I finally got a chance to take the 916 down to my local pond (I was in a race against the snow that was moving in) to test out some of the lower weights. I started off with a 3/4 oz. worm weight and a 4" Chiggar Craw. I was surprised that I was still able to pitch this light weight with this rod. It didn't load much, but there was enough in the tip to sling this weight out there. Plus, the rod is light enough that it doesn't feel awkward fishing a lure so much lighter than it's low lure rating (imagine trying to fish a 3/4 oz. lure with a Swimbait rod that has a lure rating of 3 oz. to 8 oz. I do think that would feel rather awkward).thukidad wrote:Incredible review! But I would like to submit a request on flipping and pitching 3/8 oz and 1/2 oz jigs with trailer on the 916 if at all possible. Im not expecting too much as its towards the lower in of the spectrum in regards to rating but would be interested in what you have to say in regards to it performing. Again, thanks for the update.
I took off the 3/4 oz. weight and slid on an 1/2 oz. weight with the same 4" Chiggar Craw. This weight was just a little too light for the rod. I wasn't able to really sling the bait out this like I was with the 3/4 oz (the tip really didn't load under this weight while pitching). As far as flipping this weight or using a pendulum swing to get the bait out there, I didn't find the rod to be overbearing. It was actually somewhat comfortable with these techniques and this weight. Again, conventional casting or really trying to get distance while pitching this weight wasn't all that ideal.
My last test of the day was with 1/4 oz weight and the 4" Chiggar Craw. I expected to have the same results as I did with the 1/2 oz weight, but I wanted to see if this rod would just feel too stout for such a light weight. After about 25 minutes flipping this 1/4 oz. bait around the lay downs along the shore, I ended my experiment. It just didn't feel as good flipping this light weight as it did with the 1/2 ounce weight. I would say that 1/2 oz would probably be my cut off for using this rod.
After I finished with the different worm weight with the Chiggar Craws, I put on a Spro Frog. I know I already cast this lure and reported what I thought, I just wanted to try it again and verify my first opinion. Well, it didn't take long to confirm what I reported before, this rod can really be a good frog. It just would cast that Spro so well. I even wanted to see how accurate I could be with it (which was one of my negatives with this rod and the lighter frog). It did take a little adjusting, but I was able to really spot cast this frog next to trees and against the bank. It might not be the ideal open water frog rod (where I do think it maybe a near perfect slop frog rod), but after a little bit of time with it, it could really serve the purpose.
I truly think G Loomis overrated the low lure rating threshold. I think this rod can handle 5/8 oz lures and even 1/2 oz lures. With how responsive the tip is on this NRX, you are really able to fish much lighter lures than 3 oz. with it. What I have yet to test though is it's upper range. I did cast an A-Rig that I estimated to be around 5 ounces and it casted that well. I was going to bring a few 8 ounce musky lures I have (I don't have any 8 ounce bass lure to use) and see how this rod would do with them today, but in a hurry to beat the snow, I forgot. If I get another chance (before the lake freezes), I will chuck out a few 8 oz (and possibly larger) lures to see where it's upper lure rating threshold really lies.
