20 Best Value Spinning Rod (2022 Updated)

overall, it is a strong rod which can land 50cm+ fish. caught 3 yakkas, 2 pike and a barracuda with this rod on our recent camping trip. went home happy with friendly and informative customer service.

some negative part of it are: the red coating gets off easily (doesn’t really affect the rod’s strength), and the part where you put your hook on the rod seems to tangle on the line regularly when casting.

also, this might be my fault but i bought a 2 piece rod and the first time i stuck the rod together, it was very hard to pull out. and later in our camping trip, the rod pieces were stuck up when we were packing up.

we tried all methods but didn’t work. in the end, we managed to pull it out but taking about 2 hours but the guards were ruined 🙁 we fixed it with glue though.

This rod is really durable, and totally capable of holding up when an unexpected monster hooks up; and my 5-14g cast weight rod never complains punching 30g lures out to sea. In saying that they definately compromise in some ways in favour of durability: the steel guides can squeak with wet mono line, sending tiny vibrations up the rod.

The grip is really high quality and holds the reel super securely, but the ‘cutaways’ make it thin enough that normal size hands have to really clench it, it doesn’t rest in your fingers when using bait like a normal round grip (though it’s fine for more “active” lure fishing).

the foam at the top of the grip is soft and not that sensitive, but it’s easy to lay a finger just above it to feel for vibrations. This rod suits me perfectly well since theres no need to baby it packing in and out of the bumpy 4by or loaning it to my family to bash around, but for someone with perhaps a cushyer car or looking for a more refined fishing experience there are other rods way more suited to their style.

the other rods just need more care and attention payed to them.

One tough rod. First time out, I’m comparing the Ugly Stik Carbon MHF to a Lew’s Mach MHF. It feels like it weighs a tad more than the Lew’s, even though it may not (?). It’s a bit stiffer as well. I wasn’t sure where this would sit in my arsenal, so I left the barcode sticker on.

Got a nice bass, then hooked a 30lb flathead cat on a spinnerbait. Big fight. After 15 minutes, landed the cat. I’m keeping the rod, it did really well against a pretty dang big fish. Now I know where it fits: 3/8oz and up plastics and jigs, spinners etc.

I’ve broken Med graphite rods (intact, but shedding splinters) on big drums before. If I’m lucky, I’ll hook the Monsters of the Deep on this indestructible Ugly Stick and spare my fancier rods a harsh fate that this one just brushed off.

For all it’s toughness, I give it a “B” for fishability (with a Tatula R reel). I give the Mach a B and my best Big Bear an “A”. The Ugly Stik Carbon is a keeper.

I’ve been fishing for many years evidenced by my equipment made in America then Japan then Korea and now China. I’ve bought very good quality equipment but mostly very good value equipment like this rod.

The 13′ and 15′ surf rods I own are hard to handle and with an RV purchase in the near future would have been too much for my rod case so I bought this 9′ and hoped for the best. Except for minor issues; some coating drips on top of (no issue with performance) the largest eye and a bit of material that could be left or nipped off it’s near perfect.

I bought it knowing the eyes were not lined but I use monofilament and fish opportunity permits so it’s of little concern to me. If you like braided line this might be a concern for you. It performed very well with my Daiwa long cast 5500 on the Severn River with casts well beyond 50 yards during today’s calm.

I bought this in a 6’6″ MH to take on a 4 day inshore Snook fishing trip in South Florida. I paired it with a 4000 size reel , 20# braid, and we were fishing live finger mullet with 30# leader and circle hooks.

It may have been overkill but I did wench a couple of 30″+ fish out of deep cover with no issues. I don’t think it is a true inshore rod but it served for this purpose and ended up being the perfect tool for the job.

I would totally buy it again. It is well built, nicely finished, and tough as nails. The line guides on this thing are so beefy it just looks sick, but it is also super light. I use the ugly stik elite series rods that I pair with 2500 size reels for bass and I think the Tiger Elite is a hair lighter.

I make it down to salt 3 or 4 times a year and this rod will serve as my “big game” live bait inshore rod. It is a beast of a rod.

The rod was really cooked! I’m very familiar with rod splines as I have built many rods in my day but this rod is just plain dog leg crooked. If I had seen this rod in person I would not have purchased it.

