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Posts: 75
| I'm taller than the average guy (6'7'') and looking to throw magnum bulldawgs and maybe the 1 pounders..
Is a longer rod better? I'm guessing anywhere between 8 and 9 would work but what would be ideal..
And Should I get Heavy or X heavy?
Right now I have a Black River Rod 8ft Med./Heavy power that works great for bucktails and medium sized cranks.. would this rod be ok to toss magnums?
and thats the price range I'm looking for too.. I think I got it for a little over $100.
any help is appreciated.
-Ryan |
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| I would recomend Jason hammernicks hammer rod it is the right action in the tip to throw pounders and mag dawgs. I've used other rods specifically made for pounders that are too stiff in the tip to load up the rod properly. Hammernick definately has the rod action figured out along with strengh. I think action is more important than power I found out the hard way that you can't cast far enough with a rod too stiff in the tip a medium action works much better. |
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | I've got a St. Croix Big Dawg and it's great. I threw plastic and Pounders with it all last year. It's an XH and is stiff, but I load my rods hard and it flexes plenty for my use. It throws them with authority. |
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Posts: 279
| I just got a 9ft mega heavy from tackle industries. I have not had a chance to throw anybaits with it yet but it is rated at 8-36oz baits so I figure it will throw the heavy plastics well. |
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| Wanted to expand on my responce i don't want anyone to think I meant medium power the hammer rod is an xheavy power but the action is not fast I would say it's medium fast. The action of the rod is how much it bends in the tip this is what makes the hammer rod awsome in my opinion because it loads up really well. |
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | Chris,
Is the Hammer Rod still available ? If so, where can you get one ?
Jerome |
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| Jerome I honestly don't know I use mostly rods I made myself but last fall I used a friends equipment for a couple days and was really impressed with the action of the rod. I have no idea where or how to get one. |
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Posts: 485
Location: On my favorite lake! | I have a st croix big dash and a tackle industries xxh. Both throw pounders to regular size dawg with no problems. The big dawg is lighter but also more expensive of you throw a lot of plastics I say big dawg if you only use it once in a while tackle industries xxh. |
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Posts: 32955
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Okuma XXH. |
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Location: Latitude 41.3016 Longitude 88.6160 | Musky Innovations 9' Super Mag, or a Tackle Industries Mag or a Mega Heavy 8'6"-9' Rods. The Tackle Industries rods are a little over $100.00, the M/I Bulldawgs rods are $190.00 retail. Don't take anyone word on a rod , you must handle one first, both rods should be at MN Musky show in April, Ck them out. |
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Posts: 4053
Location: Land of the Musky | Yep, working on a deal right now for my rods to be sold at the MN show from a guide booth. More to come soon!
James
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Posts: 1536
Location: God's Country......USA..... Western Wisconsin | You could contact Jason and ask about the "Hammer Rod".
http://www.muskiebreath.com/ |
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Posts: 2686
Location: Hayward, WI | Chris Riebe - 2/15/2010 8:41 AM
I dont want to sound negative but remember you get what you pay for I would suggest spending more than $100 on a rod if you plan on using it alot I would probably look at St. Croix if you want it to last. Last fall I used a tackle industries rod and watched the handle extension break after 5 minutes throwing pounders. On a positive note the rods were light blanks seemed strong and the company stood behind the warranty.
So you are saying that the Hamer Rod is the best for Pounders but if he wants the rod to last he better buy a St. Croix? Hmmm...
I have an 8'6" Hamer Rod. I like the rod, but I don't know if I would tell somebody to get it for a main Pounder rod. It does load up well to lob/fling Pounders for the most part. But, if you have to put some muscle into it (like casting into the wind), I think the rod is a touch light or soft for that. Also, if you want to really rip the Pounders, the rod loads a lot on the rip and makes ripping them hard tough.
For anything less than the Pounder, the Hamer Rod is nice.... but out of your price range. I think they are somewhere around $180.
I would look into the Okuma XH or XXH. 8'6" or 9'3". If you want a 9' rod, their 9'3" XH sounds pretty nice. It's hard to go wrong with Okuma stuff.
I've never used Jame's Tackle Industries rods either, but I hear they are a STEAL at $100. I would not hesitate to buy a Tackle Industries product! I wish I had a need for a new rod. I might have to buy one of his... and then find a need for it! 
curleytail |
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Posts: 582
| Okuma 8'6" XXH rod will work nicely. |
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Posts: 202
| I would recommend the Tooth Tamer Jawbreaker series rods in 8'6". These rods will take the pressure of casting heavy soft plastic baits. There website is http://www.toothtamerrods.com
Captain Doug Kloet
http://www.dougkloet.com |
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Posts: 285
Location: Price County WI | I second the Tooth Tamer Jawbreaker, The 8'6 XH works great with mag dawgs and the 8' XXXH for anything bigger, like pounders. |
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Posts: 547
Location: Oshkosh | Another vote for the St. Croix Big Dawg.
