which one?

[marcusn]

carrot stick ($100 one), veritas, vendetta, shimano compre. out of these which one do you think is the most durable and gets the most bang for your buck. i guess i would be getting this rod for finesse type fishing. thanks for the help.

[roadwarriorsvt]

I only use cheap Shimano's but I think Basstracker has a Carrotstick. Maybe he can give you a review of it.

[skunked]

New Compre and Crucials coming out so you can get the outgoing models real cheap. Lifetime warranty on those, but they are really boring looking, if that matters to you. Love my Crucial CRCD66M paired with Daiwa Pixy and 8 lb. fluoro.
Veritas: Heard some stories about them breaking, but might have been just a bad batch. I like the white blank.
Vendetta: Too stiff for finesse. The lowest power Med. feels like most other brand's Med. Heavy. The butt cap is metal. Potagee designer. I get scrapes on my abdomen whenever I use mine.
Carrot Stick: Very light, but guides look low quality to me. I am still curious to try one though.

[BASSTRACKER]

love the carrot stix sooo light and very sensitive, have a spinning and a casting one i got when they were onsale for 89$ and both are in the medium heavy and i think 6'9" size. had to learn to recast em they are so diffrent feeling from the heavier rods. i read alot of bad reviews on them breaking but i have caught several large tucs on em and they held, if thats not a strength test i dunno what is! all in all id get another or 2 myself but im waiting for em to show up in the bargain cave again!

[Stan Wright]

I like my $300 plus Sage Fly Rods. Lifetime warranty. When ever I break a rod tip off in the electric car window, ceiling fan, or screen door.... I just send it back along with $35 postage and handling.... and get a new rod.

[Filthyfisherman]

I've tried them all!!! The Abu Garcia's and Carrot sticks have a shorter butts which Im not a fan of. I like the two hand long cast with leverage.... The Wright and mcgill rods I found are the best! And less exspensive.. All preferance...

[seabass]

The carrots are light, but yes, they have short butts. We did fine with cheapo Shimanos in San Diego and caught spotted bay bass up to 3 pounds and I even lost a hali that was well over 30 inches on the same outfit. It's all preference.

YOU can catch big fish with gummy bears for bait and string tied to a baseball bat. You don't even need hooks!

[kahuna bass]

Guys,

All are good, but I'm more a Phenix guy.

Espacially the new Phenix Recon series. A bit more than what your looking at but has all the fine qualities of the JDM brands.

Mel - Kahuna Bass
Darkside fishing rod guy
(Oh, sorry Stan....I forgot, I can't spam on your site, espacially when I'm the Director of Sales and Marketing for Phenix Rods )

[Stan Wright]

The reason I started the Forum page was so everyone could exchange ideas.
And I had an "idea" you might want to put your 2 cents in.


I figured since you are in the rod business, you could give everyone some good advice on how to choose a rod, or what rod, for what kind of fishing your doing.... (there seems to be a lot to think about, and a lot to choose from):shock:

We're lucky that we have so many knowledgeable fisherman here on the Forum that are willing to share their advice and love of fishing. Everyone seems to have their favorite brand of rod (in Skunkeds case... many rods)

I don't see anything wrong with telling everyone which rod you like.

What was that commercial?
"I liked the_____ so much, I bought the company".

[BASSTRACKER]

its all relative im sure, i have alot of cheapo rods and am always lookin to upgrade without the high price tag. i think you can pretty much find a rod in your price range in most brands. most importantly is what and how you wanna fish and find the right action for you, i just bought a 39 dollar shimano convergence on sale at cabelas right now, i have had one for many years and i love it! decided to get another before they discontinue, alas they didnt have a exact match so i got the closest one and it needs some testin hahaha maybe this weekend! bottom line youll find what you want and ther are alot of bargains to be had just keep an eye out!

[Basshead]

Fishing rods comes in all types of styles, action, etc. Choose the one that suit your needs. What applications or type of lures youll be using with it, will it be for pitching, long casting, short casting for accuracy, etc? Every rod serves its precise purpose. The newer rods with thru handle blanks are lighter than the cork butts, but most thru handle rods are off balanced, compared to the cork handles, they are more balanced but a bit heavier, they also float in the event it goes overboard. Basically, rod choices are based on your specific needs. The pros use the best thats out there, Why, they make a living out it. Notice they all preffer different brands, partly cause they are sponsored by those companies, but most of all they have complete confidence in there rods and equipment. Choose the right rod and you should be just fine. Always remember, that a rod that works well for you may not work well for another, we all have different ideas of what a good rod is.

[Stan Wright]

Travel Rods

Casting & Spinning Rods... I have several of the "Travel Rods".
I can put these into the suitcase or hand carry. It's so much
easier than hassling with an 8 foot rod case filled with 1 piece rods.


Fly Rods - I only buy the 4 piece "travel" rods. Some people like
the 2 piece rods.(better action?) If your going to travel, it is so
much easier to travel with a rod case you can put inside the
suitcase or hand carry on board.


