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Okuma Guide Select Series big bait rod


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Has anyone used/owned this rod, if so let me know how you liked/disliked it.

i have been looking into getting and swimbait rod for under $150

They're really good rods and you can't beat the price or warranty I would definently get one

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I loved my 7-11 XH. I even threw small hudds like the shad and minnow on it in addition to conventional baits like frogs and 3/4-1 ounce Rat-L-Traps catching Redfish here in Pensacola Bay. I say loved in past-tense because while bass fishing in a boggy pond I was using it to throw frogs over lily pads. A 5 ft gator decided it wanted my frog. I don't know why I set the hook on that thing. I watched him slowly roll up and just casually eat a white spro frog and something possessed me to rip a hook set on hit. Lost a foot and a half of fishing rod. Lesson learned. Great rod, silly owner. Getting another.

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I loved my 7-11 XH. I even threw small hudds like the shad and minnow on it in addition to conventional baits like frogs and 3/4-1 ounce Rat-L-Traps catching Redfish here in Pensacola Bay. I say loved in past-tense because while bass fishing in a boggy pond I was using it to throw frogs over lily pads. A 5 ft gator decided it wanted my frog. I don't know why I set the hook on that thing. I watched him slowly roll up and just casually eat a white spro frog and something possessed me to rip a hook set on hit. Lost a foot and a half of fishing rod. Lesson learned. Great rod, silly owner. Getting another.

contact okuma and see if they'll cover it under warranty

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I loved my 7-11 XH. I even threw small hudds like the shad and minnow on it in addition to conventional baits like frogs and 3/4-1 ounce Rat-L-Traps catching Redfish here in Pensacola Bay. I say loved in past-tense because while bass fishing in a boggy pond I was using it to throw frogs over lily pads. A 5 ft gator decided it wanted my frog. I don't know why I set the hook on that thing. I watched him slowly roll up and just casually eat a white spro frog and something possessed me to rip a hook set on hit. Lost a foot and a half of fishing rod. Lesson learned. Great rod, silly owner. Getting another.

contact okuma and see if they'll cover it under warranty

 

 

Yeah just got off the phone with one of their service reps. They just need the chunk of the rod with the product number and a check for return shipping for 19.95.

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Socalparkpounder714 asked whether anyone had used the Okuma Guide Select Swimbait rods and by the 11 or so responses (and from the pictures in the Got ‘Em section), it’s clear that people do use them. I’m one of those people so I thought I’d throw together a quick review using information from Okuma, from SU, and from my own experiences with the 7’11†MH, H, and XH rods. If you’re interested in the shorter rods (the H and MH 7’6†or the telescoping 7’11†H, you’ll need to search elsewhere for info).

 

Rod Specifications

Okuma has a pretty comprehensive table of the rod specs, so rather than try to recreate it, I’ll just include it here.

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Now, if you’re like me, you can’t tell the difference between types of graphite, but according to the manufacturer, the blanks are IM-8 graphite. The 7’11†rods are modest in weight (ranging from 7 to 9 oz. These are probably not the lightest rods you can find, but given that you’ll be placing a fairly heavy reel on them (the Curado 301s I use run about 10.5 oz.) and then hanging a bait that weighs 1 – 8 or more ounces, a little extra weight here or there doesn’t seem to matter that much.

 

Each of the 7’11†rods has 10 guides plus a tip-top guide, and Okuma lists the guides as Fuji New Concept guides with the Alconite inserts. The rods also come with a metal hook holder, right in front of the foregrip. These hook holders are the source of one of my minor gripes – on 2 of my rods (both the H models), the hook holders have fallen out – one was my fault when I was bushwacking through some willows to get into casting position, but the other just got loose with use and then fell out. I’ve improvised hook holders on both rods, but it’d be nice if they were a little more durable.

 

The rods have a split grip, which took me a little while to get used to, but I no longer even notice, even though all of my other fishing rods (save 2) all have traditional full grips. The one interesting thing about the rear grip on the rods is that it is shaped somewhat like the pistol grip handles on the old-school baitcasting rods (remember those)? Okuma calls this the “leverage grip†to help with casting leverage but I think it’s more of a stylistic thing than a performance thing. This humped handle does cause one minor problem – the rods may not fit into your standard rod holders. In my case, I had to increase the diameter of the PVC tubes I use for rod holders on my ‘toon to 2†so that I could slide the rear grip into them. Still, I find the handles/grips are just about the right length for me (I’m about 5’11†w/average size hands) and if you tuck the rear of the grip under your arm while fishing, you probably won’t notice the grip either.

