

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