It is a 6 1/2, 2 piece rod and it arrived in one piece in a 8 ft long tube open at one end and it fell out of the tube when I picked it up from my porch! Not sure if it could have been damaged or bent from falling out of the tube during shipping like it did for me all though I don’t see how that could happen with out breaking it.

There was no packing slip with it. I purchased it for a friend as a gift but didn’t give it to him. Instead I went to Wallmart and bought another ugly stick that was not messed up to give him. If I had a packing slip and a reasonable way to send it back I would.

It looks to me like it could be a factory reject or something. I was very dissatisfied with the purchase.

The Shimano Sellus spinning rods are an excellent choice for freshwater finesse fishing applications. The rods are extremely sensitive but still have enough backbone to fight larger fish. The fact that they can be purchased as two piece rods makes them perfectly suited to be travel rods.

They are very lightweight and have a comfortable handle and sturdy reel seat. If I have any qualms, it would be that the new rods come with micro guides instead of the compact guides of the previous Shimano Sellus (white, one piece) rods.

I rig my spinning rods with braided line and attach a fluorocarbon or monofilament leader. The micro guide do not allow to connection knot to pass through the guides.

Got two of these recently and they are beyond what I expected. the 2 piece 6 foot and the 7 foot are great rods for the money and feel very nice with a good sized reel. Love them so far will see how they last.

Bought this helmet after reading an article touting the superior rotational impact protection of Lazer’s proprietary KinetiCore design. Helmet is OK but runs way small. I usually wear a medium in all other helmet brands but this medium barely fits my head.

My bad I guess because I didn’t he k the measurements. The medium is max 55 cm diameter which I discovered is the circumference of head. So it is a very tight fit and the front retention is very uncomfortable on the forehead (as noted by another reviewer).

I should have immediately returned it but I foolishly thought I might break it in and it would be more comfortable. Nope. And as also noted, the adjustment system is awkward to use. My daughter had a similar experience with another Lazer model, one of the top of the line MTB helmets.

It also ran small and was too narrow so she junked it after a month. I wonder if the large would be too big. But I won’t know because I’m done with Lazer.

Decent entry level offering from Lazer even though it pains me to call a helmet that costs $100 entry level. Lighter than many, it steps away from the mips crowd and has its own take on rotational injury protection.

I think the slots in the foam they use may even help a little with ventilation. Which needs a little help on those really hot days. No adjustment dial on it but has a little treadmill you push or pull to get a proper fit.

For the price it wouldn’t have killed them to include an extra set of pads that you know you’re going to need because they are on the flimsy side. There’s an opening in the back for a dedicated LED light that’s an extra forty bucks and no one except Lazer sells it.

I wear a large but would have bought an XL if available since Lazer makes it. I had to go to Backcountry because REI has decided not to put these helmets on the shelf so you order it blind and hope it fits or you send it back.

All in all a good helmet but could have been great with a little more effort.

Texas coastal fisherman for 60 years, mostly the big three – trout, reds, and flounder. Been wade fishing 3-4 times with this rod. Paired with the Shimano Scorpion 19 DC. Don’t think I have ever owned a more well-balanced combination.

But, the review is for the rod. Perfect flex point and action for throwing soft plastics in the 1/4 oz range, as designed. Distance is much better than other rods tried with this reel. Think that would be true for other bait casters, as well.

Light weight and perfect blend of tip sensitivity and rod backbone for feel and hook set make this rod a joy to use all day. There are no negatives, except, maybe, the cost, but you get what you pay for.

I bought a $40 combo Shakespeare for my son and when he’s not using it, I’m using it and between us we’ve caught about 50 fish in half a dozen trips. I’ve taken this rod with me many times trying to catch the more difficult fish but have yet to land one, but it’s super light, easy to cast and the Daiwa 3000 reel I put on it works flawlessly.

Just haven’t caught a fish yet. Still when I broke the top piece, my fault completely, I bought a second one to replace the top and have a spare middle and bottom piece. Plus I now have 2 rod carrier.

I think a better fisherman than me would do great with this. Regardless, it’s a great rod that I could fish all day with. My son’s rod/reel is smaller but weighs more and would not be great for all day use.

This rod is built extremely well. It feels good in your hands, is sensitive, loads nicely, and it’s all around a great rod. The fact that it is a travel rod makes it even better because I can easily transport it in my kayak to and from spots as well as taking it hiking without worrying about it getting caught up.

