TackleTour

I’m likely off base; so please correct me. It’s just that I don’t remember Dobyns getting a huge amount of hype. I’ve never owned one, so can’t chime in on their performance, but I’ve always seen them as a middle of the pack big production style rod that a dude would match up with a lews reel or something similar bang out 3-5 years of heavy use; replace, and there you go. I don’t recall hype. I see megabass getting lots of hype. More so than most other JDM makers. I see loomis getting hype, more so than kistler or st croix. But dobyns? You get what you pay for with some exceptions. I can think of a few examples of hyped up rod series recently that have just been meh in my hands, but my momma said if you don’t have something nice to say,...

You guys realize Megabass rods are made in China, right? I get the knock on American companies outsourcing overseas, but my gripe on Dobyns is he uses inexpensive, low grade blanks. So he's charging good money with two questionable red flags.

Hogsticker2 wrote:You guys realize Megabass rods are made in China, right? I get the knock on American companies outsourcing overseas, but my gripe on Dobyns is he uses inexpensive, low grade blanks. So he's charging good money with two questionable red flags.

Are all Megabass rods made in China or just from a certain model level down?

Polkfish1 wrote:I’m likely off base; so please correct me. It’s just that I don’t remember Dobyns getting a huge amount of hype. I’ve never owned one, so can’t chime in on their performance, but I’ve always seen them as a middle of the pack big production style rod that a dude would match up with a lews reel or something similar bang out 3-5 years of heavy use; replace, and there you go. I don’t recall hype. I see megabass getting lots of hype. More so than most other JDM makers. I see loomis getting hype, more so than kistler or st croix. But dobyns? You get what you pay for with some exceptions. I can think of a few examples of hyped up rod series recently that have just been meh in my hands, but my momma said if you don’t have something nice to say,...

I dont think people are saying the Dobyns rods have been hyped, just that they have a much better reputation than they deserve. I've always equated Dobyns rods with Okuma rods- good initial build quality and visually appealing, but the blanks and guides are prone to break, they lack sensitivity and they look bad quickly.

I know we have gotten off track but I can't help myself. First the guy who works for Shimano says don't buy anything from China apparently without reading the "made in" stickers on almost all of the Shimano product. Companies that made all their rods in the US were getting killed on the low end by rods made in China. Secondly I don't think the lazy Americans who will not work because they want to live on welfare exist in numbers enough to mean anything and I spent about a decade working in the welfare system. So I see that statement as misinformed.

Probably the biggest thing we need to all take into consideration is that most of the companies, i.e. Daiwa, Shimano, Abu etc would go broke if all they made was higher end stuff. The people on this forum are not the general public and to much of the general public 30 or 40 is what they are willing to pay for a rod and about the same for a reel.

I have only handled a few Dobyns rods and not fished with any, so I have no opinion there. They seem to use Sea Guides rather than Fuji.

I know it is blasphemy but Megabass rods are not light rods. Weight for comparably priced rods from other makers is usually less than Megabass. That doesn't mean they are not nice rods but where they shine is their aesthetics. Wish I could put their reel seats, handles and tread work on a Legend Extreme or NRX blank. Oh well guys the world is not perfect.

timinmo wrote:I know we have gotten off track but I can't help myself. First the guy who works for Shimano says don't buy anything from China apparently without reading the "made in" stickers on almost all of the Shimano product.

Gotta clarify a couple of things...

Bantam1 is the only person here I know of who is employed by Shimano. I simply work for a business that repairs rods and reels for major brands under warranty- or not.

And I also don't say don't buy anything from China because I do, but not rods. I have my limits on quality...

My Shimano reels are made in Malaysia or Japan, and the Shimano corporation is first and foremost a Japanese corporation with an American branch. So Shimano is putting people to work in this country who would not otherwise have that job if it did not exist, and Shimano can be thanked for that.

Shimano is NOT a bunch of American citizens outsourcing to other countries like Gary Dobyns is doing and now Falcon rods. I can not hold Shimano to be patriotic to this country since they are Japanese sourced. But Americans who do what Gary is doing is another story. Zero respect for that. Plenty of anger for it too.

I don't own any Shimano reels or rods that say made in China.

Most over hyped? Megabass
But do I love my "Ninja Epic Proportions Phase IIVVXX Destructo Velociraptor?" Yes I do.

