One brand or mix and match on rods

I'm upgrading my tackle, replacing my Duckett Ghosts.

So what I would like to know is do you stay with one brand on all your rods?
Or do you mix brands to find the rods you like ?


I'm looking at Falcon, Denali and Duckett Triad/Micro pros.

And of the group it seems as if Duckett has the complete package.
But have heard good things about Falcon rods.

Big K, there are a lot of great options today. For baitcasting, I love my Falcon Cara T7s.

Pick the best brand you can afford and stick with it, looks better on the deck.

Find a company you like and get all their rods. Buy a bunch and you can sometimes get them cheaper. I use the lews custom speed stick lite and custom speed sticks. They make a great product.

I mix and match. Never found a brand I'm 100% happy with.

I get the rod that best fits the technique regardless of brand. However I only use Diawa reels. Just a preference though. Lots of great reels out there, but I prefer diawa.

Mix and match isn't bad. I have 3 rods that aren't falcon. 1 cranker and 2 swimbait rods.

I stay with the same brand within a certain action and power. My cranking rods are all Powell's, slow feel presentations I have all Falcon Cara's. You get the idea. To me if you have three crankbait rods for instance and they are three different brands you could possibly have three different feels and would have to adjust to each. The actions and powers are not consistent between the manufacturers.

18 Falcon, Lowriders and Cara T7's... Dan

If I just had loads of cash to throw on the deck I would likely only have Dobyn’s rods. And while I have several Dobyn’s rods across a few of their lines I also own and like Duckets MMP, Abu’s, Cabelas’s, and 13 Fishing. I like to try different brands and go with the sales.

I was given some advice about this very subject by a man much wiser than I. Use the same brand of rods and use the same brand of reels. Took some time to do that, as my choices are expensive, but it's been a good decision. The high end stuff, if you think about it, is for life, cheaper replacement cost on broken rods, and reels can always be repaired. Good luck on your choice.

I doubt I'll ever buy anything else besides Falcon Cara rods and Shimano reels.

This is another one of those questions that does not have a right or wrong answer. For every "buy the same brand" or "buy top of the line expensive stuff" you'll get someone like me that says buy what you like. And depending on if you like change and experimentation DO NOT BUY EXPENSIVE...... you'll never recover your investment. I buy inexpensive and replace it often and have new stuff every year. I guarantee you my Abu Garcia Black Max reels have landed their fair share of 7+ pound fish. BUT,,,, again it depends on YOU
Are you A.D.D. or do you like the same thing over & over & over ?

One brand rod for me. Falcon.

Shimano and 13 Fishing reels. I like the Shimano better.

The majority of my rods used to be G. Loomis back when Gary actually owned and ran the company. I still own some and will always fish them but when Dobyns started building their presentation-specific rods I got hooked early and never looked back.
Through the last ten or twelve years I've picked up a couple a year and put together what I feel is an excellent array. I'm happy enough I don't feel the need to look around to other brands when I need to add the next tool in the box.

I have fished alot of different rods and have settled on dobyns rods and still have some caras and lowriders laying around. For reels i stay with shimano and daiwa. Shimanos curados and citicas are hard to beat for the money. But if your gonna spend $400 on a metanium or something, may as well buy a Steez. The best thing that i have yet to utilize about dobyns rods is that they have a trade in program.

Are you willing to part with any of the Falcons ?
If so, pm me. I'm in the Waco area.

If you don't have a lot of cash at one time (like me) you mix and match. Find the best quality rod for the price and get it no matter the brand. Figure out what you NEED as far as technique, do your homework and jump on a deal when you find it.

Same brand rods and same brand reels.. when I go from one to the next I’ve already got the feel and adapt faster.. Bucoo and Lews

I guess this is GOOD if you:
** eat at the same restaurant all the time
** drive the same way to work all the time
** wear the same clothes all the time
** watch the same shows all the time
** fish the same way all the time
** throw the same baits all the time
Get the message ? BORING ,,,,, IMHO
Experiment ,,,, try different things ,,,,,, who knows--you may like Sushi

I mix it up between three, GLoomis, Dobyns and Falcon.
Falcon has some cranking rods I like.
Dobyns also has cranking rods I use but I also like their c-rig and drop shot rods.
GLoomis on everything else but it's the older GLX model.
As far as reels goes its Shimano, Curado E, Chronarch E and Core.
I have bought most of it used here on TFF saved some money and got good equipment.

