Hey guys, I was looking into buying a general bass fishing rod for Minnesota, fishing for Largemouth, and some pike walleye and others, I was looking into the Lews Mach II speed spool baitcasting combo, and the Lews Mach crush baitcasting combo rod, what’s the difference, and what do you recommend. The crush costs $30 more.

It looks your paying $30 more for dual brakes and carbon fiber drag on the Crush.  Otherwise, they're pretty similar.

 

19 minutes ago, J Francho said:

It looks your paying $30 more for dual brakes and carbon fiber drag on the Crush.  Otherwise, they're pretty similar.

Thank you, but as this will probably be my one nice rod, is it worth it?

 

That's mostly up to you.  I don't use much Lew's gear.  Maybe some of the Lew's fans will chime in.

I use Lew's reels pretty much exclusively, have not tried their rods out yet. It looks like from their website that the only difference between the two rods is the guides.

 

Lew’s Mach Crush SLP Baitcast Combo:
One-piece IM8 graphite blank with Nano technology
American Tackle Airwave guides
Lew’s exclusive SoftTouch graphite skeletal reel seats
Winn advanced polymer Dri-Tac split-grips

 

Lew’s Mach II SLP Baitcast Combo:
One-piece IM8 graphite blank with Nano technology
Guides are constructed with durable stainless steel frames and aluminum oxide inserts
Lew's exclusive SoftTouch graphite skeletal reel seats
Winn advanced polymer Dri-Tac split grip

Nice catch @Turtle135.  The guides alone make the Crush worth the $30, let alone the dual brakes and upgraded drag.

16 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Nice catch @Turtle135.  The guides alone make the Crush worth the $30, let alone the dual brakes and upgraded drag.

 

Would the OP be better off getting the $ 99.99 Lew's Speed Spool LFS reel (with an aluminum frame) and the buying the Lew's TP-1 Speed Stick IM8 Casting Rod (same rod as is in the more expensive combo, also $ 99.99)?

 

Both combo reels have graphite frames (a feature I swore off long ago) but perhaps graphite frame technology has improved? My non aluminum frame reels did not have a long life for me.

Well, I think I’m going to go with the crush, thank you guys so much!

20 minutes ago, Turtle135 said:

perhaps graphite frame technology has improved?

By a lot.  I have several carbon framed reels, some very high end, some lower end, and they all have lasted and performed well.