Product Reviews
My Top 5 Rods For High School Tournament Anglers
Sep
Want To Know What My Top 5 Rods are for High School Tournament Angler’s currently On The Market?
Walking into a sporting goods store and picking out the right rod and reel combo to most is kind of like throwing darts! There’s heavy action, medium action, light action, medium heavy, flipping sticks, finesse, and so on and so on…With many professional anglers married to a particular brand it’s difficult to know if you’re getting the best bang for your buck. Ahead I will break down, through my own experience, my Top 5 Rods For High School Tournament Anglers
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It’s Official High School Fishing Is Here To Stay!
Back in 2017 my best friend who’s a popular teacher volunteered to be the town’s bass fishing coach which I assisted. In our first year we had twelve teams come out or twenty four kids total. To put it in perspective we didn’t have thirty kids on our football team, and I’m not sure that we even had twenty. Practices were held throughout the year on a points system so we could send our two best teams to state. In our first year our top team brought home third place and if not for a dead fish penalty we would’ve been runner up.
In just a few short years we went from an idea to a brand! College scholarships are awarded for performance at local tournaments. Even junior high students are getting in on the rage! Tournaments fill up quickly with teams traveling hundreds of miles to fish sanctioned events with high school students becoming T.V. celebrities through the likes of Bassmasters.
High School Fishing Is Still Expensive.
Depending on your state’s allocations some money has been freed up to help support high school fishing teams. As for us in the early years we would provide rods and reels for the kids up to a point. We would try to work with local sporting goods stores to receive discounts on baits, line, and everything else needed on the water in return for exposure. Parents who didn’t have access to boats would call upon friends or family to take the kids out and pay for their fuel. I’ve always been aware of the burden bared when it comes to the cost of fishing which is exactly why I created My Top 5 Rods For High School Tournament Anglers.
It was once said to become a millionaire fishing you had to start out as a billionaire. It’s VERY VERY important to note that in the world of angling you get what you pay for! Go cheap now and you’ll usually regret it by the end of the year, but if you take good care of your equipment you’re likely to get years of use drastically reducing the costs and giving you a much better return on your investment.
Today we will be looking at the top 5 rods for high school tournament anglers when it comes to costs, efficiency, and value.
What Do I Look At When Ranking My Top 5 Rods For High School Tournament Anglers?
I was pitching my first Rod & Reel combo at the age of ten. I had snagged an old Ambassodor rod and reel combo off the bottom of Harrisburg lake. I would spend my winters pitching washers tied to the end of my line into old Folgers cans to hone in my accuracy skills and I still have the same combo twenty eight years later!
Since then I’ve used almost every combo out there that’s worth having (and some that weren’t). When I purchase a rod I’m not looking at the initial price tag but more like how much will I pay for the life of this rod. If I pay $200.00 and I get ten years out of it then it’s simple… I paid 20.00 a year for a high end rod. If I purchase a cheaper 60.00 rod and it breaks by the end of the second year then I paid 30.00 per year for something less sensitive and of lesser quality . With warranties, quality builds, and companies wishing to protect their reputations rods fall into that category of you get what you pay for!
I will give you a list of my top 5 rods High School Anglers should have in their boat. I chose these particular rods simply because they were the best value for the money and they will cover all of your needs in a fishing tournament.
My Top 5 Rods for High School Tournament Anglers
  TP1 Black Speed Stick 7' | ||||||
  Carrot Stix Casting PRO Wild Wild Orange | ||||||
  G. Loomis IMX-PRO 802S JWR Spinning Rod | ||||||
  G. Loomis Casting Series | ||||||
  St. Croix Rods Premier Casting Rod |
5.)St. Croix Rods Premier Casting Rod
Cost: 150.00
Reliability:7/10 (should last 6 to 10 years)
Cost per year: $15.00-$19.00
One of my two workhorses before I switched over to primarily Lews rods which will be discussed later. St. Croix is well known for quality builds at generous prices. They sell a high volume of rods based on their reputations in customer service and fair pricing.
