Spinning of course.

all have pro's & con's. Backbone elites are great so is a Daiwa Saltist 12-20lb(mine)

others are good to but names escape me

 

Even a broomstick will catch fish... all comes down to personnal prefs & money

5 year unconditional warranty now too, even if you shut it in a door or something.

The Synits as mentioned above are wicked too

I'm interested in getting a real good quality rod.

Cheers

Dan

Ho Ho Ho 

 

Ah, that's where you've lost me....

 

Not my personal experience, actually. 

 

I fish shallow and exposed reefs much more than any other territory, mainly out of dinghy and kayak.

 

I'm much more accurate into wash, and control the line much better in the water, with my baitcaster reels than with my spinning reels.

 

No loss of distance, either (as others have remarked to me...)

synit-very tuff rods stiffer than other's but have the most grunt bar none IMHO

and that suits my style of fishing and i have the new banshee 63 what a rod it is

cts mag spin 704-708 very nice blanks very fast action blanks supper sensitive and heaps of low down grunt my fav for lure action u cant get these blanks in the shop custom only as far as i am aware arnt cheap blanks but worth the money

viritas is nice too but a little soft for my liking but still the best rod for its price hands down

my old trust okuma xfactor i had that rod for donkey's and got hundreds of fish

However nano resin may produce even better blanks soon.....

X2...also agree CJ (Synit) make the best softbait rods.  I love mine and everybody I go fishing with agrees it out casts and catches more fish than anything they have used...but it might just be the angler

i have both and its a hard pick deciding which one to use as i love them both

 

The Catanas deal to 2 dozen plus snapper 20-30lb a year; many,  many more smaller, as well as kingies and kahawai, john dory and porae, grandfather hapuku and blue cod, other reef ooglies, trevally and koheru, blue macs and skippies, albacore and on and on and on.

 

Just as much fun on smaller fish, including undersize snappper, but total confidence in handling the bigger fish, too.  One major failure: a foulhooked sunfish.  Couldn't budge it (didn't see it when I cast....)

 

Shallow/reefs, deeper (to 100m), from kayak, dinghy, fizzboat and launch, the lot: no wuckers.

 

Seen at Smarts on special last week at $79.99 each.  I shoulda bought some more, but SWMBO says I nearly have too many rods.

 

In my "opinion and experience, the best softbait rods money can buy", as the OP asked.

 

The guides whilst titanium SIC look petty flimsy, trade-off for the weight I guess. has anyone got any reports on the long term durability of the yet? For $165 can't complain though!!!

Very interesting.  Please elaborate.

Cheers

 

1.  The 1.4kg-rated Fireline gives a much smoother action to my STX20 on 732 Catana than heavier Fireline or true braided line on that same set.  Feels smoother on both cast and retrieve.  Caught a 78cm snapper on this set last Saturday.

 

2.  Actions of rods get progressively harsher feeling as drags wear/burn out.  Note: this is short of the stage of the drag grabbing and letting go, which latter is obviously a reel, not a rod, problem.

 

3.   Dramatically noticeable improvement in "smooth" feeling of the rod going from a near-new Rovex Xct-500 to an older 201 Curado using the same braid on the same rod.  In that instance, the very same line, 'cos I took it off the Rovex and put it on the Curado.  (Sidelight - I would rate the Rovex as being lesser quality than a Callisto costing less, and less durable.  Its one and only advantage is that neat "put it in gear" button.)

 

4.  (Interesting, this one) Even more than 3. in going from my Cardinal 804 to new STX40, again same rod same line.

 

My opinion and experience, that's all.  I'm a Philistine, I realise, because I notice very little difference between 1- and 2-piece rods in action.  And I don't like rods whose tips fold away readily so you're using only the butt end to play a fish.  And I like quite a stiff action at rod tip to set the hook, even though I only use small, fine hooks.

 

The closest thing I have seen to one is a model from Kilwell in Sailors Corner built just for them at $199 its great value but don't have SIC guides and well not as blingy   

 Muppet: ...I too don't like rods that you have to fight at the foregrip either...

 

But then, I don't use the foregrips on my SB rods, either, on spin or on baitcaster sets.  Saves a lot of hassle.

 

2.  Actions of rods get progressively harsher feeling as drags wear/burn out.  Note: this is short of the stage of the drag grabbing and letting go, which latter is obviously a reel, not a rod, problem.

i find this hard to believe,how does the action of the  rod change because of the drag ??? a fast action rod is still a fast action rod,even  if you bolt a crap reel to it  or change braid  the rods still a fast action rod.

 

 

 

"Action" in your terms I guess is rate of curve and amount of bending of the rod against a constant pressure gradient; what I was getting at is reaction to thumps and bumps as fish twist, turn, and fight. 

