hey all, i have about 600 dollar budget to buy a new rod. needed some input.
I have been fishing for about 16 years for salmon and trout and about 13 with a centerpin and much longer for other fish. currently i am using the Raven IM8 13' and extremely happy with it. i can chuck spoons, spinners, bottom bounce, jig or float fish with a centerpin. tip is moderate enough for light leaders and to play the fish. also the most crisp hook set, with a flick of a wrist you fully set the hook.
now one may ask why would you want to buy a new rod?! with all the injuries inside and out side the gym i don't mind getting something lighter with the same goodies. as i was looking at new stuff on one of the sites i buy things, i saw raven has a new rod called RPX, did a bit of digging, and it is the upgrade version of the RV9 for fraction of the weight. i fell in love, can you imagine, same backbone as im8 with as crisp hook set and better response time for fraction of the weight? then i decided to get that, since Raven has not failed me yet, everything excluding centerpin reel i own is raven, all my connection to the fish are raven and i have never been disappointed yet.
after i mentioned recently about the raven, everyone keeps telling me it is not worth the money for a factory made rod. people suggested a cts, i went to the cts site and excluding colour i have no idea how else to choose the components. all i know is, the pieces, colour, height and action i want. i don't know anything about reel seat, guides and so on.
some people suggested sage, but there was a guy that had issues getting his rod fixed. some people are suggesting glx? is glx as good as once was before being bought by shimano? how much better is the glx from the rpx.
are there any other rods, that can have solid backbone, moderate/slow enough tip to use 4.5lb leader and light enough to be held all day? also i don't like very whippy rods, not sure if that is a good thing for chromes though. i handled RV9 and it is fine as far as whip. also i don't want a steelhead specific rod only, but what i target the most is stealheads.
So what do you think is best course of action? Thanks in advanced for your input.
I have been fishing for about 16 years for salmon and trout and about 13 with a centerpin and much longer for other fish. currently i am using the Raven IM8 13' and extremely happy with it. i can chuck spoons, spinners, bottom bounce, jig or float fish with a centerpin. tip is moderate enough for light leaders and to play the fish. also the most crisp hook set, with a flick of a wrist you fully set the hook.
now one may ask why would you want to buy a new rod?! with all the injuries inside and out side the gym i don't mind getting something lighter with the same goodies. as i was looking at new stuff on one of the sites i buy things, i saw raven has a new rod called RPX, did a bit of digging, and it is the upgrade version of the RV9 for fraction of the weight. i fell in love, can you imagine, same backbone as im8 with as crisp hook set and better response time for fraction of the weight? then i decided to get that, since Raven has not failed me yet, everything excluding centerpin reel i own is raven, all my connection to the fish are raven and i have never been disappointed yet.
after i mentioned recently about the raven, everyone keeps telling me it is not worth the money for a factory made rod. people suggested a cts, i went to the cts site and excluding colour i have no idea how else to choose the components. all i know is, the pieces, colour, height and action i want. i don't know anything about reel seat, guides and so on.
some people suggested sage, but there was a guy that had issues getting his rod fixed. some people are suggesting glx? is glx as good as once was before being bought by shimano? how much better is the glx from the rpx.
are there any other rods, that can have solid backbone, moderate/slow enough tip to use 4.5lb leader and light enough to be held all day? also i don't like very whippy rods, not sure if that is a good thing for chromes though. i handled RV9 and it is fine as far as whip. also i don't want a steelhead specific rod only, but what i target the most is stealheads.
So what do you think is best course of action? Thanks in advanced for your input.
