Your Favorite Rod and Reel Brands 2024
cgolf reply :
When I did my Black Friday reel thread I definitely saw that some that had brand preferences. I know I have some on my reluctant to buy list too. Will be interesting to see others favorites:)
Spinning Reels 3 brands
Pflueger Presidents
Daiwa - even though I always have order extra bail springs
Shakespeare - I have 2 excursions and a Cattera that have lots of years of river fishing abuse with zero issues.
Spinning Rods
St. Croix
Baitcasters
Lews orange crush is awesome, 30 mark rose Walmart clearance reel not great
Quantum, but my reels are 10 plus years old, no knowledge of current
Daiwa Laguna and Viento solid magforce with twitch stick tons of issues
casting rods
St. Croix
Cabelas Pridigies
As you can tell I am a lower end guy (cheap lol) and not brand loyal.
Brands I would prefer to stay away from
Shimano
Pinnacle
I have two Abus about to be wrapped for Christmas so another brand to try.
mrcimon reply :
I’ve got 1 Spinning setup.
St. Croix Legend 7’1 medium
Shimano Stradic Ci4+ 2500
My casting setups are mainly G.Loomis and St. Croix rods with Daiwa and Shimano Reels
Jig Man reply :
I have an assortment of rods; Gloomis, Fenwick, Falcon, and St Croix. I don't know how many reels I have but I carry 18 in the boat. All of my reels both spinning and bait casting are Shimanos.
GReb reply :
Don’t have a favorite. My arsenal is a hodge-podge of brands. There are so many quality items from different brands I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer. I’d say my favorite rod currently is the Falcon Cara and favorite reel is Lews. But I catch plenty on dobyns, st croix, ALX, daiwa, quantum, etc.
Matt_3479 reply :
Rods
-gloomis
-st.croix
reels
-shimano
-daiwa
MIbassyaker reply :
I am a fan of anything I can get a good deal on.
Mobasser reply :
I'm not really brand loyal. Use a bunch of stuff older and newer. Rods- Shimano, Fenwick, St.Croix and Berkeley. Reels ABU 4600c, 5500c. Spinning- Various Shimano, 1 Diawa, and vintage Zebco Cardinal4. Most all is mid grade tackle.
greentrout reply :
casting reels...cabela's, bps, kk, quantum, pflueger...spinning reels...mitchell, shimano, browning...spincast reels...zebco & abu garcia...
casting rods...bps...cabela's fish eagle II ..fenwick...all star...shakespeare...spinning rods...bps...daiwa...
good fishing...
Swbass15 reply :
Rods spinning abu st croix and one other, casting abu crowder Wright and magillis and an MHx I built
reels spinning all lews speed spools casting pro qualifiers Daiwa and abu.
best set up to fish overall the Daiwa on the crowder rod.
WRB reply :
I am not into brand preference however reluctant to change anything that works good.
For decades I used Abu Swedish made Ambassaduer reels while buying a few other brands like Shimano, Lew's and Daiwa reels. In the mid 90's I changed to Shimano Calcutta round reels and Daiwa TDHA's, now Tatula low profile reels and still use them. Spinning changed from Cardinals to Shimano Stractic.
Rods, Fenwick and Lamiglas were the rods I used for decades, then changed to Loomis followed by Dobyns swimbait rods, ALX custom baitcasting rods, changed from Phenix to Major Craft spinning rods.
I use a mix of brands and tend to keep my tackle for along time.
Tom
new2BC4bass reply :
You should try a Pinnacle Primmus Xi HS. A favorite of mine. Why do you want to stay away from Shimano?
I am not brand loyal. I have favorites from quite a few brands. A list would be fairly long. 
A lot of my rods and reels are older models. I am worse than Tom. I seldom get rid of anything. 
In reels I have favorites from Daiwa, Shimano, Pinnacle, Pflueger, Okuma, Abu and Lew's. Plus the unmentionable.
Rods: ALX, Falcon, Fenwick, Daiwa, Dobyns, Megabass, Major Craft, Abu and believe it or not....Quantum. Plus a couple customs.
cgolf reply :
On 10/12/2018 at 10:53 AM, new2BC4bass said:You should try a Pinnacle Primmus Xi HS. A favorite of mine. Why do you want to stay away from Shimano?