 

An uneven-acting drag on a reel makes a rod feel harsh to me, and that was what I was meaning.  Same as some braids seem to me to feel rougher going through the guides than others.

 

So "fast action", "slow action", and so on is lot more limited than what I was trying to get at.

 

I sure wouldn't understand a difference between fast and slow action in that confined sense being expressed as "harshness", either.

 

 

****n fifth form science bro!!

It doesnt matter if its your finger or a mag cast controll its friction..

A fixed spool reel has next to no friction so will go much further, Fact!! 

 

1.  All I was reporting is my personal experience.

 

2.  And in the big-time casting distance comps, O/Hs feature lots: exclusively, IIRC.  All to do with the excess friction of line spilling over spool edges of fixed-spool reels.  Fixed-spool reels actually have more friction.  Fact!  (Sixth form science, bro!!)  In addition, the O/Hs' spools, once up to speed after the initial acceleration, actively feed line out.

 

3.  BTW a mag cast control does not work by friction.  Nor does a centrifugal system like that on the Curados and Citicas.  Third form science.

 

 

 

Ooops - became a reel discussion.

 

Yeah, only a lawyer would deem a discussion about rods to be one about reels...

 

See "Out with the 12s", p179, 21 May 9:28pm for the short report on getting my arse out SB fishing on Saturday.

 

 I had a fondle of a pair the other day ... great action indeed

 

What are the guides can any one tell me... still for that price you cant argue

Show me how you distance cast with say a curado id be interested to see the result against say  a stella 4000. but hey whatever you are into mate its a personal choice really. No offence intended..

I have Catana's, and have always been happy with them. The Synits where lighter, more responsive and had more stopping power.

Great experiance/

 

Well, all we were discussing, I thought, was personal opinion and experience.

 

I started using baitcasters for kayak fishing SBs into the wash about 4 years ago because of the better accuracy I could achieve compared with my spinning reels, then rapidly found I had no loss of distance, either. 

 

Specific examples (measured on land because this discussion had started):

 

a.  both on Catana 732s, both with 1/2 oz jighead and a 5" jerkshad on it - Curado 201DHSV and SoronSTX20: Curado casts further by 5m, consistently. 

 

b.  Soron STX40 on Catana 732:, within 2m, consistently, but usually a fraction further than the Curado. 

 

Difference between the 2 Sorons is probably the greater line friction off the smaller spool.

 

If you set up baitcaster reels properly - much online assistance available - then backlashes don't happen, and overruns are easy to avoid if you watch where the bait hits the water.  (It's why I find night-time fishing with baitcasters a nightmare, and I use spinning reels then.)

 

I don't claim to be a pro, but I do use these things several hours a week, every week.  The last time I had a backlash was the last time I had Fireline on a baitcaster - >3 years ago - and  I cannot recall the last time I had an overrun that was more than 3 or 4 turns of the spool.  I'm wash fishing maybe 1/3 of the time; most of the rest over reefs in 5-25m.

 

IMHO, the "risk" Wayne mentions is worth learning to overcome because of the advantages of line control I find in all of casting, hooking and playing fish.  I'm happy to accept it's different for others.  But there is still the question of why so many "pros" use baitcasters.

 

@Mr Plastic & Plow: I'm happy to coach anyone who gets up this way in use of a baitcaster with braid - already done so for a few folk.  One guy seemed to nearly double his casting distance within 3 casts, once we adjusted his reel (a Citica: "mean little reel", quote from one Green Guy, as I recall).  You do use a slightly different casting technique than for a spin outfit.

 

But my thought is that perception of rod performance is critically affected by reel/line performance also, so they're not different topics at all.

 

No other rules.

 

+1

Have a HellBent 6-8, great rod, service from Synit, fantastic.

its true i did tell him

cant polish a turd cuzz but some how u manage too lol

churr

 

Oh dear, I new there was something not quite right about my set-up?

 

Next time I skull drag a fish over the side of the boat I'll tell him he's got no business being on my line!

 

Do what you like.

 

   I agree, but don't anyone confuse custom built rods on parabolic blanks with custom built rods on "custom designed softbait blanks" built for softbaiting in NZ (and now overseas) by Synit. They design and build right from the raw materials. Having said that if your budget is tight there are some nice rods out there and they will last as long as they are looked after.

 

I say I need a stronger tip to a rod than the ones that give up and straighten out: your objection to the parabolic rods is folds away nicely but if you have a large snapper with a hard tough mouth you cant set the hook till its loaded right up.

 

Ed Zachary.

 

I'd also add that the ultimate result with rods that fold away playing heavy fish so that you use the butt section only is that you might as well dispense with the rod altogether, and use a handline.  I use the rod as a shock absorber when playing fish as well as a lever for casting.