This sounds like a coming out of the closet speech to me.. IMHO

Dobyns for reaction baits.

Loomis for everything else.

Mix and match

a chit ton of old green lefty curados on a myriad of different rods...

I keep one brand, G. Loomis.

Thanks to everyone for their input.

Game planning for the upcoming year, fishing club events, TTZ, ABA, and some recreational fishing,
I am thinking this kind of line up.

2 x medium heavy for crank baits and top waters.
2 x medium heavy and or heavy for jigs
1 x medium for c-rig or Texas rig
1 frog rod
1 pitch and flip rod
1 medium or medium light for finesse fishing.

Did I miss anything ???

I like tacos

I have a decent mix of Loomis, Dobyns, Falcon and others I just wanted to try out and I liked.

Variety is the spice of life

I have a mix of different rods and reels as I prefer different brands for certain techniques. Ardent Edge Rods, Falcon, Carbon Lites and Veritas make up the bulk of my selection. However, I have an Ethos Composite Cranker for square bills and a 7-3 BPS cranking rod for bigger baits. I used to have nothing but Falcon rods and Shimano reels but I soon realized it's good to branch out and try other products on the market. My reels are Ardent and we have a nice selection to choose from.

I'm pretty much a Duckett man, I fish Duckett rods and reels. I have 10 and love em.

I have a mix of rods, I buy what ever I can get the best deal on, that being said falcon and dobyns are probably my favorite, with Powell coming in 3rd they are extremely affordable.

One brand....Power Tackle

You can never ever go wrong with Dobyns... All the different options and models and every single one is very well made.

I just use Falcons not too expensive. Good durable rods. Sensitive. been around a long time.

I have yet to find one rod company that makes the best rod for every single technique.

I used to just have whatever..... now I have TFO tactical rods for 50% of my outfits, 25% carbonlites, and 25% falcon ..... I am working on getting the last of my random reels gone with Lews in their place. I see some advantages to some continuity

This is what I do also. Daiwa reels are my favorite but I have a few Lews that I like, as well as some Shimano E series reels.

I fish all different rods & reels - Shimano, Daiwa, Quantum, Lews, 13 Fishing, Falcon, St. Croix, Cabelas, & Dobyns. I'd say buy what you can afford from the Dobyns lineup - blanks are obviously different but all have the same great feel.

Mix and match as it seems like I really would like just one brand but it is hard to find one brand that really has all the actions or lengths a person likes along with Reel seats and handles.
Even on reelz I'm split between Shimano and Daiwa as I prefer the way the Daiwa Palms but I like how smooth some of the Shimanos feel and I am fine with the way they feel holding them when bottom contact fishing also pricing always plays a little bit of a factor. I considered having some custom rods made so most of them matched and we're what I liked but the more I fish the more I realize their intricacies that I like better now than I did previously so building a ride that's hard to resell that ends up not being what I want isn't A wise choice.

If you wear customized jerseys and logos/patches...better get all synced up. If not there's an old joke about one that "looks good in the shower vs. one that works." I use what feels good and is right for me. I could care less what the "look" is.

I have a mix of rods and reels. I like trying out different products and doing my own comparisons to find out which rod/reel combo works best for a specific technique.

I mix the rod brands, but keep the same reel style on each.

Take a look at McCain Hi-Performance fishing rods. They have a variety of series and are technique specific. Between the series, you can sure put together a group of rods you’ll love. If you have any questions, call me (713)-823-4989

I can remember a time when a lot of folks recommended carrot stix.

All same brand of reels. Just different ratios and left/right handed.

Get your rods custom built by a local rod maker. I have had all my rods custom made to my specs and also with my name and number in case the rods were to ever get stolen.

Pm me if you want my guys number. He gets about $250.00 and on up.