I am not brand loyal. I have favorites from quite a few brands. A list would be fairly long.
A lot of my rods and reels are older models. I am worse than Tom. I seldom get rid of anything.
In reels I have favorites from Daiwa, Shimano, Pinnacle, Pflueger, Okuma, Abu and Lew's. Plus the unmentionable.
Rods: ALX, Falcon, Fenwick, Daiwa, Dobyns, Megabass, Major Craft, Abu and believe it or not....Quantum. Plus a couple customs.
Mainly from another forum years ago that seemed everyone used Shimano and pushed them as the best. Of course ignoring the binding issue on the spinning reels;) I was also low budget then and took a beating for my ugly stick Shakespeare excursion setups;)
So that turned me off to the brand, even though I am sure it is really good quality.
RyneB reply :
Reels: Mostly Abu Garcia, but I also have a few Curados and Lews. I have 1 Daiwa Tatula that I just cant seem to part ways with. It's just a reliable reel that casts a country mile.
Rods: i prefer ALX, that's what most of my rods are. I have a couple Kistlers and an old BPS Rick Clunn topwater rod that has done well for me.
cgolf reply :
On 10/12/2018 at 10:42 AM, WRB said:I am not into brand preference however reluctant to change anything that works good.
For decades I used Abu Swedish made Ambassaduer reels while buying a few other brands like Shimano, Lew's and Daiwa reels. In the mid 90's I changed to Shimano Calcutta round reels and Daiwa TDHA's, nowxTatula low profile reels and still use them. Spinning changed from Cardinals to Shimano Stractic.
Rods, Fenwick and Lamiglas were the rods I used for decades, then changed to Loomis followed by Dobyns swimbait rods, ALX custom baitcasting rods, changed from Phenix to Major Craft spinning rods.
I use a mix of brands and tend to keep my tackle for along time.
Tom
I am with you, I have three quantum accurists that are my workhorse reels and have been for about 15 years and will still be in the mix next year. Will be really bummed when they give out. Wish I had bought more, but I was new to baitcasters then and probably only had three casting rods at the time.
Dens228 reply :
St. Croix AvidX rods
Lew's reels
cgolf reply :
On 10/12/2018 at 11:18 AM, RyneB said:Reels: Mostly Abu Garcia, but I also have a few Curados and Lews. I have 1 Daiwa Tatula that I just cant seem to part ways with. It's just a reliable reel that casts a country mile.
Rods: i prefer ALX, that's what most of my rods are. I have a couple Kistlers and an old BPS Rick Clunn topwater rod that has done well for me.
How do you like the Abus? Just got a left handed gen 3 S (acadamy sent me wrong reel and was out of rights, but they gave me a fair deal) and an STX HS Gen 3. Love my Abu round Musky reels, hope these are as good.
RyneB reply :
I like them because I have small hands and they just fit my hands better than other reels. Of the 4 brands I have, I dont hsve anything negative to say about any of them. I have had good luck with all of my reels, I had one Curado that i sent the hook and the drag stripped. But that's really the only issue I have had.
fishwizzard reply :
Reels I am mostly all Daiwa. I have gotten so used to their braking systems that I have a lot of trouble switching to anything else.
Rods I mosty use Loomis and Megabass but if I had to pick one it would be the loomis MBR rods, they work well for about every presentation I have tried on them.
basseditor reply :
I’ve spent about 10 years buying mostly Kistler Rods. The new 2019 Zbone rod is really their best achievement to date.
I have a variety of rods, but Kistlers are my favorites.
Two years ago, I began buying all Daiwa reels. But I have Daiwa reels from the mid-1990s too. Also, I have about 10 Cabela’s Arachnid reels (designed by Daiwa) that I really like. I use those on my 20-25 lb. line set ups with heavy action rods. I first read about those on this forum. Thank you guys.
I have 5-6 Steez (bought my first Steez through this forum) on my lightweight rods (Kistler 3 power LMH ZBones). If I could get away with fishing those all the time, I would. But, many times I need the power rods.
I have almost 40 Kistlers now and with my two sons, we’re at about 80 Kistlers. But I’m done buying for awhile. (Although I really want to try a rod made with graphene. Just curious.)
Mike L reply :
I have more Fenwick's than any other brand but it just seemed to work out that way.
