Best walleye rod for the money

I know its hard water season. With most people’s attention focusing on Portables , Power Augers etc. Im just curious,
after a fantastic spring, summer and fall fishing season and many successes by all @ IDA. I start “tooling” up for the upcoming 2006′ season. The question or poll Id like to
submit: What combo’s (Rod and Reel) Brand, Size and action / balance fishing equipment our guys on IDA are using for walleyes and find the most “bang for the buck”. Lets throw out 4 presentation Jigging, Live bait riggin, Bobber fishing, and Crankbaits. Im frustrated with my equipments performance and would really like to know what everyone is using.

Thanks in advance for all insights.

Big_Guppy
Champlin MN

How big is your wallet?

I tried Power Pro and Fireline this fall and liked Power Pro better.

Fireline gets pulled into the spool because its flat and it’s a pain to pull it out. Fireline seems to fray eisier too.

I switched over to Diawa Sealines for trolling cranks this year. Great reels.

St Croix Avids are good rods for the money.

You might want to stop in to Thorne Bros. and ask for Pat. He’s good at helping a guy out with questions like this. He has been a great help to me.

If I was forced into only one rod and one rod only…………and to be on a budget……..

Best bang for the buck in my opinion is the Shimano Clarus rods. I would have to go 6’6″ medium spin.

This rod you can jig, rig, cast/pull cranks, and easily cork fish……..

I think these rods go for about $60 and have lifetime warrenty, over the counter exchange…….No shipping off….

IF I was forced into one rod and was restricted on money, this would be the one. Great starter rod!!!!

Thanks and keep the opinions coming – Best Spinning reels on the market ?? Anyone ……..

Shimano Symetres. 2500s are great reels, and I’m in the process of upgrading all of my walleye outfits with these babies.

Lip Ripper, Ranger29 , Mike W – any comments ??

Spinning reels???

There are a bunch in the $50 to $60 dollar range.

I would have to go Sahara for $60. Mitchel puts out some good ones!!! I think Okuma has a good reel out there too, for around $60 (ask HOF on that one!)

Truth be told………”old school” was one “good rod”. It was all you needed.

But today, tactics and presentations have become so refinded, that your “average” top walleye angler has 10 rods, all for different applications.

For example:
1) Vertical jigging
2) Pitching jigs
3) Rigging
4) pulling 3-ways/cranks
5) Pulling 3-ways/live bait
6) pulling bottom bouncers/spinner rigs
7) corking
8) Long line cranks
9) Pulling cranks/boards
10) Casting cranks

Some rods can be used for mixed use. For example, you can use the same rod to pitch and vertical jig with. However, my vertical jigging uses spiderwire, while pitching uses mono, so you need a reel with 2 different spools.

Corking requires 4lb test, primarily to let the bait swim around more freely and not be restricted with line stiffness (trilene 4lb xl works great). You can use the same rod for corking, as you can for lindy rigs, but my rigging I use 6lb test, sometimes 8lb if I’m around alot of rocks.

Long rods are not required for long lining cranks, but it does help at times to get the crank away from the boat if you are in shallow water…….

Bottom bouncer rods and 3-way rods should be different. Meaning that pulling around live bait is much different than cranks. Live bait is more finesse fishing…..

All spinning reels must be a Shimano Stradic in the 1000 series!! Trolling reels are the Diawa Sealines in size 17 I believe.
Rods depends on your budget. Best bang for your buck is the St Croix Avid’s.. I like the legend elites my self, and G-Loomis for lindy rigging and trolling rods. The 833 G-Loomis makes for a great trolling rod. I would strongly encourage anyone to have Thorne Brothers make a custom rod for you. Just ask for Bill he is the co-owner and will build a rod for you. All you have to do is answer his questions and he will build the rod for you, based on your answers!

Ok Big Guppy

I use Fireline and like it better than Power Pro, but I am in the middle of using/testing some SpiderWire Stealth on my Northern/Musky Rod and have it on one Walleye trolling line and Love it . Thinking about trying it on a rigging rod this Spring. We will see.

