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LDC Production H


missinfish
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I'd like to start this review off by thanking Ben(Echoedd) of Low Down Custom Rods for giving me the opportunity to try out this new blank. Thanks Ben! ;)

 

I’m not claiming to be any wealth of knowledge regarding swim baits nor do I claim to catch any giant bass. I live in the North East and I feel I do pretty well for my area. I will say without a doubt that I throw swim baits almost exclusively and I do so often and under a variety of situations. Whether its bank fishing, a Kayak, Float tube or a Jon boat, each and every chance I get I’m throwing big baits. Until recently I was content with my current selection of production swim bait rods. Once I started throwing Armageddon’s on a regular basis the shortcomings of my current rod became evident to me. But I didn’t want a rod with a narrow application that was a broomstick for only the 10†plus baits. Instead of picking another random stick from TW hoping it fit my needs I decided to start researching custom blanks.

 

I'm sure most of you know what a stand up guy Ben from LDC is, if you have ever dealt with him in any way. Most of my dealings with Ben have been bait related and just general swim bait information sharing prior to this new rod coming into my possession. Honestly I never thought I wanted or needed a custom rod, or could justify spending the money on one, boy was I WRONG!! In some conversations Ben and I had about baits we discussed some issues I was having casting baits in the 10" range like the Armageddon. Basically my current rod was maxxed out and unable to handle a 6 oz bait to my liking.

 

My go to baits are 9" Slammers, Wake Jr's, 8" Hudds and Armageddon’s. I wanted a blank that could handle all of these baits and I also prefer a rod that has a parabolic action. In addition to this I like to throw some of my baits on braid with a top shot of flouro or mono. So basically I felt I wanted the impossible, a blank that can handle from a 9" Slammer to a BA is a pretty wide range of baits, like 2oz- 6 oz. I'm sure there are rods that can throw the range but to feel like they all belong on that rod is a different story.

 

So I would like to tell you about a NEW generation of LDC rods that Ben is adding to the line. I believe their will be 3 models , Medium, Heavy and Extra Heavy,I have the Heavy, it's an 8 ft split grip with spiral wrapped guides. I'm not into bling when it comes to rods, so I asked for an all business black model. It's stealthy looking and of course the quality and finish is perfect, it's very clean looking, almost all black with a matte carbon blank and silver accents.

 

 

The performance of this rod is just incredible. I've fished with it for about 25 hours so far and have a hard time putting it down each time I use it. I started of with my TE 401 loaded up with 80lb Power Pro and a flouro top shot. If you are a braid user you will love this rod. The feedback and feel is great. You can feel the joints clacking on hard baits, the tail thump on a Hudd and if you drag bottom you can feel everything. The crazy thing about it is this rod fishes a Wake Jr very well, an 8" Hudd perfectly as well as an Armageddon. This rod is no broomstick either; the top portion of the rod has a slower action and as the rod flexes the real power comes in. It's sensitive enough to slowly twitch a Wake Jr or Slammer and powerful enough to give an Armageddon a hard rip. The parabolic action is great for treble baits and there is still plenty of power for setting hooks with a Hudd. I was swimming a Hudd a few feet under and was able to get it to break the surface with one hard rip. Casting is equally impressive, the more you lean on it the more it likes it.

 

The casting of the bigger baits was so impressive that I continued to push to find the limits and I found them. When really trying to cast the BA as far as I could I quickly realized that I was able to generate enough force with the 6 oz bait at the beginning of the cast to cause the braid to dig deeply into the spool. A few serious backlashes and a casted off Armageddon later (flouro leader failed at the connection knot )and I decided to spool up with some 25 Big Game. This is where I really came to realize how much I like this rod. I'm not a fan of mono due to stretch and lack of feel. But my casting distance improved an easy 15 feet just by switching to Big Game. Without the braid digging in I was really able to lean on this thing hard. The feel even with mono was very good and it surprised me how much I liked it. I threw all my go to baits with the mono as well and it continued to impress me. Although I love to fish Wake Jr's they aren't the best casting bait sometimes. This rod makes it effortless and I don’t get much if any of the helicopter cast. The Hudd had good feel and control, better than what I had experienced with other rods when using mono line. The Armageddon just plain gets out there with this set up! To say the least I am very impressed. One of the spots I bank fish from has a stick up pretty far out that I always try to reach. On a good day I come close. sometimes. I easily passed the stick up by 15 feet now, which puts the bait in a far better position to swim by it. I’ve picked up a few good fish in that area before and I believe there are better ones close by.

 

Overall whether your throwing hard baits with trebles or swimming a Hudd this rod does it all, with either Braid or Mono. The parabolic action will keep hard baits from pulling out hooks and the back bone of the rod has enough power to move the big baits through the water for a good hook set. It has great balance and sensitivity, and I never get tired of throwing baits on it. I guess for the people that already own LDC rods you would expect nothing less, to say the least I'm a believer! ;) Unfortunately I haven’t caught a fish with it yet, 2012 hasn’t been fish friendly so far, but it is mid January in New York so I know it’s not the rods fault.