My next rod will most definitely be an ALX.
Most of my reels are Shimano's which again just happened to happen.
Believe it or not the one I end up useing the most is a PQ.
Mike
Mobasser reply :
On 10/12/2018 at 10:11 AM, Mobasser said:I'm not really brand loyal. Use a bunch of stuff older and newer. Rods- Shimano, Fenwick, St.Croix and Berkeley. Reels ABU 4600c, 5500c. Spinning- Various Shimano, 1 Diawa, and vintage Zebco Cardinal4. Most all is mid grade tackle.
The next casting reel I buy will be a Shimano Calcutta.
NYWayfarer reply :
I have reels, spinning and baitcasters from all the major brands that I have purchased over the years.
Right now I find the rods and reels I fish with the most come from 2 brands, Lew's and Kastking.
I love my Lew's baitcasters. The Tournament MB and the Mach 1 see most of the fishing action nowadays. Kastking Speed Demon and Assassin also see action. Spinning gear is mostly my Kastking Sharky 3 and my Lew's Mach 2.
As far as rods go I like my Kastking Perigee 2, Calamus and my Lew's Mach 1 rods. My Denali AttaX and Zeynx see a lot of use as well.
18RangerZ520L reply :
I'm strictly Shimano/G.Loomis for rods & reels. 
I cleaned and repaired reels for almost 10 years. Shimano is #1 in my opinion for quality, etc. Daiwa is a close 2nd, then Abu Garcia.
My current arsenal:
(14) Shimano/G.Loomis Conquests
(4) G. Loomis IMX Pro's (3 swimbait/1 crankbait)
(10) Shimano Metanium MGL HG's
(4) Shimano Stella FJ 3000's
(4) Shimano Calcutta 400D's
MrPeanut reply :
I'm not brand loyal at all, both my rods and reels are a hodgepodge. I tend to use whatever the best deal I can at the time to get the most bang for my buck, but mostly there's so many good brands out there I like trying different things. Otherwise how would I ever know if I like it better. To me a lot of the fun of fishing is trying new baits / techniques, and also new equipment.
Rods - mix of loomis, dobyns, st croix and alpha angler
Reels - mix of Abu, shimano, lews and a ***
Boomstick reply :
For spinning reels, I'm partial to Daiwa and Pflueger. I'm a huge fan of the Daiwa BG especially for the price, but if I'm on a budget, the Daiwa RG or Pflueger President are great reliable options.
For casting reels, I'm partial to Daiwa, Pflueger and Shimano. I have two Tatula SVs which are great and I got my youngest son a Pflueger Supreme XT and I really like that reel. My oldest son has a Shimano Curado K, which is also a very nice reel I'd consider again as well.
For casting rods, I tend to go with St. Croix Mojo Bass or Daiwa Tatula rods. They're solid rods at a solid price point.
My #1 spinning rod is a St. Croix Avid X. I figure any added sensitivity will help. I did not go with the Tatula finesse rod because when I read reviews, every single person said they broke the tip off, often on a 1lb fish which was alarming. I also considered a Dobyns Sierra and a St. Croix Mojo Bass.
Topwaterdude reply :
Daiwa Tatula's and Fuego's paired with Dobyns fury rods.
volzfan59 reply :
Working at BPS had it's privileges, as in a great employee discount.
Casting; 5 BPS Platinum rods and reels for everything except cranking. I have 6 BPS Crankin' Sticks with Pro Qualifier reels (all 5.3:1 with one 4.7:1).
Spinning; 4 BPS Patriot rods, 6 BPS Carbonlite rods. The Carbonlite rods have Carbonlite reels. The Patriots have Pflueger President reels
I do own one St. Croix Panfish Series rod with a Shimano Sahara reel.
soflabasser reply :
Shimano and Penn are my favorite reel brands.
fishon2 reply :
For Bass & Bay Fishing
Rods: Falcon & St. Croix
Reels: Bait Casters. Shimano 200 E Series Curados & Chronarchs, Spinning various Shimano.
Recently considering Diawa Spinners, the Fuego LT has me intrigued!
Shaners reply :
Spinning Reels- Diawa, Pflueger.
Baitcaster Reels- Shimano, Daiwa.
