Been looking for a new rod lately, spinning rod.  I fish mostly for clear water smallies in the Great Lakes area but sometimes in smaller creeks for largemouth. Out of these rods, what would you choose? 

 

New *** black

Abu Veracity 

Dobyns Fury

Fenwick HMG

 

Something along those lines.  Need something for long casts, heavier droppshotting, and alittle of everything else.

 

GO!

Id say fenwick out of those.

But i love my shimano crucial.

Everyone says *** black in 3...2...1

I don't see nearly as much mention of the HMG as I do for the *** (which I've admittedly never tried), but the HMG is seriously an awesome rod. Mine is 7' MF rated for lures 1/4-3/4oz. I can launch them extremely far. Plenty sensitive for me, and I've had pretty good success using it thus far. 

I don't see nearly as much mention of the HMG as I do for the *** (which I've admittedly never tried), but the HMG is seriously an awesome rod. Mine is 7' MF rated for lures 1/4-3/4oz. I can launch them extremely far. Plenty sensitive for me, and I've had pretty good success using it thus far. 

I see that Fenwick's MF rods are rated to 3/4oz and most other brands a MF rod is rated to about 1/2 or 5/8oz. Are fenwicks stiffer and rated higher? Because the heaviest weight I use happens to be a 5/8oz for dropshotting in a river.

I get the impression that they are both stiffer and rated higher, but don't take my word for it. I'm sure there are others who have experience with some or all of the rods you listed that could provide their insights. 

I have 2 of the 4 you listed....7'3" M/F *** (last years) & 7' M/F HMG. I like both rods a lot but I use them for different applications! To help you out on comparison of these 2 rods....*** definitely has a softer tip & a little more sensitivity but not by much on the other hand the HMG a little stiffer with a better backbone plus life limited warranty rather than a 5 year warranty! I'm sure that all those rods you listed would work just fine but IMO the HMG would be the better rod for river fishing! Good Luck & Tight Lines

Phenix M1

Like aprilbass 101 I own 2 of the brands listed, and the *** happens to be the same 7'3" MF original model.  I like it a lot except for the skinny handle.  The end cap came off after using for a little while.  My HMG is a recent addition purchased on the recommendation of smalljaw67 (Dan).  It is the 7' 2" Medium/Moderate-Fast and is rated for 3/8 - 1 oz.  Normally I personally would consider this weight range to be a MH.  Dan may come along and explain why it is such a nice rod.  I've had it out a couple times locally, but haven't caught any fish on it yet.  Got a 6.3 Tatula spooled with 12# AN40 mounted on it.  It will sling a 5/8 oz. squarebill quite a ways.  (At least I think it is the 5/8 oz. model I've got on it.  Either that or the 1/2 oz.)

 

I've got several Fenwick rods, and feel they give you a lot for your money.