I own Dobyns Champion Extreme, and Champion Rods, Kistler Magnesium. Low Down Customs, Powell, Shimano Cumara, St Croix Legend Elite and Legend Extreme. St Croix Legend Elite is my favorite rod. In my opinion, St Croix are the best rods out there, but I haven't fished the likes of Diawa, Evergreen, GLoomis, Grods, Lamiglass, Megabass, North Fork Edge line. I've owned some nice rods, and I think these Academy rods are very nice with a dec3n6 price point.

I was really impressed with the blue colored Ethos line of rods. For the price, I felt they were an excellent buy. I do feel their power designation is a little off. They seem to be 1 power lighter than the actual rating. I buy these, when Academy drops a new design. They'll sell the old models for real cheap.

But, yesterday I found a new line from Academy. It was called the TAC-40. I didn't have a lot of time to look at it, but it felt pretty nice. I forget what material they use for this, but this rod has that cross pattern wrap around the lower 3rd of the rod. I don't know enough about the types of materials use in rod blanks, but I've used some nice rods, and these are comparable with many of the lower and mid grade high end rods. I'm not sure if they have a lot of R&D when it comes to the tapper, but I'm far from an expert. I just feel they are all on the slow end. The heavy has a pretty slow tapper, where I would think it should break a little higher up. The price may not be as competitive enough to swoon me, but when they go %30 off or more percent off, they're an easy choice.

Check them out: https://s7d2.scene7.com/is/content/academy/10814859Lightweight, multimodulus graphite blank minimizes fatigue and offers plenty of sensitivityHelical Core construction minimizes torque and boosts blank strength

Semimicro Kigan SiC line guides plus the tip for smooth performance

Number of guides: 9 plus tip (6'6"); 10 plus tip (6'9", 7', 7'3")




like the man says...if you're swimming in the ocean and get bitten by a shark, its not a shark attack. You're in THEIR neighborhood. If you're at home in your shower, turn around and a shark is in there with you...THAT'S a shark attack