New Rods

Wanting to get 3 new rods for this bass season.
Budget is close to $100. I fish ponds, lakes and reservoirs in Iowa. We do fish Hackensack area once a year for bass.
I am looking for these rods.
Bait Casting Texas Rig rod. I fish this way quite often in the ponds and small lakes here. Would probably double for football jigs also.
Bait Casting Top water rod. Poppers, frogs and buzz baits.
And them a Spinning rod for wacky rigs, ned rigs, jig worms.

7′ rods are long for me, I’m used to using the older shorter stiff rods but I know things have changed a lot and longer rods are the way to go now,

I have been looking at Dobyns Fury rods and KVD series rods. I can go to Bass Pro (local) and get my hands on the KVD rods but would have to mail order the Dobyns rods. I think its always good to get my hands on them to see how they feel before buying. But I have read a lot of good reviews on Dobyns rods.

Asking for any suggestions you might have for getting new setups.
Thanks

My best recommendations are Fenwick HMG rods or Daiwa Tatula XT rods. The fenwicks you can get your hands on in most stores. But if it were me I would be buying the Daiwa’s. They just redone them for this year and they are an awesome rod. Very light and super sensitive. IMO the best bang for the buck rod. And they come in about every model you could want.

Mike some choices in rods you may want to look into.
Shimano Clarus-90 bucks and the SLX-100 bucks both nice rods.I’ve got 2 of the Claruses for the GF and decent rods.
The Fenwicks are nice also and Abu Garcia has a couple in the 80-100 dollar range.
If you have a BP\Cabelas or a big sporting goods store where you could look at different ones and decide what you like.
If you look up Sixgill on line they often times run BOGO sales.
As far as rod length and action 6’6″ for all three.BC med-hvy,and med.the spinning rod i would go with a med action also.
Good luck.

My top choice for the $100 price would be the Tatula XT. I have three of them and they are very light and sensitive. Great quality for the money.

Second I would go with the Dobyns Fury although I feel that they are heavier in weight that most competition.

Next I would go with the Shimano SLX and finally the Clarus. I was really impressed by the sensitivity of the SLX as it is almost as good as the Tatula XT and it nicely balanced. The Clarus is the Vexilar of rods. Its not fancy and doesn’t have the latest and greatest, but it’s going to do it’s job well. Those are the ones I’ve used most in the past in that price range.

Hands down Daiwa Tatula XT. I have 3 of them also and for a $100 rod that you can regularly get for 15 – 25% off of you cant really beat it for $75 or $80. I have two of the 7’1″ mlxf and one 7’3″ mf spinning rods.

I have a Omnia membership so I get 10% back in credit and free shipping and then you can get discounts for usually 15% off or possibly a bit more. Really a convenient place to buy from.

That new Daiwa XT lineup is the best in class IMO. They are going to carry some models at Fleet Farm.

Thanks for the suggestions. I’m looking at them now. Thanks again

Just started building rods. I hope I am building rods that work and are worth $150. Sitting by the hot water heater by the card table is relaxing. Get a kick out of carbon fiber grips. Hope they don’t explode on the first hook set. I’m using MHX and Rainshadow blanks. Anyone else build rods? I’ve made them for my wife and daughter. They don’t fish much, but I made them to my specs.

ssaamm wrote:

Just started building rods. I hope I am building rods that work and are worth $150. Sitting by the hot water heater by the card table is relaxing. Get a kick out of carbon fiber grips. Hope they don’t explode on the first hook set. I’m using MHX and Rainshadow blanks. Anyone else build rods? I’ve made them for my wife and daughter. They don’t fish much, but I made them to my specs.

I know rodworks on here builds rods, and John from TUCR comes on every now and then, but I’m not sure too many bass guys are building their own rods. Most bass guys are gear hoarders so I think they like buying rods instead of making them.

ssaamm wrote:

Anyone else build rods?

I am always happy to try and help if you have any rod building questions. $100 a rod is hard for me to hit since most of the blanks I order come in around that price before anything else is added.

Well, I went a different direction and bought a 2B Ceres spinning rod. New series so I will see how I like it.

Mike Burke wrote:

Well, I went a different direction and bought a 2B Ceres spinning rod. New series so I will see how I like it.

I got to see a few early versions of those by chance last fall and they seem decent for the price and from a smaller company.

One thing i will say is you may want to have 2 different rods for top water- one for frogging the slop and pads, and one for your poppers and walk the dog style baits. Longer 7’0(at minimum) heavy power fast action for frogs, shorter 6’0 to 6’6 medium for the other. 7’0 can be a little long for the downward twitching motion required for jerkbaits, popper, and spooks, especially if/when you’re on shore. But you want as much power and leverage(also bigger hooksets) when fishing in the thick stuff.

Not a big bass guy and don’t claim to know too much. Just figured I’d throw that in!