So glad I made this purchase!.

Excellent construction, light weight, very good casting performance, good action, feels like a 2 piece rod not a 3 piece and the travel case makes it an excellent value for money. Size, line rating and casting weight makes it suitable for use both in freshwater and inshore saltwater applications.

Pair it up with a 3000 or light 4000 size reel for the best balance.

Very, very pleased with this rod. Believe it or not I bought this for a light inshore fishing rod and it performed brilliantly, I just didn’t feel like spending $100+ for a dedicated light saltwater inshore rod, and I was willing to gamble $20 on a Walmart rod to try it out.

I used both a 1/8 ounce and 1/4 ounce Kastmaster on 6lb mono. Pulled in 2 small Corvina, 4 Leatherjacks, 2 Cortez Halibut, a bunch of spotted sand bass, Cortez bonefish and a 13″ drum. The rod had plenty of sensitivity as well as backbone to get good hooksets and pull in these saltwater species.

I lost a couple lures to snags on rocks and I put the rod through the paces trying to break them loose. Couldn’t be happier with the rod, it represents an excellent value to budget minded anglers who need a quality rod.

I also like the full size cork foregrip. Just remember to to rinse it off well after using it in saltwater.

this is my go to trout / knockaround rod. Trout, bass and panfish. I have the “Light” version and my son has the shorter Ultralight version. Durable and affordable. This is the best bang for your buck rod ever.

Why there are $500 fishing rods boggles my mind when you’ve got quality available like this.

First off, this is an awesome rod for panfishing. I feel it has as good an action as any other rod for panfishing. And I have tried them all, St. Croix Panfish series, Eagle Claw, and so on down the road.

I also feel the asthetic looks of the rod are Sleek and Cool. They have solid stainless steel guides which are always welcomed, and I feel the 5’6″ length is a Perfect length for this type of fishing.

This is where the BIG OL’ BUT comes in. I had a 9 inch bullhead on with the drag set properly, and the top 6 inches broke off my rod. I did nothing improper to cause that to happen. So I went to walmart to exchange for a new one, but when I went to pull one off the rod rack, I noticed two other of the Micro Series Rods like mine.

Both had the top 6 inches boke off. Obviously I didn’t make my exchange there. So I went to another walmart about 15 minutes away, hoping they had one in working order. At this walmart, I found some of my rods there, and they were solid.

Unfortunately when I took a rod off, I noticed one more in the back, and this one was broke in the same exact area as all the ones at the last walmart. Now I know this is not just a coincidence! I was so upset that instead of getting the exchange, I went home and tested for myself the brittleness of this rod.

AS SOON AS I put just barely any pressure at all on it, the next 6 inches broke off, then the next 6 inches. The true reality of this rod is not “IF” it will break, but “WHEN” it will break. I’m not making any of this up.

The $17. 00 price tag on these rods is VERY VERY attractive, along with the awesome action of this rod, and it’s good looks will make you want to buy it. But this rod is extremely BRITTLE! It’s worth it to buy the UGLY STIK GX2 versions of these to save you any possible headache and frustration.

Buy it and see for yourself, but I have seen a number of these rods broken in the same exact place.

The Berkley BIG GAME Power Series was my own very 1st fishing pole waay back when I was about 10-12 years old (born in 1991) and I remember my very 1st “Big Fish” I caught with it. I was at Lake Calhoun (now renamed Bde Mak Sa) in Minneapolis, Minnesota and my Dad dropped me and my older brother Raphael off at one of the docks on the lake so we could fish.

My brother was catching small pan fish (bluegill, crappie) LEFT 2 RIGHT! Me on the other hand, I was fishing for “The Big Fish. ” And I took with me that day a New fishing lure I got because I REALLY liked it because it was so bright and it was the perfect spoon lure for me to use (I loved to throw spoon lures during my younger years because of how easy they were to use and fish would hit em) it was a bright vibrant lime green 3 1/2 to 4 inch spoon lure with black spots on the lime green side with a shiny silver back.

