The BEST Drop Shot Rods | Pt. 2!

What's up out there? Kip here with Omniafishing and today we have another rod bending for you. There's another Elite Series event going on right now on Lake Ilkachobe. People are catching this knot out of them. The weather is finally turning up here in Minnesota. We've got mid 50s and no snow on the ground. We have the itch to get out there and start fishing. So we're talking about rods again. It's one of our favorite things to talk about and one of the techniques that we love around here. And we actually did a part one about a year ago actually I just checked. It is the drop shot. Last time we did this bend again about a year ago we talked about the NRX+ A22 DSR. I think we talked about a victory 7 3 medium light and the Dioitatula Elite 7 1 medium extra fast. I believe it's Bren Ehlers drop shot rod. Those are all great rods. Don't get me wrong. You're not gonna see them in this video. We've already talked about them. But we've got five killer drop shot rods for you. They're not all specific to a drop shot . You can definitely do other things with a lot of these. But to kick it off we are starting hot and heavy. This is the Dioisti's AGS 7 foot 1 medium light fast action. This came in at 3.5 ounces. I believe they had a little bit of weight in the back here. But the AGS guides keep the front half of this rod super light. It is rated from 1/8 to 3/8 of an ounce. So pretty wide range there for your finesse applications. And it's called the finesse game special. So this is one of the rods that is not going to be limited to a drop shot but it does make a killer drop shot rod. Before we get into the bend what are we looking for when we're talking a drop shot rod? For me personally I'm looking for a 7 foot 10 call it to a roughly 7 foot 3 rod. Either a medium light or a medium in some cases but most often a medium light I think all five of these rods are going to be medium light powered rods including this one. So those are kind of what I look for in a drop shot rod and this fit the bill. Again this is a super high-end rod but we do have several options in this video. We've got from a hundred bucks to this being the most expensive but let's bring it to the wall the 7 foot 1 medium light fast action dial with ST's AGS. Okay here we are with that ST's AG S 7 foot 1 medium light fast action and just giving it a little bit of pressure it's definitely fast looking here it almost looks extra fast from this angle but if you do load it up it does bend a little bit further into the blank you actually hit quite a bit of power. To me this backbone feels more like a medium and that tip is soft like a medium light should be. So for me this feels like a super versatile rod to handle a lot of your spinning rod applications definitely not just a drop shot rod. One thing I do wish Dio did with these ST's rods is they come with this little bait keeper that's got a rubber band around it you can get them basically anywhere but kind of wish they had a built-in bait keeper especially for a drop shot being able to loop the weight around something in the back half here makes it a lot easier. These tend to fall off for me kind of nit picky but there's a $550 rod. Anyway super light in hand not tip heavy whatsoever and again I think this is a rod that you can do a ton of stuff with. A 7 foot medium is often considered to be one of the most versatile spinning rods you can get. It reminds me a lot of that in the back half of this rod just with a softer tip. So if you're looking for a super versatile spinning rod and maybe want it to be just a tad softer it's not only handled drop shots but anything else finesse or lightweight. You got a little bit extra money to spend this is one to check out the 7 foot 1 medium light fast action Dioist's AGS. Okay next rod we're talking about is a rod from Falcon this is actually a new series to us we got it maybe two three weeks ago this is in their expert series it's a 7 foot 2 medium light fast action rod it's actually rated the the same as that Steeze was eighth of an ounce to 3/8 ounce but it is a little bit longer 7 foot 2 and it feels a little bit softer without actually bending it yet but we'll get to well we'll take it so we'll check that for sure but this came in at a ridiculously low weight of 3 ounces flat I've set it in the past but I don't think Falcon adds much weight to the back which is not an issue you can get it to this weight and have it still feel well balanced your gold so this I believe comes with Fuji Fazlight guides it's got that kind of blue insert really quality guide train I've I have rods with these these guides and have had zero issues with them so coming in around 220 bucks 200 $220 it feels like a really quality rod Falcon went with a four grip on this one they do it in the lowrider too but once you get into like the Cara they actually switch it I much prefer the the four grip but excited to test this one out the 7 foot 2 medium light fast Falcon expert all right back on the wall with that Falcon expert 7 - medium light fast action again giving it a little pressure from here I don't know I'll have to look at the footage later but from here this looks like an extra fast I mean I'm not applying that much pressure right now and just that tip section wants to bend but if you do