Thread: new rod advice and suggestions

Originally Posted by CrappiePappy

I use a ESP PowerLite 6'6" rod for most of my jig casting.

Features : ESP™ Rod Features | ESP™ High Performance Ultra Light Rods by Norsemen Outdoors (specs and their line of rods can also be seen on this link)

I'd purchase one from Grizzly Jigs, since they're cheaper there than the main retail website.

I was a field tester for ESP's designer ... and changed from using a 7' Sam Heaton Sig Series rod to the 6'6" ESP ... mostly for the very fast action tip, and greater sensitivity. The Tenn style handle also allows me to balance the outfit with different size/weight reels, should I decide or need to change reels.

... cp

If you are looking to spend 80 bucks on a rod I would go with an ESP. I owned two of them...a 7 foot 2 piece Power Lite and the 6' 6" UL. I fished the living fire out of them 4-5 days a week 365 a year...one more than the other....I was very partial to the 7 foot 2 piece. I caught thousands of fish with them. I gave the UL rod to a nephew to get him started in UL fishing and had the 7 foot Power Lite stripped and was going to have the guides all replaced with same type guides...micro guides....but with titanium frames and SIC inserts. I also wanted the lacquer stripped off as it was cracking all over. I liked that rod that much to spend the money to do that.....but the rod builder made a mess out of it. By that time I had gotten into high end rods made in Japan and have never looked back. I may not have owned every UL rod sold in the states but have owned a lot...St Croix.....Fenwick Elite Tech River Runner......Daiwa Presso....Loomis Trout Rod.....and many less costly rods. If I was told I could not have my Japanese rods anymore and could have only a rod sold in US stores I would pick an ESP hands down for casting. Those rods are very unique with the sensitivity....made from a great blank. The action is great for casting for crappie....Gills. Just be aware that the inserts on the guides are metal...I never had any problem at all with them....just was not partial to metal inserts. You will not be disappointed if you get one.

Regards

I second the ESP rods... I personally like the 6ft power lite... It's a great rod for tossing jigs... I have used it for a couple years and wanted a second one to just have in case something happened to the one I have so around Black Friday ESP ran a sale of free shipping which for some odd reason normally it's outrageous... The first ESP I got thru grizzly jig but when I checked on the backup they didn't have it and didn't think they would get any in for a month or so... So they might have them now... It's a great rod that I'm sure you would be satisfied with... I also have a ton of other rods (bnm sam heaton, st croix, fenwick, daiwa presso etc) and for casting jigs I'm extremely pleased with the ESP

the ESP is a great rod for sure . but there are alot of nice rods around that price . St. Croix is nice as well ...but again there are alot of nice rods in that price range .
i would suggest going here and there and holding and playing with them all until you have to return to hold one more than once .
and if it requires you to go back 3 times to hold it..... buy it .....LOL KABOOM

Sounds like i will be looking more into bnm and the esp rods. Anyone have any opinions on bnm vs the esp rods

Originally Posted by fishbrain

I had been looking into the st Croix triumph rod. Anyone got opinions on that particular rod

I throw jigs with One! I think its 5' 6".I love it,i have a middle of the road Okuma on it right now.I'll be taking that reel off soon when i can find a President 25 for a good price.My brother and i are having the same problem with the same Okuma reel.Im tough on rods and the little Triumph has held up good.Its been my primary jig caster for 5 or six seasons.

Originally Posted by fishbrain

Sounds like i will be looking more into bnm and the esp rods. Anyone have any opinions on bnm vs the esp rods

Nothing other than what I mentioned before ... that I stopped using my BnM Sam Heaton 7' rod as my primary jig casting rod, when I field tested the ESP 6'6" PowerLite.

The two biggest reasons were : the Sam Heaton has a soft action parabolic bend (bends like a C) whereas the ESP has a very fast action tip (bends like a J). And the Sam Heaton has a fixed reel seat, whereas the ESP has a Tenn handle w/graphite grip rings ... so I can use a variety of different reels on the ESP and still balance the outfit by where I place the reel on the handle. Fixed reel seats don't allow a balanced outfit, outside of a narrow reel weight parameter.

(Disclaimer notice, FYI)
The Sam Heaton was a rod I won in a tournament, and the ESP was a free rod I received to field test for the ESP designer/marketing dept ... so I had no financial binding ties to cause me to favor one over the other. I still use the Sam Heaton, just not as a jig casting rod. I'm not knocking the Sam Heaton, or BnM, by my choice. I field tested the 8' Duckworth FnF rod for BnM, and have good relations with the company & Jack Wells (President of BnM).
I just happened to prefer the action of the ESP rod over the Sam Heaton's action, for my primary jig casting methods. I chose the 6'6" ESP because I already had a 7' rod in the Sam Heaton, before knowing the difference in the tip actions of the two. Had I known the difference beforehand, there's a good possibility I would have chosen the 7' PowerLite ESP.

FYI - Another couple of things of noteworthiness, IMHO ... is that the 6' PowerLite ESP rod has the same length of rod blank from the handle to the tip, as the 6'6" PowerLite ESP. The 6" difference is in the rear extension of the handle (the poodle tail) of the 6'6" version.
Extended handles are for leverage when fighting a fish and/or hook setting ... and the poodle tail version is for the same thing, plus less weight than a fully corked/foamed handle.
The micro guides/tip of the ESP rods are not particularly user friendly with slip float/bobber stop use, because of their tiny eyelet openings.


... cp

I didn't see the esp rods on grizzlys site

Originally Posted by fishbrain

I didn't see the esp rods on grizzlys site

They are not shown on the website. They are shown in their catalog. You can view the 2015 catalog by downloading this pdf : https://grizzlyjig.com/Custom/Linked...CatalogWeb.pdf

Scroll down to pg28 and you will see the models they carry. And remember : all rods longer than 6' will have the extended (poodle tail) handle. Rods 6' & shorter will have the "regular" style handle. The page shows both styles of handle, but the specs do not indicate which rods have which style handles.

You might also want to call them, just to make sure they have the rod you're interested in, in stock
Sometimes they do run out of stock.

... cp