Peter |
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Posts: 332
Location: Neenah, WI | I would try the 8'6" hawg chaser from Black River . I know Rollie's has them in stock and they sell for $109 , This rod will handle big Dawgs as well as DCG's and Lucky 13's it is a XXh Fast action.
saint |
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Posts: 1184
Location: Iowa Great Lakes | I love my Tackle Industries rod, well built for the money and I rank it up there with my Thorne Brothers Predator. I'm 5'10" and prefer the 9' rods for castability and working fish and figure 8's. |
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Posts: 75
| Thanks for the info everyone.. which is a lot. I've got in narrowed down to a 8'6'' to 9ft and xheavy to xxheavy.
I have a handful of st. croix walleye rods and love them but am not looking to spend that kinda $ right now.. maybe in a few years.
In the meantime I need a good rod at a great price.. I'll get a few of them in my hands and then pull the trigger.
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI | Maybe this topic should be pinned at the top, or maybe three topics - What rod for:
- bulldawgs
- cowgirls
- all around
Here are two other discussions in the last month about bulldawg rods:
http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=55...
http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=55... |
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| James wasn't trying to slam your product I think it's a great value for $100 and probably a great rod for someone who fishes a dozen times or so a year. I fished with a friend last fall who had 2 brand new rods that day he bought from you and 1 broke after 5 minutes of use. Sorry I just tell it how it is maybe he got a bad one. I think it shouldn't be too hard for you to remember since you gave him his money back for both rods which I am impressed with most companies would have just replaced 1. |
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Location: Latitude 41.3016 Longitude 88.6160 | Chris Riebe - 2/18/2010 1:15 AM
James wasn't trying to slam your product I think it's a great value for $100 and probably a great rod for someone who fishes a dozen times or so a year. I fished with a friend last fall who had 2 brand new rods that day he bought from you and 1 broke after 5 minutes of use. Sorry I just tell it how it is maybe he got a bad one. I think it shouldn't be too hard for you to remember since you gave him his money back for both rods which I am impressed with most companies would have just replaced 1.
I OWN a TACKLE INDUSTRIES 8' MED/HEAVY rod that I used for a week of Tarpon fishing in COSTA RICA and landed 3 tarpon over 100lbs and I lost count of Tarpon over 50lbs , so you don't own one, you have not casted one for a day, Y would you say this rod is for guys who only fish a dozen times a year ???? |
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Posts: 4053
Location: Land of the Musky | "at least they finally tried something original"
See, its comments like this that make me believe you’re just an angry competitor or on the pro staff for my competition and don't have the cahones to just sign up and post under your real name. LOL-Had a booth selling rods at the Milwaukee show bad mouthing my rods and I bet they had never even used them either. Got attacked quite regularly on my SuperDs a few years ago too. That company soon learned all they did was drove business my way. My SuperD sales grew by almost 500% that year and are still on the rise. Funny thing for them was that I was done selling swimbaits until they came after me like they did. Hence 6 lines of SuperDs in 42 colors each. From what I have heard I have reduced their market/sales by 30%. All over poor competition practices on their part. Main thing I have learned is to keep my head down, ignore the whiners BUT listen to my customer comments (good or bad), work hard, make quality products and do not overcharge for them. Oh and ship fast! I hate waiting for stuff I buy online. 
Now “truth in selling” for my rods. I have sold nearly 500 rods to date. 3 handle problems have come to my attention. Each problem was taken care of immediately by sending out a new extension handle (one refund) and that handles resent did not fail as of yet on any of the rods. From what I understand, other rod brands experience a failure rate up to 20% in extreme cases. So far I am running at a 0.6% failure rate. Lots of my rods are currently in use in open water territory and I also had a lot of rods out last year in the hands of guys I know are very hard on rods/tackle with zero failures form them. Now, what am I doing about this 0.6% failure rate? Redesigning my handle. Yes, a 0.6% failure rate IMO is still unacceptable even though I would probably be just “business” fine with a 5% failure rate. That is just how I run my company. For example: My SuperDs have a sub 0.1% failure rate right now on my Generation III SuperDs. I am very happy with that. Take a look at most other rods on the market. You will probably not find any with Fuji components on them for my prices. Why? Because I do not spend a lot of money on advertising, fancy packaging, exotic trips to “test” my products, and most importantly I do not mark up my products a lot. I spend my money on my products! Sometimes you CAN get a great product for low prices. Thanks for the chance to “toot” my own horn
James
Edited by Tackle Industries 2/18/2010 2:05 PM
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Posts: 2686
Location: Hayward, WI | Chris riebe - 2/18/2010 10:02 AM
Throwing pounders puts a lot of stress on the handle of a rod and the little alluminum handle inserts are not strong enough.
