Nov 15, 2020 12:20 pm

I figured with black friday coming up it would be the perfect time to purchase my first couple higher end rod/reels. I'm a bank/kayak angler and currently own 6 bass specific combos with most of my rods and reels falling around the $100 price point. However I'm not completely in love with any of my gear. I find myself taking 2 combos with me most of the time with my maximum being 3.

So I decided I want to try and get 2 high end versatile rods, one spinning and one baitcaster and try to stick to those two combos for all of my fishing. I am only 5'8 and have a preference for shorter rods and cork but both of those things are negotiable. My budget is around $500 per rod. I mostly use walking topwaters, popmax, vision 110, weightless plastics, shakyhead, jika rig, square bills and lipless cranks, soft plastic swim baits (keitech, spark shad etc.) and small hardbody swim baits(less than 1 ounce)

I think I've pretty well got my baitcaster narrowed down to the megabass p5 destroyer cyclone. Haven't got a reel picked out yet but I'm leaning towards the steez SV TW.

However I am still completely undecided on what spinning rig to pair with this to achieve the greatest versatility. I've looked at numerous offerings from megabass, shimano and daiwa online. Not sure if I should go with a medium light spinning rod or medium. The steez ags looks appealing with it's wide weight range but is pushing the budget.

Here you go:  

Match this with a Shimano CI4+ and you are good to go!

p.s. St. Croix M is comparable to other brands MH.

Hey man, have you given any thought to a custom rod?  Call Mike @Delaware Valley Tackle he can definitely put together an idea of what you want and come under the budget.i paid a good bit less that your budget for a crankbait/trap rod. With very high end components and high end blank

 

Gonna get my thoughts together on another rod and get him started again in the next couple weeks.

Depending on the weight of the baits you’d be tossing on the spinning rod. I don’t think you can go wrong with an option from megabass or loomis. I use a megabass brigand for throwing my underspins, small jigs and heavy dropshots. An 852 loomis would fill this bill as well.Then  I use a loomis dropshot blank only for really light dropshots and tiny finesse Swimbaits on 4# line. 

2 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

Here you go:  

Match this with a Shimano CI4+ and you are good to go!

p.s. St. Croix M is comparable to other brands MH.

Sweet I was actually just looking at these. Any recommendation for a casting rod to pair with it in lieu of the megabass

Well, you really need two. One for treble hooks (most lures) and one

for single hooks (jigs and soft plastics). Perhaps one this year and

another next year?  A compromise, and one of my favorite rods, is the

G.Loomis GLX MBR842C.  

 

Oops!

MBR appears to be superseded by JWR.  So the recommendation

is GLX 852C JWR

My 2 high end rods to meet your needs would be both casting rods. Although I may have concerns if the hard baits are truly 1oz. 

GLX 842c MBR 

GLX 843c MBR

 

If I was dead set on 1 being a spinning rod I would swap the 842c for the GLX 842s SJR, which I am told is the same rod blank.

 

These rods also have a 6'6" option if you want shorter and cork handles. And less expensive options in IMX Pro and E6X. 

 

NOW if I was on a kayak and there was a chance I could turn over and loss my gear, I would not use my glx rods but would choose my less costly option. Hammer Rods in MH and H, which fishes more like M+ and MH+. They are very parabolic rods which allows them to be even more versatile rods to me than the Loomis MBR. Hammer rods come in 6'9" and 7' options BUT they have winn grips. If you want cork you could get the Hammer JAK series in 7' with same blanks and still under less than 1/2 of your budget. 

 

I would not recommend the 852 jwr rod and loomis still makes the 842 MBR's. I have the glx 852s and all of the rods I recommended above.  I love my 852 jwr but for single hook lures only due to the xf tip! The 842 blank is slower, thus more versatile and would handle those crankbaits, jerkbaits, and topwater lures a lot better! 

 

Pretty much any standard Medium Fast and MH Fast rod should cover what you need! At a $500 price point, is is hard to beat the GLX MBR for versatility, sensitivity, and warranty! 

 

Man, for that kinda coin, I'd opt for a custom built rod/rods. That way, you get Exactly what You want...?

I do the same thing, two rods on the kayak. I went with a 7' Medium Expride A spinning rod with a 2500 Stradic FL and a 7'2" Medium-Heavy Expride A casting rod paired with a Curado 200 K. I'm kind of a Shimano fanboy though. Can't get enough of those Exprides. 

Ended up getting a loomis NRX 842 spinning and a megabass otomat on sale and went well under my budget my only concern is the 842 might be too light and the otomat too slow in the action for these two to cover the wide range of baits I want to use 

19 hours ago, Firstoutfisher said:

Ended up getting a loomis NRX 842 spinning and a megabass otomat on sale and went well under my budget my only concern is the 842 might be too light and the otomat too slow in the action for these two to cover the wide range of baits I want to use 

 

I think the NRX 842 spinning rod should suit you fine, but the Otomat tip might be a little but slow. It should be pretty solid for treble hooked lures but for soft plastic action, the Daemos would be the way to go, however if you throw a lighter wire hook (Owner J-Light for example) and lighter soft plastics, it may work pretty well.

 

I use a St. Croix Mojo Bass Topwater rod which is 6'8" M/XF rated for 6-14 line, so like the other St Croix medium rods, this one doesn't run heavy, which I use for topwater, jerkbaits, and even lighter weightless soft plastics. It also works decently for crankbaits too but I prefer my 7' glass rod which is slightly longer. I know it's below your price range, but I just mention this as it would cover weightless light soft plastics and treble hooked lures as good as any.

 

Maybe your long term goal should be to add the Daemos and make it a 3 rod setup if the Otomat doesn't work out exactly as planned.

As you can see from the comments above the loomis mbr line of rods is very versatile. Just figure out how much power you need based on how heavy the lures are and how heavy the cover is. I went with the mbr 844 because I like to power fish in and around cover. But from what I hear the 843 is a good all around rod for most people. Then just get an nrx for your Spinning Rod, it’s a no brainer don’t overthink it. It’s the standard by which all other rods are measured.

There are so many high end rods these days.  It used to be just  choosing between a GLX or Croix LE.  With all these newer high end models by different makes, you just need to pick a few models that tickle your fancy, and then make your decision based on user and Tackle Tour reviews.  Such a personal decision...they're all good at this point.

9 hours ago, KP Duty said:

It used to be just  choosing between a GLX or Croix LE.  

 

 

That was me, too!

Now I am slowly replacing these with custom built RainShadow Eternity and Immortal

blanks.  My brother just got back into fishing and picked the right time.  He hated

spinning tackle until I set him up with my favorite production rod:   G.Loomis GLX

PR844S/ Stella 2500FB.  I told him he needed two rods. The other is a St. Croix

Legend Elite ES70MF.