I WAS LITERALLY CASTING AND RETRIEVING THIS LURE OUT FAR AND BACK FOR 2 HOURS STRAIGHT! My arms were getting exhausted, I was exhausted. I needed a break. I climbed down from standing up on the corner of the dock for so long walked around and got back up on the same corner of the dock sitting on the edge just dropping my lime green spoon lure to the bottom of the lake (over 25 feet deep I think) on the drop off and just letting it hit the bottom and then reeling it up out of boredom and loss confidence and loss of belief that there were any big fish in these waters (LOL!) I reeled up my lime green lure and my pole flexed hard! I pulled a little and reeled up and caught long strands of seaweed.

Dropped the line. Hit bottom. Reeled up seaweed. Dropped the line. Hit bottom. Reeled up. my pole flexes again. “Probably more seaweed” I said to myself. So I reel up and my pole starts twitching back “Do I?” “-Do I have a fish?” I lean over the edge of the dock and I stare deep down into the dark water and I see a silver side flipping wildly around down from the deep dark water.

I yell to my brother “RAFFI! I GOT A FISH! I GOT ONE!” He comes running over from the other end of the dock and we together pull out a 36 inch Tiger Muskie! My “biggest fish ever!” LOL! That Muskie’s color tiger pattern was so silver shiny and beautiful looking we strung it up to the dock and we waited to be picked up from my brothers mom (we aren’t related by blood but we grew up together so that’s my brother) and I called my Dad so I could show him my catch and make him proud.

He arrives after 30 to 45 minutes he was working on one of his rental properties. “Well, that’s a nice fish ya caught there son. ” (Pops is used to catching 40, 42, 43 inch Muskie) I was just hoping I could impress him and fish like him when I got older and I thought this was a good start! We took our photos of us and my “big fish” I caught, people were gathering looking, staring at me this young boy and getting a close look at this 36 inch Tiger Muskie I caught as I am holding it for more photos (which my Dad still has to this day) the rain slowly started drizzling on that cloudy overcast day so we released it.

Funny thing another guy and his little boy came after we released that Muskie (that Muskie was drained of energy but still swam off and lived) and they didn’t know we just released it and he was telling his son “Look! There’s a fish try to catch it.

” That was funny. The kid was like 3. That was a memory I will never forget. All done on a Berkley BIG GAME Power Series. Thank You Berkley for helping with that unforgettable experience and that unforgettable memory! P.

S. When we moved years ago that rod was lost. Over a Decade later I re-purchased a Berkley BIG GAME Power Series from Wal-Mart (about $25. 00) just because of that experience years ago from my 1st “BIG” fishing pole.

I fish with it, and the Memory Lives On!.

This is the craziest rod you will ever buy for the price. My buddies and I use these for flathead catfish and never had a problem. I’ve seen my other friends expensive rods break but not this cheap thing.

Old school fiberglass construction with Japanese style eyelets. There is a video in YouTube if people trying to break this rod and it took trying to lift a lawnmower.

I purchased this combo from Academy on 7/24/2022. I went home and spooled the reel with 40 lb power pro. I took it out fishing on 7/26/2022. While on a school of Bonito I hooked into a 12 lb Jack Crevalle.

after fighting this fish for 30 minutes the fish came up to the boat. He still had one more run in him and when he saw the boat he made a b-line back to the depths. As he made his run the rod snapped 4 eyes down form the tip.

I was still able to land the fish but i was pretty disappointed in the lack of quality in this rod. I knew I was purchasing a budget combo, but I believed it could handle such a small fish. I am very disappointed that all I have now is a reel with no rod and I am unsure if I will trust the more expensive products that Penn offers.

I had 2 out of 4 of my main reels give out on me after years of use. I was hours from home on a 5 day fishing excursion. I went to the nearest outfitter and bought a 7” medium heavy/6000 fierce live liner combo.

Caught a 32 pounder on it right off the bat and it handled like a dream. The rod could stand a heavier tip but the reel takes things to a new level. Overall I think this was the best $130 bucks I’ve ever spent on fishing gear and this has become new favorite outfit.

I own over a hundred rods and reels that I use and this stands out above them all as a new favorite. You won’t be disappointed!!.

I bought the 7’6” rod and reel combo about 10 months ago as it seemed to be economical and it seemed to work great. That was until “it” happened. I was fishing from a pier and hooked up with a big bull red (I’d guess ~30-40 lbs) – got him all the way in and when he finally wore himself out, I went to lift him to the surface and the rod snapped clean in half.

