I am needing help decided on which rod I should buy to go along with the Shimano Chronarch im about to purchase.  I fish soft plastics 50%, buzzbaits and poppers 30%, spinnerbaits 10%, and crankbaits 10% (usually lipless).  The soft plastics i fish are texas rigged half the time, and weightless half the time (senko's and trickworms).  I have been hearing really good things about an ***, St Croix, and Irod.  Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks guys

***. Best 100 bucks you could ever spend on a rod. I've got a 7'1 mh fast and it's ridiculous how good it is.

yeah, hard to beat the *** for $100 spot. Also the dobyns savvy 734 would be a good choice for all around use.

 

Dave

Whats your price range? Those companies have a bit of a range of rods at different price points.

my price range is anything shy of $200. Really thinking heavily about the ***

powell 704 max or 714 endurance would be good rods for those baits

I would go with any St. Croix rod to be honest. Ultimately it's going to come down to preference... Everyone has their own. The *** is a sick rod for the $100 range, but they don't have technique specific yet. I would get an Avid Series from St. Croix, it's just shy of $200. If you want to go a little lower, you could do the Premier or Mojo Bass.

Powell endurance would be my vote

St. Croix Avid in your price range if you want all the LIFETIME warranty upgrade options for later. Premier if not, those would be my choices, but there are other decent rods out there.

Of those three I'd also go Avid, a very good rod for under 200. 

Wait for the next sale (Father's Day or July 4th) and pick up a St Croix LTB 7'1" MF "Plastics" rod. It will be well worth the wait and it will look sweet with a Chronarch!

I am needing help decided on which rod I should buy to go along with the Shimano Chronarch im about to purchase.  I fish soft plastics 50%, buzzbaits and poppers 30%, spinnerbaits 10%, and crankbaits 10% (usually lipless).  The soft plastics i fish are texas rigged half the time, and weightless half the time (senko's and trickworms).  I have been hearing really good things about an ***, St Croix, and Irod.  Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks guys

 

One rod is not going to fish all of these techniques well. You might want to add a cheap setup in there and use it for your topwater and cranking techniques, and throw that $200 into a nice bottom contact rod. That rod should be able to cover your spinnerbaits and buzzbaits as well. If it were me, I would go with a Phenix Recon 715c. They have a slow enough taper to cast a wide range of baits decent, are very light and should cover the techniques mentioned. Another good option would be a gen1 Cumara. They float around at some very good prices and they are high performing rods.

Thanks everybody for the info and suggestions.  I am really appreciating it.

One rod is not going to fish all of these techniques well. You might want to add a cheap setup in there and use it for your topwater and cranking techniques, and throw that $200 into a nice bottom contact rod. That rod should be able to cover your spinnerbaits and buzzbaits as well. If it were me, I would go with a Phenix Recon 715c. They have a slow enough taper to cast a wide range of baits decent, are very light and should cover the techniques mentioned. Another good option would be a gen1 Cumara. They float around at some very good prices and they are high performing rods.

I would definitely vouch the Cumara gen1.  Awesome rod. 

I just went through the headache of shopping for a solid all around rod - night fishing as copilot on a smaller boat and not really wanting to deal with a bunch of rods on the deck. I finally decided: "Okay, okay, okay, I'll spluge a little more than I really want to." I pulled the trigger on a 7'2 MH x-fast Cumara. FANTASTIC rod... I mean FRIGGIN' FANTASTIC. From what I was told, you won't find one rod that does everything, yet I'll say this rod has handled everything I've used it for just fine. Bulk of the time I fish jigs, worms, c-rig, flukes, swimbaits, and poppers. It handles spinner's and all the shallow crankbaits I've put on. Granted, some situations the rod strength and taper aren't ideal (which is where I believe this "one rod won't do it all" business comes from.)

 

Having said that, I also fish a 7'2 MH fast Crucial. IMO, they are really similar, but the Cumara is noticeably lighter and more sensitive. 

Something I really like about them, too, is how they have a large opening under the reel so I can get 3 fingers on the blank, making it WAY more comfortable to palm all day. 

 

Anyhow, I'll swear by my Cumara and Crucial... Cumara being $250ish and Crucial being $150ish. 

Kistler Carbon Steel. Starting price is $89. Or a Phenix Recon for $159. Both are great rods

I own an Avid 7' and a Powell 703. I like the feel of both but the Powell is lighter and I have less fatigue after a long day fishing. They both have the power and work with different setups. Check the web for deals and have fun fishing.