Rods- St.Croix, Diawa.
shovelmouth83 reply :
fav reel is Lews. rods are falcon, diawa, ugly stick, and penn.
cgolf reply :
On 10/14/2018 at 3:56 AM, shovelmouth83 said:fav reel is Lews. rods are falcon, diawa, ugly stick, and penn.
I do use a couple of ugly sticks too. They are great for shore fishing on the river and it lives in my truck all summer.
tander reply :
All of my casting reels are Lews with Falcon rods. My spinning rods are Lews with Pflueger reels.
TBAG reply :
Spinning reels: Shimano Stradic, with some older Sedonas.
Baitcasting reels: 95% Shimano Curado K's with a couple older BPS Pro Qualifiers and a Daiwa Fuego CT
Rods: St. Croix with a couple Loomis and one Dobyns Fury
bigfruits reply :
BC: Shimano, Daiwa
Spinning: Shimano
Rods: Megabass, Loomis, St. Croix
Bankbeater reply :
Rods:
Daiwa, Berkley, BPS, and St. Croix.
Reels:
Shimano, Daiwa, Abu Garcia, and Pflueger.
fishon2 reply :
On 10/14/2018 at 12:53 AM, fishon2 said:For Bass & Bay Fishing
Rods: Falcon & St. Croix
Reels: Bait Casters. Shimano 200 E Series Curados & Chronarchs, Spinning various Shimano.
Recently considering Diawa Spinners, the Fuego LT has me intrigued!
Bought a Diawa Fuego LT 3000 spinner yesterday time will tell how much I like it...
LOTR88 reply :
I have been pretty happy with Lews, I use them for all my casting rods and reels, I don't use a lot of spinning gear any more but I do have a few Ugly Sticks with Penn Fierce 2 reels that work well when needed.
stratoliner92 reply :
Curado 70 with (older version)GLX BCR803 great t-rig setup
onthewater102 reply :
I became disenchanted with name brands delivering no-name quality internals 10 years ago or so and started looking into the materials the internal components were constructed of and found out about the Pure Fishing group slapping brand labels on imported products, many of which were at different price points in the market and yet contained inter-changeable internal component parts.
Bass Pro Shops Pro-Qualifier
Rather than pay for the overhead of operating all those name brands I searched out one of the store brands Pure Fishing was attributed to distributing and was very happy with the Bass Pro Shops Pro-Qualifier line of baitcasting reels, which had a dual braking system only available on brand name reels costing roughly 2x the amount at the time I bought them. With their one-piece aluminum main frame and plastic side plates, brass gears and stainless bearings I had those reels for between 7 and 9 years (I bought several over time) and sold the last them (all still working as well as they did on day one) last month for $50 each. I tore them apart during the off season, cleaned and re-lubricated each one and they lasted.
Piscifun Phantom
Recently I was intrigued enough by the lightweight of the Piscifun Phantom and dropped down my $60 to get a test subject. It uses a carbon composite frame to get the weight down to 5.6oz, which didn't turn me off to it since it does achieve an extremely light weight (normally I stick to reels built on an aluminum one-piece frame). Internally they spare no expense - it uses high tolerance stainless shielded bearings throughout, 7075 alloy aerospace grade aluminum for the internal crankshaft and main drive gear, along with metal for the thumb-bar, its linkages and other internal components and a machined 1 piece 6061 aluminum spool (ported so that it weighs in at 14 grams with the bearing!) The only plastic internals are the sprockets to drive the line-guide worm gear and the yoke, all of which are plastic even on $400 top of the line Shimanos so these aren't strikes against it. Judging by the quality mechanical components inside it this is an excellent reel. Clearly it makes use a composite frame to save huge amounts of weight not as a cost-cutting measure.
After getting my hands on one and pulling it apart side by side with a Gen 3 Revo SX I turned around and ordered two more - the Abu was FULL of plastic components!!!.
blckshirt98 reply :
I have a Frankenstein's mix of rods and reels that I picked up at various sales and closeouts, but if everything went down in a fire and I could only pick one brand of rods and one brand of reels to replace everything, it would be -
Reels - Shimano
Rods - Phenix (though St. Croix would be a very close runner up)
Westcoast reply :
I like buying gear so far for rods my favourite is gloomis, I have everything from e6x to nrx. Then I have a few others such as sage gear, Abu, Kistler, St. Croix, and one Edge. Reels I have a bit of everything abus, Shimanos, and Daiwa(I think Daiwa has the lead though).
