Bass rod's options between $80-90?

[CALVINIST]

Looking to get a good bassin' spinning rod this season in the $80-90 range. I was thinking a 7' Gander Mountain IM8 Extreme Pike rod in Medium Heavy for around $90. I bought one of these for my son last year and it works pretty well. Plus the over the counter return policy of GM is hard to beat.

What do you think? If anybody has ideas of something better for the money, let's hear it!

[Craigums]

I like the st. croix premier, they run about $100 bucks but its a nice lightweight rod. St. Croix Triumph runs about $70 and looks nice, never used one though. Same with the Shimano Compre. All good rods that won't break the bank

[EBass]

IM8 MH 7' - sounds good to me. I got the same, but Shimano Compre and I think it was $110.

[CALVINIST]

Craiggums,

I have three of the Primier's in Medium for walleye fishing. Good rods for the $. That is one of my options.

[Aaron Carrell]

If you're a fan of the premiers, consider a Mojo Bass rod too then. Right at your price range.

[mozy]

All rods listed above are good choices, but I would also look into the Shimano Clarus. OTC warranty, and will come in at the lower end $ wise. Another option are the Scheels brand rods. I know there are some in that range, and from how they feel in store, I like them more than the Gander rods.

[hhguide]

FENWICK OR Shimano Rods for me. Great rods for a great price.

[polarsusd81]

I have fished Gander Rods, St. Croix, Diawa, and Shimano. I now have 7 Shimano, one St. Croix, and one Diawa rod. My money is on Shimano in either the Clarus or the Compre lines. The Compre line of rods is a big step up from the Clarus line, for minimal price difference. That is not saying the Clarus line is bad, I have two of them and for certain applications, they are the cat's meow for the price.

Casey, what is the planned use for the new rod? Jerkbaits? Stick Wormin? Shakey Head? That might help narrow down the search.

Personally, I like the Shimano warranty best. I break a rod, I don't have to look for gander or sheels or thorne, I can go to any of them and get a new one.

[Craigums]

They are also made in china, They make a nice rod for the money and I would own more of them if it wasn't for that fact

[Hula_Grub]

Ummm- I just tried to warranty a shimano clarus rod at Joe's in St. Paul. It wasn't OTC. I had a receipt and it was less than a year old. I didn't break it in the car door, either. They told me the Shimano OTC warranty was a thing of the past and the info on the Shimano HSOforum supported this.

They sent it in to Shimano and I'm hoping I won't have to spring for a new rod. I really like it- it was the only telescoping 7'6" rod I could find that would fit in my wee rod locker on my boat.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Hula- had you brought it to cabelas or Thorne Brothers, you would have walked out with a new rod... Joes is a great store, I will be there next weekend. But they have never done the OTC warrenty..

[river rat316]

Clarus for me in that price range

[fishcast]

echoing a few previous thoughts.

I am big fans of shimanos and fenwicks. Used the hmx spinning rods in that ranged and really liked them, and also compre casting rods are excellent...

by the way someone above mentioned something about about telescoping flipping sticks being hard to find. And I picked up a 7'6" fenwick hmx telescoping but section rod the other month....

[zepman]

Clarus here also in that $$$ range. Thorne Bros. has taken very good care of me in the OTC policy. I have a 7' MH and M. Both been really good rods.

[itchmesir]

St. Croix Triumph.. amazing rod for only $75.. i will be buying another one very soon

[Bigguyone]

well, not sure why this has not been brought up yet but personally I would go with a St Croix Avid or Shimano Crucial (about 6 mos old...guys are always sellin' them to upgrade) or the 08 clearance rods for that price range (in the same brand/model). Also consider the Powell rods - great rod for the dollar.

[CALVINIST]

Polarsus,

I'm pretty new to targeting bass, but I want something with more backbone for jerking and burning cranks. It's tough to do that on a medium rod.

Thanks for all your thoughts. Not sure which I will pick, but all the input helps narrow things down.

[metrojoe]

Looking to get a good bassin' spinning rod this season in the $80-90 range. I was thinking a 7' Gander Mountain IM8 Extreme Pike rod in Medium Heavy for around $90. I bought one of these for my son last year and it works pretty well. Plus the over the counter return policy of GM is hard to beat.

What do you think? If anybody has ideas of something better for the money, let's hear it!

I remember handling one of those GM Pike rods a few times in the store. I have to say I came very close to buying it.(I've got 3 nice Pike rods now)

All the upper end Guide Series Rod I've looked at starting at about the Select or Pro Select line seem like decent rods. I wouldn't hesitate.

[Juan Grande]

I heard the Gander switched manufactures of their Guide Series rods to Berkley. Not sure if that's true or not. I think the also reduced the warranty from lifetime to two years.

I've been checking around for a rod in the comparable price range to what you're looking for. They didn't have any of the St. Croix Mojo spinning rods at Cabelas. The sales guy said they didn't make a lot of them since they that line is more focused on casting rods. Looks like they're available on-line though.

I was also looking at the Shimano Clarus, but I wanted a split grip and they don't offer that until you get into the higher priced models. Do they offer a split grip Compre or do you have to go up to the Crucial?

[Deitz Dittrich]

To get the split grip, you have to go into the Crucial.

[Hula_Grub]

I wish I knew that before, Deitz.

If I do have to buy another one, I'll have to check out those options.

[Float tube guy]

Cabela's fish eagle II is a nice rod with a good selection of different strengths

[Raider4ever]

I just picked up a 7' Diawa Crank rod (glass/graphite composite) at my local "Male Goose Large Hill" that was originally stickered at $99.97. It was marked down to $79.97 on the rack so I picked it up. I brought it to the counter and it came up $59.97. I haven't actually had it out on the water but playing with it in the store and garage it seems to have the right amount of backbone and flex for what I want to do with it and $40.00 off.

[metrojoe]

I just picked up a 7' Diawa Crank rod (glass/graphite composite) at my local "Male Goose Large Hill" that was originally stickered at $99.97. It was marked down to $79.97 on the rack so I picked it up. I brought it to the counter and it came up $59.97. I haven't actually had it out on the water but playing with it in the store and garage it seems to have the right amount of backbone and flex for what I want to do with it and $40.00 off.

No doubt this rod will end up being one of your favorites. How can it not be?

[Cecil]

I have this rod as well. Can'y say I use it at all. But it's one of those rods that I can't figure out why I don't use it.