So you know of one failure and that makes ALL of the aluminum handle inserts not strong enough? I'm pretty sure that every once in a while, manufacturer defects happen to every manufacturer... Telling a story of ONE failure is not likely to discourage too many guys from trying out what sounds like a great rod at a great price, if that is what you are trying to do.
curleytail |
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Location: Latitude 41.3016 Longitude 88.6160 | Chris riebe - 2/18/2010 10:02 AM
Pike master
I hope James sells a thousand rods I'm not going to argue with you, but reeling in tarpon and casting pounders are two totally different things where are your hands when fighting a fish and where are your hands when casting leverage is in two totally different parts of the rod. Throwing pounders puts a lot of stress on the handle of a rod and the little alluminum handle inserts are not strong enough. I've never seen another company with a handle extension at least they finally tried something original. I guarantee when people have the chance to use all these rods they have bought in the middle of winter we will hear of a lot of failures
Like I said in my last post How would you know if U don't OWN a TACKLE INDUSTRIES ROD ???????? |
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Posts: 2024
| Nevermind...
Okuma 8'6"XXH.
Edited by esox50 2/18/2010 3:15 PM
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| it's not exactly controversial to say that in many/most cases there is a correlation between cost and quality. engineering, components, and quality assurance practices all mean that higher-end products are often "better".
but imho, that's not the point for many of the things we use. the critical issue really is value. is the quality of the item "good enough" for the application, and is it worth the price?
for me, when it's a basic rubber swimbait or a value-brand XH muskie rod, the answer is yes (i like Super-ds and Black River Rods, myself). i own and have used the big name stuff, and the performance differences on those items just aren't there to justify the extra price.
now, when it comes to double-10 bucktails or casting reels, i stick with higher-end products like Glittertail and Shimano because i believe that the engineering and component differences make a huge difference to me in durability and performance. the alternatives just don't cut it.
my point is value matters, and that "value" point is different for every item.
there are a LOT of options for inexpensive muskie rods on the market all of a sudden: Black River, Musky Armor, Okuma, Tackle Industries, etc...pick one up, try it, at $100 you can hardly go wrong...as long as it's a Black River!
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| Chris, I'm sorry, but if you build such a good rod yourself, why were you not using your own rod that day? I have seen high quality brand rods break on the second cast after buying them. These are rods that have a defect for who knows what reason. There is not a brand of rod out there that sells at a high quantity number that does not have an issue at one time or another. I know James is not a liar, he will tell you the way it is. 0.6% failure is impressive. Besides that, he is confident enough in his rods to put a 5-year warranty on them.
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Location: Latitude 41.3016 Longitude 88.6160 | Chris Riebe - 2/18/2010 4:02 PM
Im not going to argue this topic any more I thought this thread was suposed to be about the best bulldog rod not the worst. I offered my opinion and that was that I liked the hammer rod its awsome i have been using it as my benchmark for the action I am looking for in different calstar blanks I'm experimenting with to build custom bulldog rods. I fish 75+ days a year and thought I would offer my opinion and experiences I even said it was a good value for $100. Like lambeau said good enough for what you would expect for $100. The short chance I had at using a tackle industries rod it broke. If I had been using any other brand rod and it broke I would share that experience as well. Most people on this forum wouldn't buy a two piece muskie rod which makes me wonder why they would buy one with a two piece handle? IMO seems like a no brainer. Best of luck with your rods James. Pretty soon this whole thread will probably get removed anyway since james pays to advertise on here.
One of the hottest/best selling rods on this forum is the OKUMA Telescopic rods. WOW its a two piece rod ??????? If you would take a look at a telescopic rod the extension piece is over the rod blank not inside!!!!! |
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Posts: 4053
Location: Land of the Musky | Actually Chris I am checking with the guy in PA that sold the rod to another and then I sent the refund to. If I am mistaken and this is your buddy I do apologize but when you come onto a forum swinging and posting from a guest account and continue to bash my products and company name I usually take a defensive stance....
James
PS-For a great rod other than mine I do plan on buying a 9'3" Okuma this year. Never heard anything bad about that rod. If money is still in the wallet I may buy a Hulbert rod too. |
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Posts: 90
| Kind of funny, I got my rod building education from Thorne Bros and they extend every handle by putting an extension on the inside of the rod. I will be sure to pass along that link so that they know that they have been building rods the wrong way for the past 25 years. Expert rod builders courtesy of google, the internet is a wonderful place.