load into it it definitely bends further into the blank I'm seeing the rod bending back here even but as I suspected much softer than that die with st's in the back section for sure did have the same ratings 8.3 a-1 but this one is definitely softer so for me this is like light line nose hook thin wire gauge drop shot definitely would excel in that scenario maybe something since it is a 7 - maybe it's something where you're casting your drop shot not necessarily you know vertically jigging on your boat with it but something where you're having to get a little extra distance out of your cast maybe the fish are finicky you need to get that presentation away from your boat this is gonna give you a little extra length still super light in the tip section and it does have enough backbone where you're not gonna be overpowered by a 5 6 pound smally so a cool rod here in the Falcon expert line again it's the 7 - medium light fast action drop shot rod those first two rods were kind on the longer end of the spectrum I gave at the beginning of this video 7 foot 1 7 foot 2 these next two rods are gonna be on the lower end of the spectrum when the drop shot technique came out a long time ago now people are often throwing a 6 10 rod as kind of the standard it was more of a vertical presentation and since then fish have gotten smarter they're more pressured you got to make a further cast those rods have kind of gotten a little bit longer over the years but this one falls into the 6 foot 10 category this is the 610 medium light extra fast evergreen combat stick and this is this is a awesome line of rods they've got I think four spinning rods that are are killer and then I've got a bunch of casting rods that's super cool technique specific actions as well this one came in at 3.9 ounces for a 610 rod it's a little bit heavy but there's definitely weight in this back section as it should for 610 rod it feels awesome super light man it's rated from 16th ounce to 3/8 ounce so you should be able to handle a little bit lighter lures on this than the the first two we saw but max ing out again at that 3/8 ounce range something cool that evergreen does with these spinning rods and honestly wasn't a fan of at first but I have since grown to really like it they actually have two baitkeepers here the one on the bottom probably for your drop shot applications and I got a little beefier one up top here if you were shaking him in on this rod throwing that rig some of the bigger hook in it they give you a second option there I thought it was a little unnecessary but now I actually really am a fan of that aesthetically these are super eye-catching and coming in at a pretty reasonable price as well they're 200 220 bucks similar to that expert but really quality rod here from evergreen let's bring it to the rod wall alright we're on the wall with that 610 medium light extra fast combat stick from evergreen and just giving it a little bit of pressure it's labeled as an extra fast it doesn't seem any faster than the first two rods that we we bent those are labeled fast loading it up a little bit more seems kind of like a fast action to me from this angle you guys might see something different but this seems more like a fast action rod and actually for a medium light powered rod it's got some power definitely hit some backbone back here I think this would actually make a really killer male shaken rod too if you want something that you could double up with a drop shot and a forward-facing sonar rod this would be one to definitely check out and something I was touching on earlier about how drop shot rods have gotten a little bit longer over the years in my opinion one of our home lakes Lake Millex is a great example you used to be able to go up there with a short rod 2d sonar and basically vertically jig a drop shot and just catch any number of smallies up there nowadays they're a little more pressured they're a little smarter people have kind of gravitated towards a longer rod just to give you a little further distance when cashing at those fish that aren't as willing to bite as they used to be so cool rod here from evergreen if you're a more traditional drop shot guy like a little bit shorter rod maybe something that can do your forward-facing sonar stuff and a drop shot definitely check out the 610 medium light extra fast evergreen combat stick all right very similar spectra to the one we just looked at this one is coming from saying kroy though this is in their legend tournament bass series it's a little bit spendier you 're looking around more the $300 mark it came in at 3.7 ounces so a tad lighter but basically same specs 610 medium light extra fast rated from 16th ounce to 3/8 ounce very similar on paper I'm interested to see if there's any difference on the wall but in hand feels awesome St. Croix has gotten really good over the years at balancing their rods they are known to be a little bit softer than other manufacturers so again I'm interested to see if that's the case with this rod but looking at it it looks like it might have a little bit more power than a traditional medium light in my eyes but nonetheless this feels like a killer rod cool thing about the the same croix once you get over that or to the victory line and up $200 mark is you get a rod made in the USA and