I know its pretty common knowledge  that certain companies like St Croix and Abu Garcia tend to run heavier in power, but is there a general rule of which companies tend to be on the slower side of fast?

Phoenix seems to be on the slower side of fast as does Megabass.

This has been my frustration for years.  Speed and power are relative terms for each company that can and do vary in each lineup.  My dobyns dx743 rods are supposed to be fast but they are the slowest fast rods i own.  Slow enough to make good crank bait rods. The power of croix rods are touted to be above other companies but feel just right to me. A st croix medium, fast is a lot faster than my dobyns 743 medium, fast.

4 hours ago, Angry John said:

This has been my frustration for years.  Speed and power are relative terms for each company that can and do vary in each lineup.  My dobyns dx743 rods are supposed to be fast but they are the slowest fast rods i own.  Slow enough to make good crank bait rods. The power of croix rods are touted to be above other companies but feel just right to me. A st croix medium, fast is a lot faster than my dobyns 743 medium, fast.

 

Similar, my Fenwick Aetos MH MF is faster than most "fast" action rods I've fished and has backbone similar to St. Croix in terms of overall power.  Not surprisingly, even the Aetos fly series is very, very fast.

Do most Dobyns run on the slower side? My Sierra 703 sf seems to have a fairly fast tip imo.

 

I should have put this in the original post but I am asking about spinning rods more so than casting if you guys think that it matters at all.

It's very hard to make a comparison since rods are not rated to a universal scale.  They are rated to other rods in their respective lineup.  If you want to compare rod of different manufacturers, you almost have to handle them side by side.  For example, if I compare a CastAway to a Quantum, the CastAway will be stiffer in the same action but that may differ depending on which rod series I compare it to for example a Quantum Smoke rod and a Quantum KVD vs a CastAway.  You can only draw general assumptions on the "published" action of any rod.  

2 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

It's very hard to make a comparison since rods are not rated to a universal scale.  They are rated to other rods in their respective lineup.  If you want to compare rod of different manufacturers, you almost have to handle them side by side.  For example, if I compare a CastAway to a Quantum, the CastAway will be stiffer in the same action but that may differ depending on which rod series I compare it to for example a Quantum Smoke rod and a Quantum KVD vs a CastAway.  You can only draw general assumptions on the "published" action of any rod.  

 

I know, sadly this is my dilemma. I am trying to get a general idea of which companies tend to be on the slower side of fast since I didn't hit the Powerball and cant afford to try them all out.

Just now, PatrickKnight said:

 

I know, sadly this is my dilemma. I am trying to get a general idea of which companies tend to be on the slower side of fast since I didn't hit the Powerball and cant afford to try them all out.

You'd almost be better served by picking your favorite rod manufacturer (or one you know the action of) to use as a base to judge against.  Then everyone who has used that brand can weigh in on it's action vs other rods they have used.  In spinning rods, you are lucky since they "seem" to be closer in action than casting and the options are much fewer.  My biggest problem is not the action but the actual construction such as whether they splined the rod properly because I am a finesse fisherman and usually really put my rods to the test.  

4 hours ago, TOXIC said:

You'd almost be better served by picking your favorite rod manufacturer (or one you know the action of) to use as a base to judge against.  Then everyone who has used that brand can weigh in on it's action vs other rods they have used.  In spinning rods, you are lucky since they "seem" to be closer in action than casting and the options are much fewer.  My biggest problem is not the action but the actual construction such as whether they splined the rod properly because I am a finesse fisherman and usually really put my rods to the test.  

 

 

Good point on the baseline. I suppose we can use my Dobyns Sierra 703 SF as the baseline since I am really looking for a ML rod with a slightly slower action than this one has on it.