With the quality of rods these days, I can't really tell the
difference myself. The convince of travel rods more than
makes up for any lost of rod action between a 2 and a 4 piece rod.

Most "travel rods" are on the more expensive side...
but that also means a Lifetime Warranty.
And a quality rod you'll enjoy using.
St. Croix spinning rods start at around$100 - $250
G-Loomis around $310-$375
Sage makes flyrods $400 - $800

So whether your headed to Las Vegas for stripers,
Mexico for largemouth, Christmas Island for oio and ulua,
Alaska for trout and salmon... or the Neighbor Islands for a visit with relatives...
Traveling with a "Travel Rod" is the only way to go.

[( 808) bass hunter]

I would go w/a( fenwick GT 2pc 5 1/2 ft UL 1-6# ) fast taper , but has the back bone to reel in big fish!!! on the plus side its farely cheap!!! under sixty bucks!!! and you cand find @ charleys fishing supply, so you dont have to wait for it to come in, if they dont have it in stock they'll order it for you no @ xtra cost!!! BANG FOR YOUR BUCK!!!

[Ca_Bass]

I have A LOT of rods! From top end team daiwa steez and gloomis, to the low/mid level cabellas prodigys. Since moving back to the mainland I've also been able to hold and mess with a lot of rods i'd been eyeballing online. In my opinion the best bang for your buck rods are made by allstar and specifically their ASR lineup. I have been looking at the abu veritas and vendetts and they are actually pretty heavy and feel awkward and unbalanced . The carrot sticks are super light and feel very comfortable but I have heard they have been susceptible to breaking recently. Sorry filthyfisherman, but I HATE the wright and mcgill rods. Out of all the rods I've had my hands on recently they are the most unfomfortable, heavy, unbalanced rods and overpriced for what they are. I will admit I haven't fished with one but the yellow and black keeps drawing me in to check them out, so I've held almost every model they make. If they were priced somewhere between $60-70 I would say good deal, but $90-110 they are a rip off and extremely overpriced. I have a shimano compre and crucial and they are both very nice.

In my opinion Team Daiwa makes the best bass specific gear. I was gonna say check out their light and tough rods but it looks like they raised the price on em and replaced the $100 rods with another model. You will probably get a better Shimano or Allstar rod for $100 than you would a Daiwa Rod. (but man! their top stuff is NICE) There is a difference in Daiwa and Team Daiwa, Team Daiwa is better quality and also more expensive.

Fenwick makes nice rods too like bass hunter said, but I dont like 2 piece rods. They are usually a bit heavier and not as well balanced. But there are some decent ones, and if you are traveling they are very convenient. I would suggest not getting a 2 piece, unless you plan on traveling with it or hiking with it.

As you can see from the variety of responses it's mostly personal preference. I prefer Team Daiwa, but Team Daiwa makes mostly high end stuff. The quality of shimanos low to mid end equipment is very good. But I think Team Daiwa edges em out on the high end gear. I also think Team Daiwa makes the best finesse fishing gear. DONT BUY QUANTUM!!! I can't believe KVD fishes with that crap!

I would suggest the Allstar ASR 6'10" medium action rod, it is a nice "all purpose" rod(if that even really exists). It's actually made for jerkbait fishing but It will also fish shallow-med crankbaits very well. It's light and sensitive enough at the tip to fish softplastics, but has a strong back bone to drive the hook through, and can be used for lighter jigs. It will also handle spinnerbaits with ease. It can also be used as a topwater rod. I know If I had to pick only one rod from my approximate 25 rods to fish with it would be that one. And it was only $99. It has enough length to cast far, but is not too long that you can make short accurate casts as well.

You seem pretty serious about your fishing, so I would say get a rod for a specific technique, maybe your favorite or a technique you want to learn and get better at. That is hard to do when ordering online, but if you go to tacklewarehouse.com and look at their descriptions, a lot of them will suggest what the rod is best suited for. You can also check out tackletour.com

[skunked]

I HATE the wright and mcgill rods. Out of all the rods I've had my hands on recently they are the most unfomfortable, heavy, unbalanced rods and overpriced for what they are. I will admit I haven't fished with one but the yellow and black keeps drawing me in to check them out, so I've held almost every model they make. If they were priced somewhere between $60-70 I would say good deal, but $90-110 they are a rip off and extremely overpriced.

I also didn't want to disagree with someone on here, but I feel the same way about the yellow rods. I played with a few at Cabelas and I frankly couldn't believe people would actually buy those rods after holding them in hand. I know I am not an expert angler like others here, but I know the difference between a crisp action and a limp noodle rod. I think I stated before that if you took Skeet's name off and painted them black, the sales would drop about 99%!! I am talking about the Tessera series rods. I don't know anything about the higher end series that are out now. Those might be pretty good. On the other hand, like someone else stated, everyone has their own opinion on what is good. Part of the fun of shopping is trying all kinds of different stuff, so have fun experimenting!
Marcus, don't forget about the Carbonlite w/micro guides! Very nice rod for the price.
Now to open up another bucket of worms, what reel are you planning to use with this rod? LOL!