Your favorite rod set ups.

[Hagen]

Ok this is poised to find out what everyone prefers for Rod setups. I am looking to upgrade some of my older casting outfits as the reel fairy has paid me a visit. :dance: My spinning outfits include a Loomis with an Okuma Inspira and a fenwick with an Okuma Metaloid. But my casting rods I only have one decent rod in a Shimano with a Castaic superfree. The other main rod of choice is an old Mitchell that is on its last season. So what rods do you perfer or recomend besides the usuall Lami's or Loomis?
:cheers:
Hagen

[nitrobass]

7 foot heavy action Pinnacle casting rods. Also, a buddy that makes rods has made me a couple of nice casting rods I drop shot fish with(loomis blanks). Also I've been messing around with a Kistler 'Senko Special' but still cant get into a groove with it. All of them have curado reels, both 100s and 200s.

[BuKuBass]

Spinning: A Kistler 6'9" Wacky Worm rod with a Pinnacle Tactic 35. It handled a 26" rainbow last week just fine.
Casting: A good-old Cabela's 5'6" MagTouchII light action with a tricked-out (ceramic bearings, polished gears and such) Shimano Bantam Mag 251. There's something that's just SO RIGHT zinging a lure out there with the turn-the-doorknob side-arm snap cast.

[baltz526]

i have a few good uglysticks spinning 6.5' to 9' and they are not fancy but they keep on going. one is about 15 yrs old and still fishing great. they are not bmw's but fishing is a chevy/ford type of thing. :dance:

[rebell]

I had a friend build me 3 custom rods last year using Allstars Titanium blanks. Those are the sweetest rods I have ever fished.

I have several Loomis and Lamiglass rods, (shalom and bucketmouth will vouch for me there) but as far as baitcasting rods go, there is nothing finer than those custom built rods.

I also have way to many Lami and Loomis spin rods. But my favorites are 2 custom built rods using Shakari blanks. Spendy, but OH so sweet. :bowdown:

Every rod has Shimano Calcuttas on the baitcasters and Okuma's on the spin rods.

[rob allen]

I haven't designed and built them yet:) as it is now i have a mix of team daiwa, fenwick and LCI.. as I learn more about rod design though i'll have all my own stuff..

for reels i also have a mix of shimanos, a quantum a lews and a couple clunky abu's but i just ordered 2 reels from pass pro should be here today or tomorrow.

[Wannabe]

I too own several curado's/chronarchs all 6:1 as I want the same retrieve. I can just slow down or speed up my retrieve. I'm using Lami's now and have used most of the above rods every one has mentioned. The lami's and loomis are a good choice both for action and warrenty. Their both just over in woodland so two to three week turn around is usually not an option when accidents happen.
<)))><

[bucketmouth]

Spinning: Pinnicle SPX 3661, 3 power.
I use pflueger president spinning reels, daiwa Laguna hard bodyz Spinning rees, and Shimano Stradic spinning reels

Casting: Lami Pro Tournament series XPS 703. Shimano curados. And a Chronarch wanna be owner.

[quacK5]

I love my BPS Micro-Lite 6'6" UL 1-6lb rod w/ my quantum genesis II on it for trout and panfish;

And for bass I have my Quantum 6'6" Medium action rod w/ Quantum Catalyst PTI 30 on it.

I am definetly a Quantum fan!

[sbasser]

My fav rods are Shimano and Quantum. I have some BPS Bionic Blades that I use, but I'm not really fond of. My fav pitching rod is an old BPS "Pitchin' Stik" series, 6'6"Hvy. Stiff like a pool que. I do like the BPS "Power Hump" handles. Most spinning reels are Shimano Stradics. Just got my first 2500, the rest are 2000's. There are some BPS Pro Qualifier 40-size spinning reels (original ones, from years back) that were made by Pinnacle. They're not great reels, but are fairly light for the size, and thus better with 10 lb test mono for skipping Gitzits.

My least favorite rod is a G.Loomis "Aaron Echterncamp Special", a 7' pitching rod blank with a spinning handle. It's too long, I think. This is one of those rods that I just haven't come to find the right situation/lure for. It may be better for 5" Senkos than the 3.5" tubes. The power is right. This rod was created for Aaron for pitching gitzits (and Senkos?) into the willows at Potholes. I'm tempted to have the handle removed, and shorten the thing 6", but it was $220, and by far the most expensive rod I've ever had, so I'm being cautious.

Next most expensive would be $75, the Shimano Speedmaster Flippin' Stick. I have a St.Croix fiberglass cranking rod that I bought used $35, and don't like very well. There's a Shimano Compre that I bought used $20, 7'med. It should be useful for smallish spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, Senkos, etc. Haven't used it much yet. Just today got a new BPS Extreme 6'M trigger stick for spinnerbaits, gotta go open it! Along with another Curado, tho this one is a 201SF...my first "Super Free". I plan to put it on the 7' Compre for jerkbaits, Senkos and small spinnners in open water.

I will admit that I usually carry about 12 rods in my rod locker in the boat. In the canoe, it's two or three. If I'm going someplace new with the big boat, I'll have 16 or 18 rods in the rod locker, because I don't know what to expect. It will probably be a 3-5 day trip, covering several new bodies of water, so also need to have some spares! :cheers: C&R, Steve

[quacK5]

sbasser: I was thinking about buying a bionic blade with the xps weights, but you don't like yours? When I read that I thought I would get a little input on why so that I don't possibly make a mistake. What don't you like about them?

[sbasser]

These are fairly old Bionic Blades, early '90's. They are pretty limber for their power rating, and don't seem particularly sensitive. Newer ones may be a bunch better. I think one would be fine for crankbaits, jerkbaits, etc. Something like a 6.5' or 7' Medium trigger stick. The 6'MH is a good spinnerbait rod. The use of a low-stretch line would make up for some of my perception of numbness, but I don't happen to like any of the superlines I've tried yet. The "3fer" deal got me to buy the Bionic Blades in the first place, and I really like the handle, tho some don't. Don't forget that if you don't like it, you can send it back, but you need to follow their rules. C&R, Steve