Keep in mind I wasn’t pulling him in ridiculously hard or being super aggressive with it. Just letting him run when he wanted to run. I think the tension and pressure from the entire fight was too much for this rod as it had to have been stressed for it to snap like that.

The reel has been good to me so far although it feels somewhat cheaply made, but so far no issues with it.

I bought two of these combos at Christmas time 2014. I know these combos are not specifically meant for salt water but since i haven’t found anything that stands up to the harsh environment I figured for the price i had nothing to lose.

I regularly fish in the salt water marsh area of North Myrtle Beach South Carolina and I used them a lot and caught good size flounder and even a few tough sting rays. For the price these combos are a great value.

I will be purchasing more when these finally die but they are still going strong.

I boight this a couple years ago as my first rod and reel. It is perfect for a beginner rod and for intermediate use once you start to get the hang of it.

My boyfriend and I purchased two of these rods and were excited to get fishing! On my VERY FIRST cast with this rod/reel combo, the line spoil plopped right into the water. After a few minutes of trying to retrieve it / hiding my embarrassment (since I thought it was my fault), my boyfriend’s spool plopped into the lake also!!!! I will be taking both of these back and following up with the manufacturer, because this really sucks.

The first time I ordered it( medium action 7’6”), it came already broken. I got a exchanged it for a new rod. I was jetty fishing for schoolie striped bass where I caught a smaller one with out problems.

The second one I caught was about a 2 pounder and as I tried to lift the striper above the rocks, the rod broke into 3 different pieces. I didn’t high stick it as there was still about five feet of line when I lifted the fish up.

I have lifted fish up like this size up with different rods many times before without any problems. From the get-go I do not like how flimsy it is and I don’t think it would have held up to bigger stripers or bluefish if even I bought the medium-heavy action.

Steer clear of this rod and find something with a little more backbone if you’re going to be inshore saltwater fishing.

Purchased the 7. 5′ one piece medium action rod. Twice. Purchased online, the 7. 5′ one piece rod was shipped in a 6. 5′ box. Opened box and the rod had snapped in 4 pieces. Tried again, this time had rod shipped to store for a direct pickup.

Rod was packaged in a 7. 5′ box this time, hopes are high. Opened package and the rod tip was broken off! I’d complain to the person at the returns desk, but seriously, does anyone care anymore? Either the rod is extremely fragile, the packaging done so poorly that the rod doesn’t stand a chance, or the box was tossed into a rock quarry at some point.

It’s an Ugly Stik, I’ve used them for years in freshwater, never had a problem. First time purchasing a saltwater water and two in a row are broken? Color me jaded.

First one broken in 2 places when arrived. 2nd one snapped in half while catching a 16 in Redfish. Ugly stick durability no longer exists. Now having to re think whole process for inshore rod after using uglys for over thirty years.

Many You Tube vids about this product that I should have seen before purchasing.

This is the best medium power fast action bait casting rod on the market right now! I’ve fished with it for the last six weeks during the largemouth and smallmouth bass pre-spawn period in Wisconsin and the power and sensitivity is simply fantastic! This rod excels at a variety of lure presentations but the three key presentations I used it for were: Throwing a shallow-medium diving crankbait, presenting bottom contact soft plastics, and slow rolling a weedless paddle tail swimbait.

The two primary crankbaits I presented on this rod were the Rapala DT-6 and the Megabass Sonic Side crankbaits. Please be aware that I prefer to have a bit faster tip when fishing crankbaits as much of the water we fish in Wisconsin tends to be full of rocks and it’s best to have lots of sensitivity so you can back off when making contact with this type of structure.

The rod does a great job of casting and presenting the crankbaits and many times it was the sensitivity of the rod that allowed me to determine when I had a bite early in the fishing season when the water was cold and the bass were lethargic.

For presenting bottom contact soft plastics, this rod did a superb job of casting and working these lures. Since we fish mostly rock and gravel bottoms, we tend to gravitate towards Texas rigged softplastics and similar lures which certainly require sensitivity to determine actual bass bites as opposed to “nuisance” bites from panfish (sunfish and yellow perch).

Beyond the rods sensitivity though, you also need quite a bit of power to drive the hook home through the soft plastic and prior to this rod, I would have leaned towards presenting these lures on at least a medium heavy powered rod, but early in the season he fish seem to prefer smaller lures so it’s great having the sensitivity and power of this rod while still being able to through lures in the 1/4oz weight range.