Fly gear is mostly some of everything from sage, Winston, Loomis, echo, Lamson, Ross, nautilus, Abel, and hardy. My favourites being the sage/Loomis/Abel combos.
BaitFinesse reply :
Megabass, Daiwa and Shimano.
burrows reply :
Duckett
powell
stcroix
abugarcia
shimano
gloomis
denali
I would probably have more favorites but these are the only brands I’ve personally owned I’m not brand specific.
reels- diawa and shimano
BaitFinesse reply :
On 10/18/2018 at 5:04 AM, onthewater102 said:I became disenchanted with name brands delivering no-name quality internals 10 years ago or so and started looking into the materials the internal components were constructed of and found out about the Pure Fishing group slapping brand labels on imported products, many of which were at different price points in the market and yet contained inter-changeable internal component parts.
Bass Pro Shops Pro-Qualifier
Rather than pay for the overhead of operating all those name brands I searched out one of the store brands Pure Fishing was attributed to distributing and was very happy with the Bass Pro Shops Pro-Qualifier line of baitcasting reels, which had a dual braking system only available on brand name reels costing roughly 2x the amount at the time I bought them. With their one-piece aluminum main frame and plastic side plates, brass gears and stainless bearings I had those reels for between 7 and 9 years (I bought several over time) and sold the last them (all still working as well as they did on day one) last month for $50 each. I tore them apart during the off season, cleaned and re-lubricated each one and they lasted.
Piscifun Phantom
Recently I was intrigued enough by the lightweight of the Piscifun Phantom and dropped down my $60 to get a test subject. It uses a carbon composite frame to get the weight down to 5.6oz, which didn't turn me off to it since it does achieve an extremely light weight (normally I stick to reels built on an aluminum one-piece frame). Internally they spare no expense - it uses high tolerance stainless shielded bearings throughout, 7075 alloy aerospace grade aluminum for the internal crankshaft and main drive gear, along with metal for the thumb-bar, its linkages and other internal components and a machined 1 piece 6061 aluminum spool (ported so that it weighs in at 14 grams with the bearing!) The only plastic internals are the sprockets to drive the line-guide worm gear and the yoke, all of which are plastic even on $400 top of the line Shimanos so these aren't strikes against it. Judging by the quality mechanical components inside it this is an excellent reel. Clearly it makes use a composite frame to save huge amounts of weight not as a cost-cutting measure.
After getting my hands on one and pulling it apart side by side with a Gen 3 Revo SX I turned around and ordered two more - the Abu was FULL of plastic components!!!.
I've heard good things about the Piscifun Phantom. Keep in mind that it is a cheaper reel than the Pro Qualifier. The centrifugal brakes are not serviceable like the Doyo brakes on the PQ. If you wear your brake blocks down you will need to buy another spool because the centrifugal brake holder cannot be disassembled without destroying it in the process. There is not removable cover to access the brake blocks for service like the PQ. A replacement spool is like $10 though so it is a non issue IMO. Also aluminum gears are not as durable as brass so I wouldn't expect to hold up as well as the PQ under heavy cranking loads. The light weight spool and good centrifugal brake of the reel supposedly makes it a good caster of lighter weight baits. Based on everything I have heard about the reel it is the better Kastking Assassin. Lower profile, faster ratio, bigger main gear and newer version of the Trulinoya dual brake.
Further North reply :
My preference is...a little of everything, but nothing cheap.
I find that, like folks who are breed-blind WRT hunting dogs, folks who cling blindly to one make of anything (cars, trucks, boats, motors, fishing gear fish species to chase...anything) miss out on a lot of great stuff.
crypt reply :
bait casters,abu's- spinning,penn. rods mixed bag,Daiwa,Loomis,Abu,Dobyns.lately been building my own so my blanks are MHX,Rainshadow.
onthewater102 reply :
On 10/26/2018 at 11:08 PM, BaitFinesse said:
...If you wear your brake blocks down you will need to buy another spool because the centrifugal brake holder cannot be disassembled without destroying it in the process...