Extensions in general really shouldn't be more then 6-9" past the original blank length. It really won't matter how much glue you use or type, how many arbors you add or how much fiberglass tape you add, the torque from casting mag dawgs/pounders will break it if the extension is too long. Usually the extension just pops out, but often it cracks the blank. It also isn't something that happens right away, but 2+ years down the road. Its just what happens. The rod builders at Thorne joke around that if you need to extend a rod further then 6", then you should have someone build you a new blank, its the only right way to get something to the desired length.
Comparing the durability of a telescoping rod to one that has an "extension" in a seperate place is irrelevant. Its apples to oranges.
A couple of logistical issues adding an extension to a muskie rod by going over the blank, instead of sticking a seperate piece of a rod inside the blank.
1. Finding a piece of a rod that is large enough to fit over the back end of a musky blank that is already pretty thick. You would probably have to go with either a heavy saltwater rod or glass rod which adds a lot of weight to the back end.
2. Say you find a piece of a blank that can do it, now you have to find cork rings (or premade cork handles) that can fit over your fatter extension and you really don't have a lot of extra cork left to lathe before you are at the blank, screw up and you start over I guess.
3. You find cork rings that fit (like the much more expensive cork rings that are used on the flare section of rods) and I hope you enjoy fishing with a handle that has about a four inch diameter.
4. If you ever need to repair the handle, replace the reel seat, gouge the cork etc, have fun tearing off all of the guides and existing cork so you can rebuild the entire rod and repeat steps 1-3. It is not fun getting all of the old cork/glue off of the old blank.
As for extending a rod in the middle of the handle: I liked the idea when Paul Thorne built those rods for Nature Vision last year, but it didn't work for him and he is one of the best rod builders out there. I don't see how having a piece of metal rubbing against graphite helps things, sure the extension might not break, but graphite does. It is also just my opinion and time will tell if I am right or wrong. I would have assumed that if metal was acceptable for extension material it would have been used a long time ago. If I remember right, Thorne buys their extension pieces from Gary Wick for something like $5 a piece and I would think an aluminum pole would be cheaper and more durable then that if it worked.
Best rod out there for mags/pounders is the 9' Predator XH. I have Legend tournaments, Loomis Steels and a Heavy Avid and the Predator is the best. Adding any $100 rod to that list is ridiculous, I don't care if my mom made it.
For me right now the best $100 rod out there for dawgs is the 8' XH Shimano Compre. This is the first year I have touched the Okumas and they seem nice and if things go well with people I personally talk to that use them, then it will probably change to those due to length. |
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Posts: 1184
Location: Iowa Great Lakes | I have broke, Tecna AV's, G-Loomis, St Croics all on a cast does this mean these rods are not good either? I currently have 2 favorites out of St Croixs, Loomis a couple Thorne Bros, Muskie Innovation, and a TI, those 2 are the H Predator built on a non extended 9' blank by St Croix and the Tackle Industries 9' XH. I have used the Okuma briefly for a few casts and used a Shimano Compre, the Compre does not come close the Okuma I didn't use enough to form a judgement. For the money I think James has about the best rod out there, in fact I put it up next to my Predator. As with any product some will fail, no matter if it's a Yugo or a Lexus someone will get a lemon. |
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Posts: 32955
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I'm using several telescoping Okuma Rods. Nice stick, tough as nails. Okuma builds a great rod at a great price and I can prove it through LOTS of use and abuse.
I have a couple Tooth Tamers. Nice sticks in a blank I need that Okuma doesn't make.
I've never fished a Black River. Saint is a good guy, and sorta anal about things being right, so I'm sure it's a good rod.
James has a great reputation for taking care of his customers and testing the products he produces. I'd bet a Burger and a Beer his rods are also very nice...reports from those who have them have been really positive. He is one of the most generous folks I know, and almost by himself provided for half the money needed to be raised to send a Vet fishing with OM at the swap in Milwaukee last weekend. I've fished a few of his products, and find them well built, and plenty durable enough. I fish his competitor's products too...why not?
There's one fellow posting here who needs to push his chair back and listen to himself for a minute, thinking about the folks who read this thread and what they might be thinking about his tirades. The last guy on the planet I'm buying a rod...or a leader or lure or anything...from, is a manufacturer who bashes the products others build out of obvious spite. Bad business, IMO.
There's plenty of room for all the builders out there and if they market their products well and the product holds up under the wear and tear we all offer, and the company stands behind any failures, they deserve a piece of the action. It's business, and it's global in nature. |
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What kinda rod should I buy for throwing Bulldawgs?