you get a really good warranty don't quote me on it but I think you're around a 15 year warranty with this rod and the victory so if you want to support an American made product definitely the LTB the victory awesome rods they make this exact rod in the victory too so if you want to bring that price point down a little bit definitely can but let's give this one a bend the 610 medium light extra fast St. Croix legend tournament bass alright on the wall with the 610 medium light extra fast legend tournament bass from St. Croix and giving it a little bit of power right away I can tell this is a different rod than that that evergreen that looked at this looks a lot faster from my angle just a little bit of pressure that tip just the tip section like third guide down and up seems like it's bending and then you hit strictly backbone it looks like so a much different rod I think this would actually make a killer for facing sonar rod over a drop shot rod personally when I'm fishing a drop shot I want something that loads a little bit further just keep that fish pinned a little bit better but if you're throwing a minnow out there and you get a bite on the end of your cast you want to get the backbone quick and this rod could definitely do that if we have any walleye guys out there this would also be awesome jigging rod for walleyes I think I'm not a walleye guy myself but I know this is a style of rod that you definitely look for in that world so for me I think we got it right in the first video I think that 7 3 medium light St. Croix whether it's in the LTB of the victory personally I think it might be a better drop shot rod than this one but if you are a vertical drop shot fisherman this could definitely get the job done again the 610 medium light extra fast legend tournament pass from St. Croix for the last rod in today's rod bend they had to throw one in there for the guy who's just getting into drop shot fishing maybe fishing in general and isn't wanting to spend 200 300 $500 on a rod this is going to be a great entry-level rod that gives you the quality you're looking for without breaking the bank this is the dial with to to Xt 7 foot 1 medium light extra fast it's very similar specs to the steves we looked at just at a much friendlier price point and this one came in at 3.6 ounces still really lightweight for a hundred dollar rod for ratings we 're looking at a bounce of 3 a pretty standard for this video it's going to cover most of the drop shot ways that that you're going to need they also make this rod in a 7 foot medium light fast action if you prefer just a fast action over an extra fast maybe you want a rod that doesn't hit backbone as quick that 's definitely an option to it was tough to pick between the two but ultimately just went with this one you could sub out the 7 foot medium light fast as well let's give this rod a bend again the dial which to the Xt 7 foot 1 medium light extra fast back on the wall with the 7 foot 1 medium light extra fast to 2 Xt from dial a given it a little bit of pressure I'm seeing a more like a fast action than an extra fast again from my angle tough to tell but when you really load up the rod it does have more give than I thought it would definitely still backbone there but it is wanting to bend a little bit further to be honest that's not a surprise with a rod a sub $150 the lower price point rods tend to have not as crisp of blanks as the you know the super high-end stuff and that's not a bad thing I actually prefer that in a lot of cases a rod with a super fast action can be really sensitive you can detect bites a little bit better but they aren't the best actions for catching fish I've said that in the past and you're probably getting sick of it but I prefer a rod like this that has a little bit more consistent bend throughout the blank and this falls into the category with that steez as far as action goes of being more versatile than just a drop shot rod definitely anything in the finesse realm where you got to throw it on a spinning rod you need light line whether that's a drop shot a net rig a swim bait a paddle test one-bait a wacky rig a Niko rig anything under the sun this rod is gonna be able to handle it but it would also make a great technique specific drop shot rod if you wanted it to be that so if you're a guy on a budget or maybe you're just somebody that doesn't want to spend three four five hundred dollars on a drop shot rod that's completely valid to definitely need to check out the dial with the tool XT line there are several killer rods in that lineup but this is a standout to me the seven foot one medium light extra fast to tool XT that's gonna wrap it up for this week's rod bend be sure to let us know in the comments what your favorite drop shot rod is and while you're at it let us know we should be bending next we're always looking at your comments and we love to see the suggestions so let us know in the comments and remember if you are not an omnia pro member already everything that you're seeing in this video you're gonna get 10% back on all your tackle your reels your rods tournament accessories tackle boxes omnia pro members get 10% back on all of their fishing gear so be sure to start a seven-day free trial at omniafishing.com and we'll see you next week back at the rod wall you