I don't know where I'd order parts for it besides replacing the entire spool, but the centrifugal brake holder can be disassembled without a problem, I took mine apart already once just playing around with it and put it back together without an issue.
On 10/26/2018 at 11:08 PM, BaitFinesse said:
...Also aluminum gears are not as durable as brass...
The aluminum alloy used in the gears in this is 7075 T6 - a fact I confirmed with Piscifun directly while writing an article on this reel for a different forum. It has over 3 times the shear strength of brass. This is not a typical alloy to be used by reel manufacturers (typically they use 2024 T3) which is probably where you've seen aluminum gears end up weaker than their brass counterparts.
I just sent a pair of Quantum Smokes back to the factory for warranty repair because they used that cheaper alloy among a long list of other inferior components.
On 10/27/2018 at 3:49 AM, crypt said:...lately been building my own so my blanks are MHX,Rainshadow.
I've been building rods for a few years now, those MHX rods continue to impress me - especially at their price point. You can shop around the different lines and find some exceptionally lightweight blanks.
Speaking of which, I put one of the Phantoms on a 6'9" Med Power Fast Action (one of my hand built rods using an MHX blank) and weighed it fully spooled with line...9.4 oz for the rod, reel & line:
By comparison, an empty Gen 2 Abu Revo SX weighs 9.0oz by itself:
BaitFinesse reply :
On 11/3/2018 at 4:00 AM, onthewater102 said:I don't know where I'd order parts for it besides replacing the entire spool, but the centrifugal brake holder can be disassembled without a problem, I took mine apart already once just playing around with it and put it back together without an issue.
The aluminum alloy used in the gears in this is 7075 T6 - a fact I confirmed with Piscifun directly while writing an article on this reel for a different forum. It has over 3 times the shear strength of brass. This is not a typical alloy to be used by reel manufacturers (typically they use 2024 T3) which is probably where you've seen aluminum gears end up weaker than their brass counterparts.
I just sent a pair of Quantum Smokes back to the factory for warranty repair because they used that cheaper alloy among a long list of other inferior components.
I've been building rods for a few years now, those MHX rods continue to impress me - especially at their price point. You can shop around the different lines and find some exceptionally lightweight blanks.
Speaking of which, I put one of the Phantoms on a 6'9" Med Power Fast Action (one of my hand built rods using an MHX blank) and weighed it fully spooled with line...9.4 oz for the rod, reel & line:
By comparison, an empty Gen 2 Abu Revo SX weighs 9.0oz by itself:
You are bolder than I to attempt disassembly of the centrifugal brake. I made an effort at disassembling a Trulinoya centrifugal brake and while it looked like it could be possible if you were careful not to break the plastic lip that acts as a retaining ring it was clearly not meant to be disassembled and serviced and is just snapped together. If you ever want another spool for that reel it is the same diameter as the Kastking Assassin/Spartacus, Seakinght Elf and Johncoo reels. The Piscifun Phantom uses a newer style Trulinoya centrifugal brake that is better from what I hear but if you're ever in a pinch needing a spool then those will work. I know Seaknight sells a shallower Elf spool for $10 on Aliexpress. I have one in a Spartacus.
Aluminum gears are notorious for not being as durable as brass. It is a weight savings measure but even on $300+ reels there have been reports of pinon and main gear failure. Often times the reel is still 100% functional but develops a grainy or geary feel. It is possible that Trulinoya has broken the mold and a $40 reel has amazing aluminum gears that are stronger than brass and will outlast brass gear sets but I find that highly suspect. At best they have good aluminum gear set that is of high quality for a cheap reel.
Nice matching combo btw.
onthewater102 reply :
The combo match was purely by accident - I made this rod and several others on the same color scheme over the last two years and found the phantom only a few months ago.
I can't vouch for their assertion that it's made of 7075 aluminum, but unless they're straight up lying it is an unusual alloy selection for sure.
ww2farmer reply :
My current favorites are:
Reels- Daiwa both spinning and casting
Rods- Dobyns, and custom built.
In the past I have enjoyed a few Lew's (casting only), Abu (casting only), Pflueger (spinning only), Cabela's badged Daiwa's and Shimano reels, as well as select Shimano, Daiwa, St Croix, Fenwick, Berkley, Falcon, Abu, Cabela's, Gander Mtn, and Halo rods.