Compile X just left me perplexed, dead in my hands.

I don't think Dobyns is over hyped. You get what you pay for. I do agree the guides are mediocre, but I have never been able to break any of their blanks.

Johnny A wrote:

Hogsticker2 wrote:You guys realize Megabass rods are made in China, right? I get the knock on American companies outsourcing overseas, but my gripe on Dobyns is he uses inexpensive, low grade blanks. So he's charging good money with two questionable red flags.

Are all Megabass rods made in China or just from a certain model level down?

All except the Arms

Hogsticker2 wrote:

Johnny A wrote:

Hogsticker2 wrote:You guys realize Megabass rods are made in China, right? I get the knock on American companies outsourcing overseas, but my gripe on Dobyns is he uses inexpensive, low grade blanks. So he's charging good money with two questionable red flags.

Are all Megabass rods made in China or just from a certain model level down?

All except the Arms

That's big poop!

Well, if you guys want made in Japan rods with great value, you got to take a look at Olympic and Yamaga Blank. It is too bad both of these companies don't really give a damn about Bass fishing.

raychoi wrote:Well, if you guys want made in Japan rods with great value, you got to take a look at Olympic and Yamaga Blank. It is too bad both of these companies doesn't really give damn about Bass fishing.

I can't say it was a damn but Olympic put out a fair to middlin' line of reasonably priced bass sticks around 2007 or so.

I'm not ashamed to use anything from any country. I would love to see my country produce more "made in USA 100%" items and employ more people, but it comes down to what works best for me. There is a roughly $22 trillion national debt, so maybe some of those Chinese made rods are more American than we realize...

zodiak311 wrote:Most over hyped? Megabass
But do I love my "Ninja Epic Proportions Phase IIVVXX Destructo Velociraptor?" Yes I do.

Compile X just left me perplexed, dead in my hands.

I don't think Dobyns is over hyped. You get what you pay for. I do agree the guides are mediocre, but I have never been able to break any of their blanks.

What number does that translate to?

From what I've seen, Megabass aren't always the best balanced sticks either, in spite of their weight. I still really want one. I must have that Hein Carbon Head, or whatever the next gen equivalent turns out to be. It's that grip, I think. I'm bewitched.

poisonokie wrote:

zodiak311 wrote:Most over hyped? Megabass
But do I love my "Ninja Epic Proportions Phase IIVVXX Destructo Velociraptor?" Yes I do.

Compile X just left me perplexed, dead in my hands.

I don't think Dobyns is over hyped. You get what you pay for. I do agree the guides are mediocre, but I have never been able to break any of their blanks.

What number does that translate to?

From what I've seen, Megabass aren't always the best balanced sticks either, in spite of their weight. I still really want one. I must have that Hein Carbon Head, or whatever the next gen equivalent turns out to be. It's that grip, I think. I'm bewitched.

In my opinion, like most JDM sticks the Megabass line is so astetically pleasing to the eyes that most people don’t separate what they look like from how they fish.
That being said I’m trying to think of the worst megabass stick and the best megabass stick I own. I sometimes get tired of looking at a rack with so many MB rods and venture out in a different direction. I don’t know of any one that isn’t balanced but I think they got away from the cork in the x7 series with the destruction line. My super destroyer cork is of less quality than my super rakkai and that’s me eyeballing it. No proof.

I really like the Valkyries I have
Love my super rakkai
And the SFMS & DTC both have unique features but most of all they aren’t just diverse Rods. I would say my worst megabass rod is still better than my NRX green 894. Which in writing this has reminded me that I want to get a blue NRX stick.

Anyways I’m going to say get the hein and live life. There’s nothing like enjoying the hard earned money in the form of new toys.

ShimanoFan wrote: Another issue- who is Dobyns? I have followed bass fishing for 40 years and never heard of him. And, who is making his blanks? No information on that at all. Chinese made or Korean made with a bunch of fancy names on the blanks. Who is Dobyns blank builder? The best are in USA. We KNOW this. So who in China is now a rod expert rivaling USA I can only wonder. From where does Dobyns get its blank technology and who is doing it? Nothing but silence on this. Why? Probably because it is smoke and mirrors.

That is a very bold claim to make. No doubt Loomis is an excellent builder of rod blanks, but there is plenty of competition.


Agree with the majority, for me Dobyns left me the most underwhelmed.