 

Warranty

As others have mentioned, Okuma has a pretty wicked limited lifetime warranty on these rods. For what seems like a very reasonable fee, they’ll replace the rods for you. If you’re hard on tackle (or if your kids/partner/spouse is hard on tackle), this is worth looking into. I haven’t had to take advantage of the warranty option yet, but it is nice to know that it is there.

 

How They Fish

I bought my first swimbait rod, the 7’11†H, a few years ago when they were still selling for $99. A couple of my friends from California told me that the rods were solidly built and that the delta anglers were pleased with their performance on bass and big stripers. I didn’t have the coin needed for a more expensive rod at the time, so I went with their recommendation and bought the Heavy. Why the H? Well, because it has (in my opinion) the most versatile casting weight range and covered the baits I was interested in starting off with (Slammers, Hudds, BBZs). I paired that rod with a round reel (ABU Garcia 6601 CB) and it worked well – it could cast the 7†Slammer with ease, and also handled the heavier Hudds and 8†BBZs nicely. It also had serious backbone when it came to hooking and landing fish. I soon added a second H to the toolkit, and took advantage of a great rebate deal from Shimano to replace the 6601s with Curado 301Ds. The low-profile reels really complement the rod and I’ve successfully run braid (65#) and heavy mono (25 and 20#) on the Heavy.

 

After a couple of years playing with the H and catching good numbers of fish, including some 10-lb class walleye, northern pike, and lake trout, I decided that I needed a MH swimbait rod for the smaller “finesse†baits like the 7†Slammer, the smaller Rago Rat, and the G2 Shellcracker. The MH fit the bill, and since it can drop down to 3/4 oz. lures, it is ideal for those smaller baits. It is a little softer than the H, but I’d say they both have roughly the same type of action, just different levels of flex. A friend of mine threw a 9†Slammer on the MH and I’ve thrown the smaller Rising Son on the MH with no trouble but I do think of it as my “small†swimbait rod.

 

I added the XH to the arsenal when I got my first CL8 Baby Possum – even though this lure (all 4.5 oz. of it) falls within the 1 – 6 oz. weight range for the H, it just didn’t feel right to me, and the bulk of the big Slammer or the heavier 3:16 baits seemed to be pushing the upper end of the Heavy Okuma’s ability. The XH Okuma, on the other hand, has no problem handling the heavier lures. It is definitely stiffer, and Okuma says it has an F action, instead of the MF action of the other 7’11†rods. I can vouch for its strength – I inadvertently bounced a tiger muskie onto shore using my XH – in my defense all I can say is that I saw a long white flash and figured I’d hooked a big channel cat.

 

I regularly fish all three rods on the same trip and it’s remarkable how I can fish the XH and then switch to the H or the MH and feel like I’ve picked up a super lightweight rod. The difference in weight is small (only 2 oz.), but the XH just seems to take a bit more effort to use. The H and MH are so similar in weight that they feel the same, but you can definitely notice the difference in the amount of vibration and tip deflection you get using those two rods.

 

I put together a collage of the three rods, all rigged with the same reel and same lure (ROF 5 8†Hudd) to show the amount of deflection. As you can see, the MH bends the most, followed by the H, and finally the XH.

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Matching Lures to the Rods

A friend of mine who used to work in the tackle industry always told customers that they needed to match their rods to the lures they planned to throw. Here are the lures that typically get thrown on each of the Okumas.

 

7’11†MH: 7†Slammer, 6†BBZs, G2 Shellcracker, 6†Hudds (including 68s), Rago Rat, 6†Lunker Punker, Big Hammers, the smaller R2S S-Waver, the 6†Bull Shads, and the small Whopper Plopper.

 

7’11†H: 9†Slammer, 8†BBZs, OG Shellcrackers, 8†Hudds, 6 and 8†Lunker Punkers, the Big Whopper Plopper, the R2S S-Waver 200, and the bigger Bull Shads.

 

7’11†XH: 12†Slammers, the CL8 Baby Possum, the MS Slammer Eel, and the double-Hudd rigs.

 

Summary

I like the Okuma swimbait rods – they are well made, available in a variety of sizes, and while not flashy, they get the job done and come with great customer service. I think that their strongest points are that they were specifically designed for swimbait fishing and they do not cost an arm or a leg. They lack the refinements you might get in a custom-made or high-end rod, but as an entry level or journeyman rod, they fit the bill. They currently cost about $130 (less if you hit the sales), and that is still a very good deal.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Ive had the 7'6 MH for about a year and a half now and i love it i throw all my small baits on it. Ive thrown everything from a super spook jr. up to a Fs shad and have caught plenty of big fish on it with no problems.

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