Was never a fan of any Quantum (both rods and reels), BPS products (both rods and reels) Pflueger casting, Abu spinning, Lew's spinning, or any of the Kistler, Wright & McGill, Lew's and TFO rods I have also had.
But not every product from brands I have liked has been a winner.
For example with rods: I did not care for ANY Abu Veritas rods (any generation) or Gen 1 Abu Vendetta's....I did like the Gen 1&2 Vengeance, the Gen 2+3 Vendetta's. I love Daiwa Aird X rods, the Fuego's not so much. I enjoyed Shimano Convergance, and Compre's, but the various iterations of the Clarus and Sellus I had were dud-ish to me.
I am not blindly brand loyal...but after years and year of just buying and trying tons of stuff I can honestly say I have almost NEVER been let down by a Daiwa or Shimano reel at any price point....and in hindsight I regret selling off a couple of my favorites out of boredom and wanting to try "something else". I wish I still had ALL my E series Curado's and Citica's back, as well as my old red/silver Team Daiwa Fuego reels...aka the poor mans Team Daiwa Z.
I have had a similar journey with rods...I'm not sure there is a $50-$200 rod that I have not tried. Not finding exactly what I wanted led me to the custom rod route...and those select few custom built rods are the ONLY rods that survive my rod purges when I am searching for the next "one". It's early in the game with my new found love of Dobyn's Rods, but the hype is real...these may just be the ones for me going forward. A few years back St Croix was about as close as I came to falling in love for life with one brand of rods...but they change stuff too often and started using components I don't care for (like when the went to Fuji SKT reel seats on the LTB rods) and everything else from them was "almost" what I wanted, but just not quite "it".
cgolf reply :
On 11/11/2018 at 1:25 AM, ww2farmer said:My current favorites are:
Reels- Daiwa both spinning and casting
Rods- Dobyns, and custom built.
In the past I have enjoyed a few Lew's (casting only), Abu (casting only), Pflueger (spinning only), Cabela's badged Daiwa's and Shimano reels, as well as select Shimano, Daiwa, St Croix, Fenwick, Berkley, Falcon, Abu, Cabela's, Gander Mtn, and Halo rods.
Was never a fan of any Quantum (both rods and reels), BPS products (both rods and reels) Pflueger casting, Abu spinning, Lew's spinning, or any of the Kistler, Wright & McGill, Lew's and TFO rods I have also had.
But not every product from brands I have liked has been a winner.
For example with rods: I did not care for ANY Abu Veritas rods (any generation) or Gen 1 Abu Vendetta's....I did like the Gen 1&2 Vengeance, the Gen 2+3 Vendetta's. I love Daiwa Aird X rods, the Fuego's not so much. I enjoyed Shimano Convergance, and Compre's, but the various iterations of the Clarus and Sellus I had were dud-ish to me.
I am not blindly brand loyal...but after years and year of just buying and trying tons of stuff I can honestly say I have almost NEVER been let down by a Daiwa or Shimano reel at any price point....and in hindsight I regret selling off a couple of my favorites out of boredom and wanting to try "something else". I wish I still had ALL my E series Curado's and Citica's back, as well as my old red/silver Team Daiwa Fuego reels...aka the poor mans Team Daiwa Z.
I have had a similar journey with rods...I'm not sure there is a $50-$200 rod that I have not tried. Not finding exactly what I wanted led me to the custom rod route...and those select few custom built rods are the ONLY rods that survive my rod purges when I am searching for the next "one". It's early in the game with my new found love of Dobyn's Rods, but the hype is real...these may just be the ones for me going forward. A few years back St Croix was about as close as I came to falling in love for life with one brand of rods...but they change stuff too often and started using components I don't care for (like when the went to Fuji SKT reel seats on the LTB rods) and everything else from them was "almost" what I wanted, but just not quite "it".
My struggle to upgrade baitcasting rods forced me to give up, because I use braid on all my baitcasters and like a more moderate action. I really feel this allows me to keep fish locked on even with lipless baits.
What I found is the majority of rods 150 and up were fast action sticks that while more sensitive, won’t have the forgiveness I need with braid.
Starting to to wonder if it is more difficult to get a moderate action out of the graphite used to craft the higher end rods.
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