Lastly, this might be the very best rod I own (out of the roughly 110 rods total) for presenting a Texas rigged Keitech 3. 8 Fat Swing Impact or 4-inch Keitech Easy Shiner swimbait which is slowly rolled along the bottom for bass.

If you fish for bass and want a medium powered fast action rod that’s great for a variety of lure techniques and presentation then get this rod!.

Well made rod, but the grip is very small diameter, and the fore-grip is tiny. Slips easily with wet hands. Tip action is a bit too stiff for my tastes.

Paired it with a StradicFL. It is amazingly sensitive. Extremely light. Definitely great for panfish and smallmouth. Purchased the 6’7 ML for kayak fishing.

Great rod good price. The med light has handled spotted seatrout in the flats and saltwater catfish with no issue. It has a good feel and I cast pretty far with 20lb braid. I am dropping down to 15lb with a 3000 Lew’s and hopefully will see a farther casting distance.

The medium rod has fought a tarpon and pulled in hefty speckled trouts and anything that hooks up. Paired with a 4000 Shimano Nasci with 20lb braid. Great combination. These are not custom perfect rods, but they are great for price point.

7ft 6in on both rods.

I had the benefit of fishing with 2 different power rods. I first purchased the 7ft medium light rod and I felt alright, however too “whippy” at the tip. I fished one day, and the hook set did not feel too firm, good thing I did not hook a large redfish.

I did land 3 flounder and lose 1 fish, more than likely not enough hood set power. I returned for a 6. 9ft medium fast rod and it feels like a better backbone and light weight. Overall good casting rods, I am new to casting rods, so this is my first.

The medium light would still fish some application of inshore, I mean for casting light lures. If you want an all around, I’d go with the 6. 9 or 7ft medium fast rod.

The veritas range is absolutely awesome however the three piece i bought was a bit of a mystery. The three piece rod had a very visible bow in it. I really liked the idea of this rod because i could keep it in my car out of the way of my wife’s eye and ear shot giving me the flexibility to have a fish on the run type thing.

While the missus is shopping lol. I would certainly like to get another one.

Extremely light but also super strong and can feel the smallest of bites. Great fun even on the smallest of fish. Went out to lake Macquarie with a mate back in July and caught some squid and bream which were unfortunately not quite legal size but still had a bloody ball with this rod which i bought to go with my small baitcasting reel.

I was happy to catch the smaller fish and squid all day and can”t wait to get a good size fish on which i know i can be confident it has plenty of power to bring in any fish in that i will catch.

Great rod (so far). I, as an inexperienced surf-caster find it easy to use and get good distance. The only negative with this rod is that the guides on the top section only have a small diameter hole for the line, and a modest size (I use 38kg/10kg line Black Magic) swivel will not pass through it.

So I have to tie it on once assembled and cut it off to re-stow the rod. Not a deal breaker but surprising considering everything else good about the rod.

The rod is beautiful! And strong with the spiral x and hi power x. It feels like my G. loomis IMX Pro Blue. The rod is also very light. The only downside to this rod is the single foot guides. I accidentally wrapped my line around the rod before I casted and didn’t see it.

Well. I casted full strength and bent 2 guides all the way down. Boo. They bent right back up and you can align them again, but the epoxy finish where the guides are footed to the rod has cracked and opened.

Beautiful, well done rod, but why would you put half double foot guides and half single foot guides? Gonna get rid of it.

The rod is well made and has a good balance of action and sensitivity, just what I wanted in the 8ft XH. HOWEVER, the item was incorrectly listed, describing the handle as type A when it was in fact type B.

I even contacted BPS and they said yeah it’s type A. It was not. Type A has a shorter butt end and that’s 90% of why I purchased the rod. I received type B with the longer and different style butt. It’s too much of a hassle to return a one piece 8ft rod so I’m just going to keep it bc it is a decent rod but not what I was looking for and not what was advertised.

-3 Stars for incorrect/false listing.

( read to the end of this long review) About 4 months ago I purchased this lovely travel rod combo. And I truly do love the rod and all the sections it comes with. But the test of a good company is when something goes wrong, how they handle it.

I was fishing in my kayak just recently and had three rods in my kayak rod holders, one of which was my toadfish. I accidentally managed to flip my kayak completely over. I scrambled to retrieve my rods before they sank.

