What are you guys using

[wannabe fisherman]

My "high end" rod is St Croix Panfish 6'6" with a Pfluger President on it. Whole combination is around $175

[Ketchn]

my thought is you need to go hold a rod and make sure it is what it is , what one person likes or does not has nothing to do with your likes or dislikes .
that said there are tons of really good rods for under a hundred bucks , the Dobyns for instance in the colt series is affordable and the panfish special is a real hot rod .
Tica makes some good stuff as well along with norseman esp rods . the BnM 6 foot sharp shooter is real nice too .
the list is somewhat endless and in the end if you break a 150 or more dollar rod it will ruin your day ....
under a hundred cause some tear loss ,but not temper explosions and really foul language associated with the really high end stuff
Allstar 5 foot is my dock rod most of the time , 50 bucks , The 6 ft Dobyns is my newest addition to my short open water rods 80 bucks . At 7 ft I have several in the under a 100 buck range , they are prototypes though and not quite like the ones they sell .
My Tica 7 foot is a discontinued rod that is really sweet and it was well under a 100 at the time it was bought .
At 8 foot and up I dont have any that stand out in a large way , go hold rods is the word
if you cant hold it before you it is yours , dont marry it

[Merkel]

Thanks for the advice....I have a loomis bass rod so may give st croix a shot this time around. I seem to be partial to Shimano on the reel and was curious as the best higher end option Shimano I should look at. I have a Metanium bait cast and love it so wanted to try a spin cast this time unless a better reel exists worth a try.

[Curlytail]

My high end rods are Grandt rods. Lifetime warranty ! I have never had a problem with any of mine. I have broke a couple & they replace them with no questions asked.

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[EWcrappie]

St Croix Panfish all the way. 7 foot. Shooting docks, skipping docks, can cast a 1/32 a long ways with 10lb braid. Very sensitive and caught 1000 crappie last year, countless chunky smallmouth and 2 carp over 25 lbs. Those took awhile to get in. Very sensitive but 75 percent of the time you don't feel the bite anyway, the way they bite.
They are just there. Just my 2 cents. Do want to try the Cashion and Dobyns next though.

[Ketchn]

Thanks for the advice....I have a loomis bass rod so may give st croix a shot this time around. I seem to be partial to Shimano on the reel and was curious as the best higher end option Shimano I should look at. I have a Metanium bait cast and love it so wanted to try a spin cast this time unless a better reel exists worth a try.

i run twin Shimano Saharas at around 80 each , they are real sweet reels

[longhunter]

I'm running a Stcroix legend elite blank, 7' med lite that was custom built for me. With a Garcia Revo STX size 10. Finest fishing rod I have ever used. Drug a 34 pound yellow cat from under a dock with it two summers ago. Caught her on a 1/8 oz bluetruse spinner jig. And it is SENSITIVE. Do I need a rod like that to fish for crappie? Nope! Do I like using it? Yep

[BobC]

If you would like to get an idea of a “JDM type rod” at a modest cost you could look at the BnM TCB rods. They run you in the 50 dollar range and are a real nice U/L rods. I have the older TSS version and I have a lot of fun with it. Very affordable.
Bob

[murdok]

if your looking at st croix ive had a bunch of em. if your just casting the panfish is good but if your wanting to shoot docks with it my favorite was the st. croix eyecon 6ft, 9 in, medium lite with x-fast tip paired with a shimano sahara or nacl. 1000 size. there's so many good rods out there its ridiculous, who knows what the best is. ive had some 60 dollar rods that felt better in my hand than a 500 dollar one.

[Locator79]

Lov

if your looking at st croix ive had a bunch of em. if your just casting the panfish is good but if your wanting to shoot docks with it my favorite was the st. croix eyecon 6ft, 9 in, medium lite with x-fast tip paired with a shimano sahara or nacl. 1000 size. there's so many good rods out there its ridiculous, who knows what the best is. ive had some 60 dollar rods that felt better in my hand than a 500 dollar one.

Love the eyecons. I have 4 for different uses. Wouldn't trade them for another rod out there.

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