As far as Rods, I have been making a few changes here also, but I have and like the following. Fenwick HMX’s for Rigging and Jigging, I use a St. Croix Wild River 9′ Slip Bobber rod, that I have not had a lo tof time with it yet, but seems to have my liking. I also have and have used St. Corix Wild Riverfor a trolling rod (awesome Multi Purpose Planer Board and Long Line Rod in the 10’6 Length). I also like the Gary Roach’s Berkley Lighting Rods for the buck. I have 2 8′-6″ Telescopic Trolling Rods and a few Jigging/Rigging Rods as back ups. I also have some 9′ Telescopic Cabelas Planer board rods that I find get the job done along with the Depth Master Gold Reels. I’m looking at an Avid or Elite St. Croix Rod for Rigging in the 7 or 7′-6″ length.

Reels, I love the Shimano Symetre also. I have some other Shimano models but trying to up grade to the Symetres. My trolling reels are as mentiond the Cabelas Depth Master Gold DMG 15 Line Counters. Decent reels, with this years model starting to impress me. I’m looking at a Shimano Tekota for my Wild River trolling Rod. I used this reel in Tucks boat this last Fall, and I fell in love. Sweet reel, smooth drag and you want to talk about effortless. This is the reel to have in my opinion if you are Pulling Cranks at all. I’m interested in seeing/trying some top of the line Gander Guide Series reels. They seem like a good buy for the buck and easy to deal with any service issues with them.

Hope this helps. I’m no equipment guru. If I try something and like it, I tend to stay with it. Until I try another Rod/reel, etc that I like better. Don’t change easily, unless I’m really impressed. My $.02

“I’m no equipment guru”

Yeah right!!!!

Ranger …thats exactly the reason I asked Lip Ripper to come out and play on this one. Like I should talk ….Is there anyone else ?? Im really curious
Lord knows I have another 4 months to dream up my list and spend my profit sharing before the wife gets ahold of it

Thanks guys …keep it coming

Big_Guppy

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Best walleye rod for the money.

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No secret many of the Field and Pro staff here at IDA get support from St Croix Rods. I personally have dozens of St Croix rods and am a very happy with all of them – Premiere, Avids and Elites.

The question “For the Money” what is the best rod. Hands down I’ll tell you to go take a close look at the Premiere series. “For the Money” that can’t be beat!

-J.

The best walleye rod for your money will almost always be a well made custom rod. The reason is that you have options available as far as weight, quality, and style of components that aren’t available in a factory rod. Extra time is spent building the rods correctly.

For verticle jigging light weight is absolutuely important – as well as a fast or extra fast action for sensitivity. SC4 or 5 St. Croix or perhaps IMX or GLX Loomis for bigger billfolds, titanium guides, tennessee handles…

For a pitching rod – they need more flexibility and bright colors for the wraps to watch for the ticks and bumps of the bottom and of a fish biting. Shikari blanks are outstanding for this and again the st. Croix SC4 or 5’s are good.

For a lindy rod you need a flexible blank that has a hinged action like a popping blank so the bite can be observed at the rod tip without tipping the fish off to the anglers presence… can be accomplished with a variety of popping blanks or with a spinning action blank – more of a moderate action.

For bobber fishing you are mostly looking for a softer action and longer length – it can be done with a longer live bait rigging rod or you can just buy a cheap 8’6″ steelhead rod from cabelas – they have them on sale right now for cheap enough we should all buy one – rated for 3/8-3/4 oz. I can’t buy a blank cheap enough to make one better.

As far as cranks – if you are shallow water longline trolling I would suggest a hotshot blank based custom spinning rod – which could also serve as a back-up live bait rigging rod. Very flexible tip with backbone through the rest… we like them 7 foot to keep them portable – as far as spinning versions. Or you can buy one of the many rods others have suggested and put a line counter casting reel on it for lead core or greater depths than the hotshot style is really set up for. The flexible tips allow you to monitor crank movement to tell if you have picked up a zebra mussel or weeds.

