TackleTour

Thanks scoobydoo for the info. I ended up ordering a dialuna 9' ml rod after much consideration. It seemed to be the best value out there as far as weight action and reviews. Henry never did get back to me. I know he has a lot on his plate. I had my heart set on a Major Craft Truzer TZ or the Sky Road but read a few things about rod breakage. Don't want to deal with any of that.
I also got in the mail a Shimano sustain Eva rod I bought from Waveinn in Spain. The price was right at 238 Canadian. But the shipping was high at 80 dollars. It's a 8'8" rod rated at 7-28g. It weights 136g. It came with a beautiful neoprene bag and a Shimano rod wrap! The action seems spot on. Shimano rods always seemed to run on the stiffer side I found with fast tips. This one is the same. It's made with high pressure carbon and bio fibre. Older tech but it seems to be right. I'm looking forward to trying it out for trout but the weather here in Niagara has been nasty lately. When I get my dialuna I will post how it works for swim baits. Thanks again everyone for your input. It really helped in my decisions.

frankdi wrote:Thanks scoobydoo for the info. I ended up ordering a dialuna 9' ml rod after much consideration. It seemed to be the best value out there as far as weight action and reviews. Henry never did get back to me. I know he has a lot on his plate. I had my heart set on a Major Craft Truzer TZ or the Sky Road but read a few things about rod breakage. Don't want to deal with any of that.
I also got in the mail a Shimano sustain Eva rod I bought from Waveinn in Spain. The price was right at 238 Canadian. But the shipping was high at 80 dollars. It's a 8'8" rod rated at 7-28g. It weights 136g. It came with a beautiful neoprene bag and a Shimano rod wrap! The action seems spot on. Shimano rods always seemed to run on the stiffer side I found with fast tips. This one is the same. It's made with high pressure carbon and bio fibre. Older tech but it seems to be right. I'm looking forward to trying it out for trout but the weather here in Niagara has been nasty lately. When I get my dialuna I will post how it works for swim baits. Thanks again everyone for your input. It really helped in my decisions.

I think you are headed in the right direction by picking up something from the seabass category, I am still on the fence about what to choose for a JDM offering but in the meantime I just ordered this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/KUYING- ... 66621.html until I have my mind made up.

Just wanted to post how my dialuna 9'ml rod preformed for me casting swimbaits for trout. My main reason for getting it was to cast swimbaits for smallmouth however we are about two or three weeks behind weather wise with water temps still in the low 30's.
The trout are more than co operative though thank god. I was casting 3/8-3/4 oz heads with 3-4 inch swimbaits in the Niagara River which has about a 1-2.5 mph current. We drift and and cast. First thing I noticed obviously was the increased casting distance. I had to remove my mono backing and go full braid on the spool. I'm sure with a good breeze at my back I could spool the reel. I can go lighter on my head as well because I can cast it further and keep more line out of the current and have good contact with my bait with the rod length.
Sensitivity is very good especially with the 20 lb power pro. The power in the rod is deceiving. Until you hook a fish you don't realize how much power it has. I Hooked several lakers and rainbows and tore the hooks out on a few. They have soft mouths so a looser drag was necessary. I am looking forward to trying it on smallmouth. Another couple weeks I hope.

frankdi wrote:JI was casting 3/8-3/4 oz heads with 3-4 inch swimbaits in the Niagara River

That 9'ml is rated to 28 grams correct? I have the 8'6ml with same weight ratings. Were you bombing or lobbing your casts with the 3/4oz + trailer? I've yet to really open up on this rod with anything over 1/2oz total weight. Curious as to how you were casting at that upper limit.

I was bombing it pretty good. The rod didn't feel like it was taxed at all. Not a snapping cast just fluid motion with a couple feet of line hanging. I ended up going to a 1/2 oz head and a 4 inch easy shiner for the majority of the day after testing the rod with the bigger weights. I will for sure end up buying a heavier action rod to deal with 3/4 to 1 oz heads with 5-6 inch baits once I start smallie fishing. I have my eye on a 20-50 g rod.

frankdi wrote:I was bombing it pretty good. The rod didn't feel like it was taxed at all. Not a snapping cast just fluid motion with a couple feet of line hanging. I ended up going to a 1/2 oz head and a 4 inch easy shiner for the majority of the day after testing the rod with the bigger weights. I will for sure end up buying a heavier action rod to deal with 3/4 to 1 oz heads with 5-6 inch baits once I start smallie fishing. I have my eye on a 20-50 g rod.

Excellent, thank you.

I'm looking at one of the 10' Pangea rods. What reel would you guys recommend for this particular rod?

I'll jump in here late. I have the St Croix LTB 8'6 MLXF and it launches hair jigs. I would imaging their 8'6 medium powered rod would be perfect for this.