I know this topic gets discussed to death but I am getting ready to invest some serious money in a swimbait specific rod and reel and wanted to pick the brains of some of you. I know you can't do it all with one outfit but right now I am looking to buy one outfit to cover the size of the baits I primarily fish with-Plastics and plugs in the 7"-10" range. I have a Loomis mbr844c IMX that works OK for the smaller single hook stuff.
Have any of you used the Rogue rods?I see they have a swimbait line and the middle one(8' 15-30 lb. test) sounds good but I have not even seen a photo of these. Any other off the shelf rods good choices? I prefer cork handles and want 8'.Are the Loomis Bucara rods parabolic enough to be good swimbait rods?I know that Calstar,Seeker and GUSA make several 8' blanks.Do any of these really stand out enough to get a custom made? By the way my home lake is Folsom and I will use primarily 20lb. test.
Reelwise it sounds like the 300 te is the hot setup. What reasons make this reel especially well suited for swimbait fishing? Would a calcutta 250 be adaquate? How about a 6500 C4? I talked to Chris at bassworld west and he said he uses a Curado superfree, however I like to cast long and he said they only hold 80-90 yds. of 20#. What retrieve ratios work well with swimbaits? And last, Does anyone use spectra backing with a flourocarbon topshot for this?
Thanks,Dylan

Dylan

i have the rogue sb807 rod. i love that rod it is 8', 15-30lb line and 2-10 oz lure wieght. i through 9" swimbaits and slammers on it. it is a great rod.

Yo Multispecies,
I am currently using an 8 1/2, 12-20 pound Seeker rod and a brand new calcutta 400 reel. I really like this set up a lot. The only thing is I can't really cast the heavier lures as far as i would like. So I might buy one of the bigger G Loomis rods. I use to use the C4 6500 and I liked it but mine didn't have a thumb bar for casting and after trying my buddies Calcutta I got one.
See Ya

I think a really good rod for throwin swimbaits is a 7'11" woodchucker by Graphite USA i have one and it throws the swimbaits with no problem. i have experimented with many other rods but this one is my favorite.

Dylan I have pulled on hundreds of rods, rod blanks and have come to a few that are really the best in my opion. 1st I believe in long rods, the further you get the bait away from the boat the better. Here I go. The graphite usa 85mega mag(8'6"). A good rod for 7 and 9 inch baits(I was told this was Long's choice when not fishing tournies). The graphite usa 80monster mag for 9 and 12s (this rod will throw a 12 inch castaic or huddleston bait). The shikari graphite 8030(8'). I just built one and it loads up great on 9" and 12" baits. Graphite usa also makes an 80mega mag(8') if you want to go shorter. I was told that Long uses a graphite usa 711(7'11") when fishing tournies. I find it a little lite for the larger baits but fine for 7" baits. The only rod that loomis make that really fits the big bait rod cat. is the bbr 966. The bbr 965 will fish 7" baits ok. The shikari and graphite usa are not yet factory wrapped. If you are looking for a factory wrapped rod check out the shimano calcutta 820 or 825 rod. As far as reels no one has customer service like shimano. If you want one reel to do it all go for the calcutta 400(te's are great but overkill, I use them on the peacock bass). I fish 25# on my big baits and find that if I use a 250 I will just about empty my spool. Good luck eric

I am not an expert woodchucker at all but I can tell you about reels that will work. The Abu 6500 will hold enough 20# for that function. So will the Calcutta 400 or 400 TE--actually more than enough. The 300 TE is good too--I use it for 20# on species that won't spool me, i.e. LMBs. I would try each reel on the rod you choose to check balance, feel, etc.

Big Hammer Swimbaits-Hammerhead Jigheads
www.swimbait.com
Pro-Cure Scents
www.pro-cure.com

Congrats on your new CT400! Glad to hear you made the choice for Shimano! I'm sure you're gonna love that reel! Take care!

Darin

Thanks to all for sharing their knowledge with me. I shopped around Sacramento today and learned that I am pretty much on my own as far as finding a rod- the people I spoke to were pretty clueless about what the particular needs are-even the custom builder I visited. I lost most of them at Osprey Talon if you know what I mean.;-) I also called Rogue and they told me that they currently are out of stock on their swimbait rods and that future production is spoken for.
Eric, you sound pretty knowledgeable about rods, I have a question-the 85 mega mag sounds a little long and a little heavy for my tastes,do you think the GUSA 80-Mag would suffice for the 7"-9" baits I normaly throw.
Thanks,Dylan

Dylan