Just my opinions – I always go for the lightest reels available in a category within reason – shimano reels imho are too heavy unless you can afford stellas (I can’t) (although the 750 series shows great promise – maybe they’ll lighten them a bit more this product year.) I like the abu-garcia 600u reels for much of my eye fishing – now replaced by the 700u I believe.

Your results may vary – PM me if you have further questions on custom rod thoughts,

Chuckles

As stated, BALANCE is crucial for a good rod/reel setup. That comes into play for both sensitivity, and also for comfort throughout the day. Things can be heavy and be just fine, if it is balanced out!

St Croix, Hands down the best. Made locally. Excellent warranty. They replaced one of mine that was a couple years old that the warranty had expired on. For that, there is now a St Croix sticker on the back of my jeep.

st.croix for sure on all the “finesse” fishing situations.

I also like the st.croix for muskies, very tough rods
I even have a couple of there ice fishing rods, but not too impressed by them.

for trolling I don’t think you need the sensitivity, JMO, I know a lot of guys like to feel everything, I had to put together a couple quick rigs in July for “no where” bite and used them for the fall as well loaded with PP. They work fine for me.

I got 2 9′ guide series telescopic planner board rods and at first slapped on a cheap shakespear line counter, That was a BAD DECISION go with quality on the reels for sure. Diawa or Shimano are both decent.

I like the pinacle dead bolts for my spinning reels, and for casting I have reely fell in love with the guide series. They look like the abu’s, but seem much smoother, and quiter.

I don’t know where to start. I have at least a half dozen rods I use for walleye depending on how I am fishing them. There are many good rods out there and I don’t stick to one manufacturer. I have found that one rod manufacturer may have a great pole for vertical jigging but nothing I like for casting or working Dubuque rigs. My favorite pole would have to be an old Berkley Gary Roach Signature Series rod that I use for working 3-ways. I’ll cry the day that pole dies. I have rods from at least 5 or 6 different manufacturers all used for a different fishing technique. For pulling and casting cranks I like 7′ or longer poles with lots of action. The extra action is important if you plan on using no-stretch lines.

As far as reels go I swear by Shimano spinning reels. They have reels in every price range and even the inexpensive ones are reliable. I like Quantum casting reels and have had good luck with them. I don’t do much casting with my casting reels so I really don’t need to spend a ton on them. I mainly use them for working 3-way rigs on wingdams where I let the line out instead of casting.

Line choice is every bit as important as rod and reel choice. I used to use fireline or Fusion for vertical jigging but was losing too-many hits so I switched back to mono and my hook-up rate increased dramatically. I found that I needed the stretch of a mono to keep from yanking the jig right out of the mouth of the fish which is what was happening with the fireline.

You have inspired me to grab all the equipment out of the rod lockers and spend a few of these long winter nights to get everything in tip-top condition for open water fishing. I know I have at least a couple guides to replace as well as a tip that needs replacing. Things are pretty well frozen up down in this neck of the woods and the river is closed to fishing in the tailwaters until March 15th.

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“I’m no equipment guru”

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WHO ME????????

Ok, so maybe wrong choice of words . I’m not very kowledgable on all the equipemnt and different brands out there. If I like one I stick to it until I’m proven the other one is better. There that is better

gary
i can’t agree more with you…i bought a baitcasting clarus last year for my first time (fished all my life with spinning rods) and i love it. i have tried all sorts of rods up on mille lacs in the fall and i always come back to her…amazingly sensitive but sturdy!!!! i love it to death. on the line issue, i’m going to try powerpro next year as i have only used fireline. we’ll see how it goes.

Gary – I didn’t open that can of worms – but again – one of the major advantages of a custom rod is that if they know what reel you will place on the rod they can adjust the length of the handle and the location of the reel seat to balance the entire rod AND keep it light. Even a well balanced heavy rod will fatigue you more by the end of the day and will cost you some reduced reaction time – when that last fish might be the 10 pounder one has been hoping for… Every fish counts, a light rod has less mass to move and is more sensitive. That said – a tennessee handle on a spinning rod is a huge advantage to both the builder and the purchaser because each reel put on the rod can be individually balanced to where you want your balance point – personally I like mine balanced about three fingers in front of the reel – with my first finger wrapped around the blank itself. Try to adjust that on a factory rod… with a reel seat… although a few are still made with tennessee handles. I spend a fair amount of time on the rod building sites and the vast majority will tell you – in a game like walleye fishing where extremely sensitive rods are sought – the key is the lightest components the customer can afford and minimal weight through design are huge… it is also why I push the lightest reel that will do the job you need it to do – at least in rods where sensitivity is key to success… My 2 cents – your results may vary, Chuckles

