I bit the off brand name rod/reel bullet

I have posted before, asking questions about using baitcasters for Walleye fishing, and I have watched a lot of Youtube videos on the same subject. Have not used bottom bouncers a lot, plan to dig into that, and also do more trolling. Then got sticker shock on what a quality rod and reel combo would cost. All of my current rods/reels are name brand, custom, or otherwise near top shelf, so I am not against spending good money on good products. But this is more of a get me feet wet and see how it works, so didn’t want to break the bank.

Well, I bit the bullet and invested in the Sixgill casting rod BOGO (buy one, get one) deal for their high/middle quality rod, carbon with quality components. Then I invested in Piscifun high/middle quality baitcasting reels, on sale plus discount codes, ultra-light carbon with 6+1 bearings. In the end, after reading a ton of reviews, I think I got a couple of decent rod/reel baitcasting combos for a reasonable price, under $300 for a 2 combos.

By the end of the summer, I will know if these off brand are worth spending money on, should know if baitcasters help in my fishing arsenal, and if I can catch fish with them.

Have a season on the Akylos SixGill rods. No complaints so far, they are a light and have good sensitivity, they have the Winn Grip for handles.

I picked up a couple Piscfun reels last fall, don’t have much use on them yet but seem solid so far.

I have multiple SixGill rods and they are all fantastic. We were fishing in Canada and my son was using my old Daiwa and really struggling catching fish. He got into a snag so I switched rods with him to unsnag his. He immediately caught a fish. Then went on to catch 5 more walleyes in the span of a few minutes. He said to me “no wonder you were catching so many fish, you can actually feel the bites much better”. I never got the rod back the rest of the trip.

Piscifun reels are awesome…I actually wouldn’t call them an off brand anymore. They’re very comparable to reels 3x their cost.

I have 14 six gill rods and 10 reels. I’ve been very happy with them. Especially my 4 lykan rods

walleyevision wrote:

Piscifun reels are awesome…I actually wouldn’t call them an off brand anymore. They’re very comparable to reels 3x their cost.

People say this but I have not experienced that. They are good reels for sure but the value keeps changing year after year. It used to be you were getting a $100 reel for $70. Now people try to make claims that the carbon x is better than Shimano or Pflugers best offering.

They are a good reel for the money. To me they are slightly better than a pfluger president.

Jonesy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>walleyevision wrote:</div>
Piscifun reels are awesome…I actually wouldn’t call them an off brand anymore. They’re very comparable to reels 3x their cost.

People say this but I have not experienced that. They are good reels for sure but the value keeps changing year after year. It used to be you were getting a $100 reel for $70. Now people try to make claims that the carbon x is better than Shimano or Pflugers best offering.

They are a good reel for the money. To me they are slightly better than a pfluger president.

I would agree with this, I run the carbon x’s and presidents. Carbons are better than the standard presidents, but the president xt’s or whatever they’re called are better than the carbons. I’ve got a couple piscifun bait casters…so far so good.

The piscifun inline icx reel is way better than the president inline. I had both and returned the president.

I received both the Pascifun baitcasters and the Sixgill rods this week. I will have to say at first glance they both look very good quality. Reels are really smooth operating and seem to be really good quality. Rods are really nice, I like the balance. Although for a medium action they do seem a bit stiff.

Will know better when I actually get a chance to use them. All ready to go with Sufix 832 hi-vis line. May have to drop in on Pool 2 for a day.

What 6gills did you order. I love love my lykans

I went budget friendly and got the Akylos rods. They seemed like the best components for the price. First try with baitcasters, going to try bottom bouncing and trolling for Walleye, good starting setup.