Just bought a H20X angler rod, as well as a pack of square bills. Anybody have opinions on the brand?? Thanks in advance

They have a deserved reputation of a good house brand.  However, they don’t like Californians.   

33 minutes ago, Happybeerbuzz said:

They have a deserved reputation of a good house brand.  However, they don’t like Californians.   

 

Californians don't even like Californians. 

 

On my visits to Texas, I have checked out Academy and the H2OX brand stuff seems like it's (dollar for dollar) probably at least as good as the house brands from Bass Pro or Cabelas for whatever that's worth. 

I like my fellow Californians just don’t like my Politicians!

We don’t have H2O or Academy, we do have BPS and I avoid doing business with them after they screwed Cabelas.

We have a few very good local bass tackle shops that will do business with.

Tom

My grandson Aiden has a H2O Xpress Ethos Nano rod, I would compare it to Dobyns Fury.

 

H2O's tungsten weights are as good as any, I mean it's a weight what do you expect. 

 

H2O's hard baits are equal to & in some categories better than BPS.

 

Ain't dealt with their plastics...yet!

 

You can't go wrong with most of the Academy fishing H2O Xpress offerings. Have been using them for years.

Count me as an H2OX fanboy, I've not used a product of theirs that was subpar yet. The Angler rod I have is the best $30 rod I own, but for an extra $20ish a daiwa aird-x is an excellent step up. I use several of their old Tac40 and Tac40V rods. Those were the best value in rods I've come across. Their jerkbaits are one of the best values around in fishing lures. I've found the line, reels, and plastics to be somewhat less impressive, but overall in my opinion they are the single best house brand in existence and it isn't a close contest at all. In my hands, the BPS house hardbaits and hardware feel ridiculously fragile by comparison 

Their Angler series of rods are fiberglass blanks.  Nothing wrong with them at all. I use them as throw around truck bed rods.  But I would give their Premier rods a try. They are IM6 graphite blanks and are a lot more sensitive and less parabolic than the anlger series. 

Have 2 heavy ethos. good rods 

14 hours ago, Catt said:

Ain't dealt with their plastics...yet!

I'm pretty sure Big Bite Baits was making their new soft plastics. I don't know what will happen now BBB has been bought out. I bought some 'flukes' (just called 5" Jerkbait) from BBB not long before Academy made the packaging change, and it looks like the same mold. They are not bad, but the plastic is a little too soft for flukes.

I haven't tried their rods, line, or soft baits, but their crankbaits are not only better than other store brands, but some are better than way higher priced name brands.  High highly recommend their 3/8 oz. square bill, and 1/4 oz medium diving Model M.  They come with oval split rings, decent hooks, run true out of the box, and most important, catch bass as well as other crankbaits that cost twice as much.  Down side is they wont ship to CA, which is how I get most of my tackle to Mexico.

5 hours ago, king fisher said:

I haven't tried their rods, line, or soft baits, but their crankbaits are not only better than other store brands, but some are better than way higher priced name brands.  High highly recommend their 3/8 oz. square bill, and 1/4 oz medium diving Model M.  They come with oval split rings, decent hooks, run true out of the box, and most important, catch bass as well as other crankbaits that cost twice as much.  Down side is they wont ship to CA, which is how I get most of my tackle to Mexico.

I've had the same experience with the H20 crankbaits, especially the square bills. They're as good as anything out there. 

 

Tom

On 9/19/2023 at 12:17 PM, MAN said:

Their Angler series of rods are fiberglass blanks.  Nothing wrong with them at all. I use them as throw around truck bed rods.  But I would give their Premier rods a try. They are IM6 graphite blanks and are a lot more sensitive and less parabolic than the anlger series. 

Yeah it’s a great rod, lots of action. Use it as a  cranking rod.

On 9/19/2023 at 12:17 PM, MAN said:

Their Angler series of rods are fiberglass blanks.  Nothing wrong with them at all. I use them as throw around truck bed rods.  But I would give their Premier rods a try. They are IM6 graphite blanks and are a lot more sensitive and less parabolic than the anlger series. 

Yeah it’s a great rod, lots of action. Use it as a  cranking rod.

Thanks for all the help guys!! Based on my purchase, I WILL be buying from H2O again

H2O Xpress....quality products with a really dumb name.  

1 hour ago, KP Duty said:

H2O Xpress....quality products with a really dumb name.  

 

They changed it early this year, just H2OX now.

 

Can definitely attest to a few of their hardbaits, the Ultimate Jerk Shad and the 5/8oz medium profile lipless (5/8 oz RT on the website) are very effective and also very inexpensive. The tungsten weights are great, as well. Haven't tried the rods yet but the old Tac-40 felt fantastic when I played around with it. Wish I'd have picked one up to try out when they were clearancing them out. Felt very similar to my Fury 705CB

3 hours ago, KP Duty said:

H2O Xpress....quality products with a really dumb name.  

I agree.  Its H20X now. 

I ran across this thread doing a search for H20X tungsten weights. I havne't tried their weights yet, but I have had great results with several of their products. Their squarebills, Mini sqaurebill, the soft plastic binder/shoulder bag.

 

A buddy bought some of their line, I didn't fish it, but I spooled his reels for him. I wasn't really impressed, though it's been 3 years now so I can't remember exactly why.

I've never tried their brand of line, but I have tried the tungsten. I can't tell much difference from any other. At certain times they put it on sale at crazy cheap prices so it's a good deal.

I have the Metal bait casting rod since 2012. Really my favorite Spinnerbait rod . Can’t kill it. It looks worse than I do but it keeps on going . So I like em 

They have 20% off almost all fishing stuff online right now. Their tungsten is fine, that stuff is generic no reason to use name brand. I don't like their line, I just use big game (also on sale there right now). Their rods/reels are ok. Have tried a couple, I like to add about $20 and get a name brand that is much better most of the time. 

Their hard baits are known to be great, I don't throw hard baits a ton so don't know.