First baitcaster. Little advice needed

[Matt_3479]

Decided I want a baitcaster after getting to use one for about a week! I'd like to get a decent rod, something to "do it all" so to say as it's my first baitcaster. I'm looking at the st. croix legend tournament bass, 13 fishing envy black, or a dobyns champion series rod. I currently fish mainly bass, walleye and pike. I have 2 spinnging rods I use for them now and would be content keeping this baitcaster for bass and the odd pike! I mainly use meps, lots of twister tails, top water frogs, small rapala's, spinngers and now senko's and soft plastics. I'd like to try getting into pitching and flipping. Probably won't be punching heavy cover or heavy grass mats too much as I don't fish a lot of heavy cover, but do fish some grass lines, grass beds and Lilly pads. My question would be what size rod? Action and power? And which of those three rods do you recommend? I'm leaning towards a 7'-7'4" medium heavy or heavy, fast or extra-fast. And favoring the envy black or legend tournament bass.

Ps. Reel will be either daiwa tatula sv tws, or zillion sv tws

[zodiak311]

The first rod that came to mind after reading your post was the Dobyns Champion 735c. Great company, with a warranty and customer service that can't be beat. It will pair well with the reels on your list. Probably one of the most versatile rods in my lineup. Frogs, Senkos, Spinner bait, medium cranks, jigs. The rod can do it all.

[Matt_3479]

The first rod that came to mind after reading your post was the Dobyns Champion 735c. Great company, with a warranty and customer service that can't be beat. It will pair well with the reels on your list. Probably one of the most versatile rods in my lineup. Frogs, Senkos, Spinner bait, medium cranks, jigs. The rod can do it all.

That's the exact rod I was looking for but can't seem to get one in my hands!! The other one I can't seem to get off my mind is the 13 fishing envy black 7' 3" heavy
Extra fast. It feels fantastic in the hands! The only reason I'm leaning towards st. croix and 13 is cause I can't find many dobyns in stock

[zodiak311]

The first rod that came to mind after reading your post was the Dobyns Champion 735c. Great company, with a warranty and customer service that can't be beat. It will pair well with the reels on your list. Probably one of the most versatile rods in my lineup. Frogs, Senkos, Spinner bait, medium cranks, jigs. The rod can do it all.

That's the exact rod I was looking for but can't seem to get one in my hands!! The other one I can't seem to get off my mind is the 13 fishing envy black 7' 3" heavy
Extra fast. It feels fantastic in the hands! The only reason I'm leaning towards st. croix and 13 is cause I can't find many dobyns in stock

There are plenty out there. Unless you are trying to buy second hand. The Tackle Trap, TW, and the Dobyns website has them. I personally like the full grip better, but there is a split grip option as well.

[Matt_3479]

I forgot to mention I live in Canada and dobyns are a little harder to find. St. Croix are everywhere and 13 fishing is getting very popular so easy to come by

[zodiak311]

I forgot to mention I live in Canada and dobyns are a little harder to find. St. Croix are everywhere and 13 fishing is getting very popular so easy to come by

I see, that makes sense.

[FishyMCfishFace]

I currently have the Envy Black, 7.3 MH and it's a great all around casting rod. I haven't tried the other rods that were mentioned, so I can't really compare, but I am very happy with the Envy.
You can also find the Envy for a great price with a little digging around. I think I paid in the $160 range last winter, though I no longer see them listed at Tackle Warehouse.

[cndbasshunter]

I forgot to mention I live in Canada and dobyns are a little harder to find. St. Croix are everywhere and 13 fishing is getting very popular so easy to come by

where abouts?

[Matt_3479]

I forgot to mention I live in Canada and dobyns are a little harder to find. St. Croix are everywhere and 13 fishing is getting very popular so easy to come by

where abouts?

Southern Ontario!

[cndbasshunter]

I forgot to mention I live in Canada and dobyns are a little harder to find. St. Croix are everywhere and 13 fishing is getting very popular so easy to come by

where abouts?

Southern Ontario!

That's pretty large area. Checkout Pro Js in Scarborough, Gagnons in oshawa, JB in Etobicoke, or Pro Advantage in Quinte. The guys will take care of you.

[Matt_3479]

I forgot to mention I live in Canada and dobyns are a little harder to find. St. Croix are everywhere and 13 fishing is getting very popular so easy to come by

where abouts?

Southern Ontario!

That's pretty large area. Checkout Pro Js in Scarborough, Gagnons in oshawa, JB in Etobicoke, or Pro Advantage in Quinte. The guys will take care of you.

Thank you, I'll look more into those stores.