Around 2008 or 2009 I purchased a used St. Croix Medium Fast Tip off of another angler. He had used it for a couple of years and liked keeping his inventory updated. At the time I needed a good general purpose rod which was lighter than a flipping stick to handle spinnerbaits and swimbaits, but with plenty of backbone for good hook sets. The rod lasted me between six and seven years before it was stolen. It was my fault, I left it out where someone could see it from a busy road.
4.) G. Loomis IMX-PRO 845C CBR Casting Rod – Crankbait
Cost: $345.00
Reliability: 10/10 (Lifetime Limited Warranty)
Cost per year: $10.00-15.00
When it comes to overall satisfaction based upon price, quality, customer service, and reliability it’s the same name it has always been. People who are new to the sport of bass fishing usually get sticker shock when they pick up a Loomis rod off of the shelf.
When you want the best overall rod on the market then it’s worth forking over the money. Loomis backs its quality up with a lifetime warranty against issues caused by the company. That is to say please don’t throw down your rod the next time you lose a big one in a tournament or else you could very easily void the warranty. Just take care of these rods and you’ll be handing them down to your children!
I use the crankbait rod in my lineup and you will not find a more sensitive rod that has been unable to break and is well over twenty years old. I was very fortunate to meet a gentleman who was getting out of the sport of bass fishing back in 2010. I bought two Loomis rods off of him and he told me he had them for over ten years himself.
3.) G. Loomis IMX-PRO 802S JWR Spinning Rod
Cost: $345.00
Reliability: 10/10 (Lifetime Limited Warranty)
Cost per year: $10.00-15.00
With the exact same reasons in mind as our Loomis Crankbait rod I picked this rod up from the same gentleman in the fire sale! With todays fishing pressure if you haven’t learned how to fish a spin cast then you’re far from becoming a complete angler. There used to be a time when a spin cast was laughed at, then as time wore on you would see one mixed with several bait cast combos. Now on certain lakes they take up the majority of a front deck. These are a must for using drop shots and Ned-Rigs which are all the craze!
2.) Carrot Stix Casting PRO Wild Wild Orange
Cost: $199.00
Reliability: 9/10 (8-15 years)
Cost per year: $10.00-15.00
Back in 2003 I was hanging around a really good angler who was about to dip his toe into professional bass fishing. He walked into the living room with a bright orange flipping stick and asked me if I was interested in purchasing it since he had just signed with another rod company and couldn’t be filmed using another brand. I mimicked the motions of pitching and couldn’t help but notice a well balanced, strong backbone, sensitive tip. I purchased it that day and used it as my primary flipping stick for 11 years until I accidentally caught it on a boat cleat splitting it. I was very impressed with the amount of life I got out of it especially for a pitching stick!
1.) TP1 Black Speed Stick 7′ Med Mod Fast Casting HM50 All Purpose Rod
Cost: $130.00
Reliability: 8/10
Cost per year: Unknown
When we first got our team up and going Lew’s was marketing heavily to high school teams offering great discounts on combos if they were ordered in bulk. Between the coaches and kids we bought several of their all purpose rods. The fall of 2018 I spent an entire week on the famous Lake Chickamauga. All 7 days I used the Lew’s rod exclusively fishing 12 hour days using a swim jig. You would think that it would’ve been taxing but due to the lightness of the rod and the sheer amount of fish caught it was the best week of fishing of my life!
The following year I ordered four more rods and those 5 go with me every tournament I fish. I can’t say yet how long the rods will last but they show absolutely no signs of wear!
Final thoughts on my Top 5 Rods for High School Tournament Anglers
Fishing costs are likely to never come down so it’s important to make sure you know how to get the best bang for your buck. I’ve done my best through my own personal experiences with each rod listed to bring you an honest assessment. If a young angler has a birthday coming up or it’s the holiday season give them a gift they can treasure which will keep them in the outdoors! In my next article I will discuss my top 5 reels for high school tournament anglers!