I will put my vote in for the Shimano products. I have used Shimano reels for a long time. I save my money now so I can buy the Symmetre and Stradics. Both of them are awesome reels. I got a Shimano Clarus three years ago and I love the feel. I do have one complaint with them. When I set the hook, the rod goes through the motion and then it appears like I missed the fish. Once I start reeling, the rod bends again and the fish is on. This happens to my brother and I all the time, but I still use it because I feel more fish. Last year I bought three Shimano Calcuttas 6’2″-7′. These things are awesome. The sensation is unbelievable. I have used and owned a G Loomis and some St. Croix rods, and I think these feel better. The Calcutta is very light too.

I am sponsored by St. Croix. I will flat out tell ya that. I will tell you also that I have used and abused every model I have had from Premiers to Avids, to Cat Rods to Wild Rivers. Every rod has it’s place. If you tell me what kind of fishing you plan to do, I can tell you what St. Croix rod will fit the bill. You can go to any Gander, Cabela’s, or Joes and Dicks, and test drive any of the St. Croix series rods. Ask the sales guy to hook you up with a reel from the displays, and check the “Feel” and see what you like. You cannot go wrong with St. Croix! If you go Here you can plug your info into the St. Croix rod selector, and see what rod they recommend.
You cannot go wrong!
Tuck

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I am sponsored by St. Croix. I will flat out tell ya that. I will tell you also that I have used and abused every model I have had from Premiers to Avids, to Cat Rods to Wild Rivers. Every rod has it’s place. If you tell me what kind of fishing you plan to do, I can tell you what St. Croix rod will fit the bill. You can go to any Gander, Cabela’s, or Joes and Dicks, and test drive any of the St. Croix series rods. Ask the sales guy to hook you up with a reel from the displays, and check the “Feel” and see what you like. You cannot go wrong with St. Croix! If you go Here you can plug your info into the St. Croix rod selector, and see what rod they recommend.
You cannot go wrong!
Tuck

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Or you could really go all out and get a G.Loomis!!

Everybody that has had good experiences with Shimano’s, have you ever had to deal with there warranty department? Our local baitshop guy I know pretty good, carried shimano rods last year. This year he will only have berkley/fenwick and st croixs after the hassle he got from them on warranty stuff.

If you have the time, you can build your own rod at Thorne bros. and get what you want and save a little money.

I usually make 2 a year. They have St. croix premier blanks 30 – 50% off right now.

Last spring I built a Gloomis IMX HS9000 7 1/2ft spinning rod for rigging for $197.00.

A custom made Thorne bros. HS9000 goes for $265.00.

I also like the telescoping trolling rods better than the 2 piece rods. Easier to store in the rod lockers in the boat.

I must have got a bad batch of shimano Symetryes. I have had all sorts of trouble with the ones I own . Mainly the bail springs. Mainly switched to Pflueger presidents. Price is good and have never had one fail me.

12 year old topic

St. Croix rods. For the money, their Mexican made rods are excellent. Blanks are plainly listed on their site to what you’re getting. Eyecon rods are simply outstanding for the price. Yes, a Legend Elite is a better rod, but at more than 3x the money, it isn’t feasible for many fishermen.

I understand this thread is YEARS old…just saw a bump and decided to give an opinion.

they don’t build the Symetre anymore…. it’s now replaced with the Nasci. 12 years old thread as stated and I have at least 8 Symetre’s, from 2500 front and rear drag to 4000’s, I have never had a failure yet. Just picked up a Nasci… taking to Canada in June

Sorry no idea on why it showed up on my todays topic tab. Should have noticed the dates