[kstephes033]

Another rod i would recommend and that is below the price of the others you mentioned is the Daiwa Tatula Elite 7'3" MH "All Purpose" rod. They are really good at many things. I have used mine for 1/2oz trigs, jigs, swim jigs, swim baits, spinnerbaits, senkos, finesse jigs, etc... does a lot of things really well. Sensitivity is really good on them and they pair up very well with either of the reels you mentioned. For a good all around rod a medium heavy should serve you well. Ive had a couple dobyns, and personally i wasnt impressed with the way they fished. They were very well balanced and had the right action, just felt dead to me. A fast action is much more suitable to being an all around/do it all rod, extra fast is more geared towards bottom contact baits. The St. Croix's are very tip heavy, great in the sensitivity department but the rod just feels heavy and clunky due to it not being balanced... again my opinion but that seems to be the general consensus on those.

[Matt_3479]

Another rod i would recommend and that is below the price of the others you mentioned is the Daiwa Tatula Elite 7'3" MH "All Purpose" rod. They are really good at many things. I have used mine for 1/2oz trigs, jigs, swim jigs, swim baits, spinnerbaits, senkos, finesse jigs, etc... does a lot of things really well. Sensitivity is really good on them and they pair up very well with either of the reels you mentioned. For a good all around rod a medium heavy should serve you well. Ive had a couple dobyns, and personally i wasnt impressed with the way they fished. They were very well balanced and had the right action, just felt dead to me. A fast action is much more suitable to being an all around/do it all rod, extra fast is more geared towards bottom contact baits. The St. Croix's are very tip heavy, great in the sensitivity department but the rod just feels heavy and clunky due to it not being balanced... again my opinion but that seems to be the general consensus on those.

Thank you! I'll see if I can get my hands on that rod and take a look. When pitching and flipping though wouldn't a heavy be a bit better then a med/heavy. Incase I'm throwing a heavier weight 3/4"+ to get through the thick grass!! Or is a medium heavy fine? It's just I see the heavy's sit around average lure weight 1 1/4-1 1/2oz where heavy med look to be 5/8-3/4oz sometimes a little more. Like I said I'd love an all round rod or as all round as you can get but super interested in flipping and pitching and don't want the rod to be s little too light for it. Unless you guys pitch and flip with med/heavys and have no problem!!

[new2BC4bass]

Never seen a Tatula Elite, but I think the original Tatula rods are very good rods for the money. The Elites should be better. I can't invest in the high end rods, but I picked up a couple used Hammer rods. From what I have read they compare very favorably with higher priced rods. Definitely would go with a Heavy as they are rated a bit lighter than many other rods. The 7'3" heavy is rated 1/4-1 oz. which I consider a good MH.

[kstephes033]

Another rod i would recommend and that is below the price of the others you mentioned is the Daiwa Tatula Elite 7'3" MH "All Purpose" rod. They are really good at many things. I have used mine for 1/2oz trigs, jigs, swim jigs, swim baits, spinnerbaits, senkos, finesse jigs, etc... does a lot of things really well. Sensitivity is really good on them and they pair up very well with either of the reels you mentioned. For a good all around rod a medium heavy should serve you well. Ive had a couple dobyns, and personally i wasnt impressed with the way they fished. They were very well balanced and had the right action, just felt dead to me. A fast action is much more suitable to being an all around/do it all rod, extra fast is more geared towards bottom contact baits. The St. Croix's are very tip heavy, great in the sensitivity department but the rod just feels heavy and clunky due to it not being balanced... again my opinion but that seems to be the general consensus on those.

Thank you! I'll see if I can get my hands on that rod and take a look. When pitching and flipping though wouldn't a heavy be a bit better then a med/heavy. Incase I'm throwing a heavier weight 3/4"+ to get through the thick grass!! Or is a medium heavy fine? It's just I see the heavy's sit around average lure weight 1 1/4-1 1/2oz where heavy med look to be 5/8-3/4oz sometimes a little more. Like I said I'd love an all round rod or as all round as you can get but super interested in flipping and pitching and don't want the rod to be s little too light for it. Unless you guys pitch and flip with med/heavys and have no problem!!

If you are wanting to use it for pitching and flipping mostly and are going to be using 1/2oz + then yes i would go with a heavy. A heavy mod-fast would be a decent all around due to having a little more flex in the mid section of the rod, but you are going to be really limited for the most part on the rods you would be able to use. I have used my tat elite m/h for 3/4oz football jigs, but thats open water fishing rocks, i dont think it would work well for the thick stuff at all unless using 1/2oz max in weeds. Tje mew evergreen combat stick 7'3" H mod-fast is a great rod that i have been using for 1/2oz jigs and 3/4oz trigs in grass. That could be an option but being in canada not sure if it would stay under the price point you want. Hammer as stated i have heard great things about, and from what i read they are more in the mod-fast range, the guys at the tackle trap would have some great knowledge on them and that could be a good option.