They are definitely heavy on Shimano and Loomis products, no doubt about that. I take their words with a grain of salt, but often they are backed up by a lot of other people online. That being said, I've only read a few negative reviews of the 6'10M Expride as a jerkbait rod, and here on TT, it's always you! I even sent you a PM about it where you didn't actually highlight any real fault of it, just said you ended up with something you liked more.goldrod wrote: ↑Sat Apr 18, 2020 7:14 pmNothing against TB, but as we say in my world "consider the source".bwjay wrote: ↑Sat Apr 18, 2020 7:08 pmIf you thought it was too soft, I doubt the 7'2H Expride would be stiff enough for you. Just get the 7'3XH... it comes highly recommended for frogging from the homies at TBassin.I got mine over BF and yes, it is a fairly stiff rod, but it is impressively balanced with a Bantam. It is my longest rod AND my most well-balanced which is crazy to me. I am looking forward to frogging and flipping with it this summer.
Sometimes they skew the lines on products especially when they are sponsored by them. Sometimes not all
but a couple of guys on here have had to reiterate to me the same thing on a few things I've nearly pulled the trigger on.
That being said, the expride jerk bait rod isn't as good as they make it out to be.
As for the Expride 73XH, I may find that it is too stiff and that maybe TB is a little off the mark with this one, but we have some real slop here in MN and I don't like home run hooksets (bank fishing = hit stuff, kayak fishing while standing = possibly fall out of the yak lol), so a stiff rod seems like it would be ideal for me. Plus, it is seriously well balanced. I considered a Dobyns DX746C but people don't have many good things to say other than Dobyns rods are generally well balanced, and it was significantly more expensive than the Expride as well. Balance and lightness was a big factor in my purchasing decision and it was basically down to these 2 rods. I'm hoping to find that TB was right on the money with this one.
Long story short, I do agree, consider the source. You got two big time Shimano lovers saying a Shimano rod is awesome... of course they'd say that. BUT, there are others who back up their opinions based on their own experience for a lot of the advice they give, so they seem like a decent but obviously biased source.
