I’m looking for a good frog rod that I can also use for flipping. I have a reel ready for it I just need to buy the rod. Any recommendations for rods around $100 or under?

I have a Bass Pro graphite series flipping stick that for me works great for both

7 6 med heavy a little more on the heavy side. Good rod for the money.

If you can find a Phenix Maxim 7'3 H, it's a great stick for the price. I am using a Phenix M1 7'4 H for that purpose. They run a touch lighter than most everyone else, so it's more of a MH+, but I have pulled almost 6# bass out of heavy pads without much issue on 65 braid.

If I were looking for a rod to do both, I personally wouldn't go longer than 7'. I have a 7'3" frog rod and a 6'9" pitching stick. The frog rod is far too fast in the tip and a little too long to have a good pitching touch. Just my $.02.

Ark rods are typically great for the price. Something in Cobb line would come in under $100. The Tharpe line is a bit better, and around that price too.

TATULAXT731HFB

7'3"

Heavy

Fast

12-25lb

3/8-1 1/2oz

8+Tip

15-1/4"

Cast B

Buy Now

Daiwa Tatula XT Casting Rods - Tackle Warehouse

Dobyns Maverick is a great rod right in that price range - I have fished those and they are nice for the money.

Spend a little more and you can get an irod gen 3 Fred’s magic stick - excellent rod with top shelf components and on sale you can get them around 120$.

I have liked my abu veritas rods - those are great when you can get them on sale.

Can’t complain about the shimano SLX rods - very nice rods for the money - with a guide replacement here and there - I’ve been fishing a couple of them for 6 years!

I’d go Irod just for the guides and blank but there’s tons of great options - the truth is pretty much any rod can be pretty great these days - it’s just what features do you need and how good of a deal can you find kinda.

Save up and get a Dobyns Champion 736. That model is special.

I have the OG tatula 7'4" HF. I believe they make the same model in the new Tatula XT series.

It would help to know what kind of line you are using and if you are fishing from the bank, and what kind of cover you want to fish in.

Whatever the line and cover you fish there are few lines of rods that are a great value at that price point.

The Oath line by 13 fishing is one of the more premium $100 rods you can get today. The material they use to make the reel seat is similar to that which you would see on rods 3x the price. The actions and powers are consistent. In just about all of their lines, 13 (and many other companies) offer a 7'4 Heavy Fast. It's essentially a do it all H action. 13 also has an $80 lineup called Jynx that is a decent value as well, but the extra $20 for the Oath gets you a blank that is 2 levels above that which is used on Jynx. The better quality 36T Toray blank is much lighter, more sensitive and recovers fast.

Tatula always gives you good value for the price and I feel Daiwa makes some of the best rods on the market, and Tatula XT isn't an exception. IMO I think the 36T blank on the Oath is a little better than the blank on the XT, but Daiwa really knows how to squeeze every bit of performance from a blank. There are some things Im not crazy about with the XT, like the bulging reel seat. Despite my preferences for thinner reel seats, Tatula XT is definitely close to the top of the list when it comes to $100 rods.

Ark is a smaller company that has a certain formula for building rods. Ark spends more money on the "soul" of the rod, the blank. and spends less money on the components. Fuji makes outstanding guides and reel seats, but you pay for that name. By designing proprietary guides and reel seats that have similar performance to some of Fujis' designs, Ark can build a $100 rod uses a blank (40T) that you would have to spend over $250 to get on most other rods. 40T blanks are light sensitive and offer crisp actions. Using the same blank for almost every rod, means that powers and actions are really consistent throughout the different line ups. For every H pwer rod bought, a company may sell 5 or 6 MHs. You can see the popularity of MH rods reflected in the different options of a given rod line. There may be 4 or 5 MH designs and only 1 H power. If there is only 1 H design, they will try to make it as versatile as it can be. 7'2 or 7'4s are common because they are long enough to have good casting distance, although they may not be ideal, they can be used for close quarters. In the Cobb series ($100) Ark offers a 7'1 and 7'5 H. The 7'1 would be ideal for short accurate casts and the 7'5 would be great for flippin or slinging frogs. H power rods can be a little weighty and when they get over 7'2 or 7'3 they can be tip heavy. Even if the rod was light, if its tip heavy, it will feel much heavier than it really is.

Last and not least is Dobyns. While there are lighter and more sensitive options, if you're looking for a H power rod, especially if its going to be 7'3 or longer, Dobyns should be near or at the top of the list. As Ive stated, there are lighter and more sensitive options, but Dobyns have always had more progressive tapers, which is what you want. Broomsticks are powerful, but dont cast very well and are a drag to fish with all day. Just a little give in the tip will help with pitching and launching frogs, as well as getting enabling you to take up slack and set the hook without the fish feeling too much resistance. I really like Gary Dobyns approach to powers and actions as well. His H power rods are more like stout MHs, that makes them very versatile. Dobyns and other brands, (including Ark) offer a Mag Heavy. A Dobyns Mag H is like a traditional H, but there may be just a little more power in the lower end and again the tip will have some give, which makes them so much better to use all day and just more effective to fish. This drives me nuts, because I dont know why every brand doesnt do it, but Dobyns always builds the guides on the spline and counterweights are added to the butt. This is debatable, but IMO, running the guides opposite the spline (on the spline for spinning rod) to ensure the blank doesnt want to lean left or right when under load, is a good thing. To me, a properly splined rod just casts straighter loads better and functions more intuitively. One of the reasons I don't favor Dobyns for lighter rods is that the added weights make them a little heavier when compared to other rods. Once rods get over 7'2 pr 7'3, they start to become tip heavy, especially more powerful blanks. Say you have a super light 7'6 flipping rod, that weighs 4oz. On paper its light, but its not going to feel good in hand, particularly after a couple hours. The extra ounce or 2 doesn't look good on paper, but that weight keeps the center of gravity at or below the reel seat. The lower COG means a better balance. Good balance results in a lower "felt" weight, and lifting the 6.5' ft of heavy power blank above your hand is essentially effortless. Its exactly like a shotgun. The Remington 1100 was a hefty shotgun, but it was engineered to have exceptional balance. The great balance makes for a shotgun that feels as if it jumps into your shoulder on its own and perfectly straight with little effort.

As for which Dobyns to get, its hard to say. They have similar actions and powers in most lines, but the different blank materials cause some lines to have a little more or little less bend when compared to the same length power and action. For example the Sierra line has more bend than the Kaden or Champ lines.

Personally, I think the Frenzy (DSG exclusive rod) feels better than the Fury and Fury is about double the price. I came really close to walking out of DSG with a rod that I don't have any use for. That monkey on my back kept whispering, "$80!? I can't afford to NOT buy it."

See if you cant get any of these rods in your hand at big box store like BPS/Cabelas or smaller tackle shop. As the guys working there what their opinion is about the rods, then pick them up yourself and see which one jumps out at you.

If it were me the top 3 would be

7'1 H F Ark Cobb

7'3 Mag (Heavy+) Dobyns of which ever line you prefer.

7'4 H F 13 Oath

Good luck

The

FIN