Alright guys, I’m in a pickle here. Over the past couple years I have been transitioning over to Falcon Rods. I have the Expert Amistad,HeadTurner, and Bayou. The Lowrider Heavy Cover Jig and Finesse Jig. Finally the Bucoo SwimJig. 
 

The rod that I’m trying to replace is a Dobyns Fury 734. I love the way that blank fished jigs, Swimjigs and buzzbaits. But I want something lighter and more comfortable to use. 
 

The Bucoo is too light power (Falcon-5) and the Lowrider HCJ is too heavy power (Falcon-6). 
 

So, what I’m wondering is would the Hudson fit right in between the two in the line? If you have an Expert Hudson, what do you use it for? Or if you’ve held one, what would you definitely not use it for. 
TIA

Give falcon a call. One of the techs will give you a couple good suggestions if you tell them what you want to do. Their pleasant to talk to over there. 

I have that model. Although it may be designed for small swimbaits, I use it mostly for 1/4~3/8oz football jigs, as well as 1/8~1/4oz shaky heads. Its action is pretty true to the listed "moderate fast," but it still have enough backbone for single hook applications. To keep smallies pinned, I personally prefer that slower action for jigs. 

 

For a 7'3 rod, the casting is pretty accurate. And for sensitivity, I'd say it's on par with Dobyns Champion. I quite enjoy using it. 

I have the Hudson in the expert line and have fished it a bunch now. I have it rigged with 14 lb suffix elite so take my findings in that grain.  I have the bucoo trapcaster, pitchin stick (head turner) and lizard dragger. I have the expert finesse jig, head turner, amistad, hudson, and lizard dragger/table rock. 

 

it’s a very good mid to big crankbait rod. I’m talking DT 6 up to DT 14 or even a 20.  I’ve fished buzzbaits on it, both 3/8 and 1/2 oz with trailer hooks and trailers. I fished a Texas rigged toad last time out.  I put some time in with a 3/8 swim jig. I think I’ve had other lures on it but that’s the majority. 

 

the closest in your arsenal is the swim jig. I felt one at a store and it feels similar unloaded. The swim jig might have a faster tip but similar power mid-rod. The Hudson wasn’t enough to fully set the hook on a toad. Casts great and I could put it wherever I wanted but hookset wasn’t enough and I lost a couple that I let take a toad but couldn’t drive the hook home. For a buzzbait and sharp hooks it was good. I didn’t set into any fish on the swimjig but for a lighter wire style swim jig great. For a heavier wire maybe not.

 

what’s the rod best for?  Great for a 90 or 110 plopper bait. Treble hooks, lighter wire hooks. Maybe if I wanted to put braid on it then the rod might give a little better hookset. I would think of it as an amistad with 2/3 the power. The amistad is great for driving a heavy wire hook home- perfect for jigs and Texas rigs. The Hudson is not a heavier single hook bait. Compared to what you have, I’d throw a swimjig or jig on your head turner and a buzzbait on either the head turner or the finesse jig even. I throw swim jigs on both of those rods (up to 3/8 on the finesse jig and 1/2 on the head turner).  One has 14 elite, the other 17 elite. For a buzzbait rod, the bucoo sr lizard dragger isn’t a bad shout. I fished it with 17 elite last year for chatterbaits mostly but it also doubled up as backup big cranks and random “other” stuff that wasn’t heavy cover and heavy wire. The trapcaster with mono wasn’t quite stout enough for me for single hooks, but with 832 braid like I have this year wouldn’t be bad and it would be a good choice for lighter swim jigs. The elite table rock I think is underpowered for the rating. Maybe I need to fish it more, but it feels like a 5.5 power not a 6 power. 

 

 

I'd go with the Amistad.

You’d be better off with the 7’4 heavy cover jig, 7’3 amistad, or 7’ all around (lizard dragger)

If you are using it for 3/8oz jigs, swim jigs and buzzbaits I’d use the Falcon swim jig rod.  If 1/2oz and up go with the amistad.    I’m not sure that the Hudson would do anything your existing rods cant do better. 

On 6/23/2022 at 8:15 PM, casts_by_fly said:

I have the Hudson in the expert line and have fished it a bunch now. I have it rigged with 14 lb suffix elite so take my findings in that grain.  I have the bucoo trapcaster, pitchin stick (head turner) and lizard dragger. I have the expert finesse jig, head turner, amistad, hudson, and lizard dragger/table rock. 

 

it’s a very good mid to big crankbait rod. I’m talking DT 6 up to DT 14 or even a 20.  I’ve fished buzzbaits on it, both 3/8 and 1/2 oz with trailer hooks and trailers. I fished a Texas rigged toad last time out.  I put some time in with a 3/8 swim jig. I think I’ve had other lures on it but that’s the majority. 

 

the closest in your arsenal is the swim jig. I felt one at a store and it feels similar unloaded. The swim jig might have a faster tip but similar power mid-rod. The Hudson wasn’t enough to fully set the hook on a toad. Casts great and I could put it wherever I wanted but hookset wasn’t enough and I lost a couple that I let take a toad but couldn’t drive the hook home. For a buzzbait and sharp hooks it was good. I didn’t set into any fish on the swimjig but for a lighter wire style swim jig great. For a heavier wire maybe not.

 

what’s the rod best for?  Great for a 90 or 110 plopper bait. Treble hooks, lighter wire hooks. Maybe if I wanted to put braid on it then the rod might give a little better hookset. I would think of it as an amistad with 2/3 the power. The amistad is great for driving a heavy wire hook home- perfect for jigs and Texas rigs. The Hudson is not a heavier single hook bait. Compared to what you have, I’d throw a swimjig or jig on your head turner and a buzzbait on either the head turner or the finesse jig even. I throw swim jigs on both of those rods (up to 3/8 on the finesse jig and 1/2 on the head turner).  One has 14 elite, the other 17 elite. For a buzzbait rod, the bucoo sr lizard dragger isn’t a bad shout. I fished it with 17 elite last year for chatterbaits mostly but it also doubled up as backup big cranks and random “other” stuff that wasn’t heavy cover and heavy wire. The trapcaster with mono wasn’t quite stout enough for me for single hooks, but with 832 braid like I have this year wouldn’t be bad and it would be a good choice for lighter swim jigs. The elite table rock I think is underpowered for the rating. Maybe I need to fish it more, but it feels like a 5.5 power not a 6 power. 

 

 

Great info man. Thanks for writing all that.