I didn’t care about the other stuff it was all bungees in. After flipping my kayak over and reentering it I noticed the toadfish rod handle base had snapped completely off and was now at the bottom of the lake.

I contacted toadfish once I got home and told them what happened and sent pictures of the curiously perfect break (almost like it had broken cleanly at a seam). Their first reaction was to let me know it was guaranteed for only a month and that time had passed, and only a manufacturers defect was warrantied for a year, and that “accidents” were not covered.

However they were willing to sell me the damaged part for 25$ plus shipping. I understood what they said but was disappointed that they couldn’t see that a clean break like mine could be a manufacturers defect.

So I respectfully responded as below. “ Question 2- And just to inquire further. When a fiberglass or graphite rod breaks, doesn’t it sort of shred? This rod handle seemed to have snapped at a “seam”.

It was almost a perfect even snap with the only fiberglass or graphite shred as a thin exterior layer. Almost like the handle was seamed at that spot and fiberglass wrapped around it. I would have thought that the handle would have been all one piece without any seams.

That would seem to be a manufacturers defect, wouldn’t it? Can you check that for me. Ps I had two other rods also in a holder and they did NOT break” Their quick response was this: “I just heard back from the product team.

There are a number of reasons that the rod could have had such a clean break like that. One of those reasons being, there could have been a nick in the rod blank prior to the kayak being rolled (possibly as a result of a manufacturing defect).

Since this cannot be ruled out as a reason for the breakage, we would be happy to go ahead and cover this under our warranty. We typically do require a shipping fee for replacements. However, I’m glad to waive that fee for you!” I really was expecting to have to pay for the replacement.

Not many companies would “reconsider” their warranty decision as Toadfish has done. My trust in toadfish products has been restored, as I had made the decision to no longer purchase from them. But my trust has been restored.

I still believe that several other companies have better warranties BUT they did end up honoring the manufacturers warranty with the proof I presented. I give them 5 stars for service! It was quick and efficient, they didn’t argue, and it was obvious they care about their customers.

I gave this review 4 stars for one reason only…. I wanted other review readers to read it! When I read reviews my tendency is to read the negative ones first. I quite often don’t put much stock in 5 star reviews as ( they can be hard to trust) hence the 4 star.

Yes I will purchase another rod from them! This is really a 5 star review!.

I have just returned from a 10 day trip fishing on the Zambezi where I used the the travel rod in 6’8″ (with Penn Battle III 2500) and 7’4″ (with Penn Conflict II 3000). Caught several tiger fish and one vundu (catfish)and lost two bigger vundu.

Got spooled on one of those, and the other was a error on my part. Rods performed wonderfully under pressure. One tigerfish was almost 10 lb (4. 5 Kg) and the Vundu I caught was 15. 4 lb (7 Kg). These fish were caught in current, not still water.

The Vundu that spooled me was probably close to 25 lb and I was using 12lb test on it. The rods withstood all the strain extremely well. They are nicely balanced, easy to pack, put together, and put away.

The travel tubes are well built and I am sure they will last a long time. Truly wonderful product that I am happy I tried as I know I have found a new set of travel rods.

I was very pleased with my Toadfish Stowaway Travel Spinning Rod. It came very well packaged in its aluminum case with individual rod parts alos encased in a felt tie-bag. I have only used it two times, but I like the flexibility for local bass fising using the lighter inserts.

Looking forward to using it for other fishing with larger catches in the future. My only comment is that I would have liked some better directions / explanations within the package. The only explanation was a picture and small tag about putting teh sections togeteher with a 1/4′ – 1/2″ space between the lip.

I was unable to, (or afraid to try any harder) get it any closer togtether than 3/4″? I need to check on-line I guess.

The eyelet design is flawed. The metal insert falls out of the eyelet very quickly. This leaves the line resting against the sharp black eyelet metal and the line frays and breaks. 3 of the eyelet inserts fell out of my rod within 3 months.

I love Shimano equipment but this particular model does not live up to the shimano name.

I purchased 2 of these rods recently. 1 was received broken by the carrier. West Marine was quick to get me another one on the way. Once I received and removed the replacement from the packaging the last eye was missing the guide ring.

West Marine was quick to refund my card, they are beautiful rods, but I’m not so sure about about the durability or quality built into this particular model.