I want to upgrade my old black color 7' Med BPS Crankin' stick, last year I bought the supposedly upgraded newer 7' Med crankin' stick and I didn't care for it as it didn't rip my cranks off of the weeds as well as the older model. Which brings me to a G loomis rod that I saw in a local tackle shop. This model is spec'd for baits ranging 3/8 - 1 oz and 10-20 lb line.

 

What I'm hoping for is that rod will upgrade my sensitivity, have enough flex to keep fish pinned on treble hooked baits yet have enough backbone to rip a trap off the weeds using 12 or 14 lb florocarbon line. The types of baits I would throw on this would be a RC 1.5, Baby 1 minus, 1/2 to 3/4 oz traps and medium diving cranks up to a DT 10 or a Wiggle Wart.I have other cranking rods for deep divers and prefer a spinning rod for light baits like a shad rap so I'm not concerned about using this rod for those applications. That said versatility is important.

 

Can this rod comfortably cast 1/4 oz baits like the 1.5 even though it's a little below spec? As already mentioned, does it do a good job ripping it off the weeds ?  Even though I've been happy with my older model crankin' stick this rod has me tempted, but I want to get as much input as possible given the price. Thanks

i had a CBR845 and in my opinion, like many loomis rods, it fishes a little less powerfully than rated, especially if you get used to the dobyns rating system. i threw 1/4 oz. luhr jensen speed traps on mine and it was fine with lures of that size and bulk. however, the reason i sold mine was because, for some reason, my hookup ratio with it was poor. crankin' rods are my favorite kind of rods and i was happy to add the CBR845 to my collection of crankin' rods but i seemed to have a harder time converting bites to fish landed with that rod more than any of my others. the only explanation i could possibly come up with is that the CBR845 was too sensitive! 

21farms if I may ask are you using a Dobyns and if so which model ? Please review it's strengths & weaknesses if you can. Thanks

21farms if I may ask are you using a Dobyns and if so which model ? Please review it's strengths & weaknesses if you can. Thanks

actually, i'm not very helpful with rod reviews. it's pretty much all seat-of-the-pants for me so i don't know how much useful information i can give you, only general impressions. in terms of dobyns crankbait rods, i have the 705cb glass and used to have the 704cb and have fished the 705cb MF glass. the gloomis CBR845 fishes slightly under the dobyns 705cb but is significantly more powerful than the 704cb. fishing the 705cb MF reminds me an awful lot of the lamiglas SR705R/XCF705R i used to love so much: wet noodles that never, ever let a fish get unbuttoned but half the time you didn't feel the bite to begin with. the 705cb was at one time my favorite crank rod but i haven't taken it out once in probably the last year and half and i think its because i've gravitated toward lighter rods (the 705cb is 5.4 ounces, the CBR845 is 4.6 ounces but my veritas 7' M/MF is only 4.1 ounces).

If anyone is considering Loomis rods act now, they about to have a 20% price increase!

Tom