 

Once again I’d like to thank Ben for letting me help field test the final version for his new line. I really enjoyed sharing ideas and feedback as we worked to make it a reality. I do sort of feel bad for my GLoomis rod sitting in the corner but it doesn't hold a candle to this stick! Seriously not even close. Hopefully some will be available soon for some other people to try, I look forward to hearing other reviews. ;)

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I was able to make a few casts with this rod as well. Absolutely launched the armageddons! Didn't cast anything else, but made that bait fly.

 

That was an awesome review! Captured the rod prefect IMHO. Little bit of give, lots of backbone. Adding one to my list!

 

Oh....HELL YEAH! :lol:

 

Geoff

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Damn you Ben, you were way ahead of me with all my fast action versus parabolic discussion. Obviously both have their application....I'm already seeing the money leaving my pay pal account.....then a new reel....$$$$$$$$$$$.....looks like I'll be burning up the black market soon...hahahhahha...I need to try this rod....like yesterday

 

JK

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Missinfish wrote "I'd like to start this review off by thanking Ben(Echoedd) of Low Down Custom Rods for giving me the opportunity to try out this new blank. Thanks Ben!

 

I’m not claiming to be any wealth of knowledge regarding swim baits nor do I claim to catch any giant bass. I live in the North East and I feel I do pretty well for my area. I will say without a doubt that I throw swim baits almost exclusively and I do so often and under a variety of situations. Whether its bank fishing, a Kayak, Float tube or a Jon boat, each and every chance I get I’m throwing big baits. Until recently I was content with my current selection of production swim bait rods. Once I started throwing Armageddon’s on a regular basis the shortcomings of my current rod became evident to me. But I didn’t want a rod with a narrow application that was a broomstick for only the 10†plus baits. Instead of picking another random stick from TW hoping it fit my needs I decided to start researching custom blanks.

 

I'm sure most of you know what a stand up guy Ben from LDC is, if you have ever dealt with him in any way. Most of my dealings with Ben have been bait related and just general swim bait information sharing prior to this new rod coming into my possession. Honestly I never thought I wanted or needed a custom rod, or could justify spending the money on one, boy was I WRONG!! In some conversations Ben and I had about baits we discussed some issues I was having casting baits in the 10" range like the Armageddon. Basically my current rod was maxxed out and unable to handle a 6 oz bait to my liking.

 

My go to baits are 9" Slammers, Wake Jr's, 8" Hudds and Armageddon’s. I wanted a blank that could handle all of these baits and I also prefer a rod that has a parabolic action. In addition to this I like to throw some of my baits on braid with a top shot of flouro or mono. So basically I felt I wanted the impossible, a blank that can handle from a 9" Slammer to a BA is a pretty wide range of baits, like 2oz- 6 oz. I'm sure there are rods that can throw the range but to feel like they all belong on that rod is a different story.

 

So I would like to tell you about a NEW generation of LDC rods that Ben is adding to the line. I believe their will be 3 models , Medium, Heavy and Extra Heavy,I have the Heavy, it's an 8 ft split grip with spiral wrapped guides. I'm not into bling when it comes to rods, so I asked for an all business black model. It's stealthy looking and of course the quality and finish is perfect, it's very clean looking, almost all black with a matte carbon blank and silver accents.

 

 

The performance of this rod is just incredible. I've fished with it for about 25 hours so far and have a hard time putting it down each time I use it. I started of with my TE 401 loaded up with 80lb Power Pro and a flouro top shot. If you are a braid user you will love this rod. The feedback and feel is great. You can feel the joints clacking on hard baits, the tail thump on a Hudd and if you drag bottom you can feel everything. The crazy thing about it is this rod fishes a Wake Jr very well, an 8" Hudd perfectly as well as an Armageddon. This rod is no broomstick either; the top portion of the rod has a slower action and as the rod flexes the real power comes in. It's sensitive enough to slowly twitch a Wake Jr or Slammer and powerful enough to give an Armageddon a hard rip. The parabolic action is great for treble baits and there is still plenty of power for setting hooks with a Hudd. I was swimming a Hudd a few feet under and was able to get it to break the surface with one hard rip. Casting is equally impressive, the more you lean on it the more it likes it.

 

The casting of the bigger baits was so impressive that I continued to push to find the limits and I found them. When really trying to cast the BA as far as I could I quickly realized that I was able to generate enough force with the 6 oz bait at the beginning of the cast to cause the braid to dig deeply into the spool. A few serious backlashes and a casted off Armageddon later (flouro leader failed at the connection knot )and I decided to spool up with some 25 Big Game. This is where I really came to realize how much I like this rod. I'm not a fan of mono due to stretch and lack of feel. But my casting distance improved an easy 15 feet just by switching to Big Game. Without the braid digging in I was really able to lean on this thing hard. The feel even with mono was very good and it surprised me how much I liked it. I threw all my go to baits with the mono as well and it continued to impress me. Although I love to fish Wake Jr's they aren't the best casting bait sometimes. This rod makes it effortless and I don’t get much if any of the helicopter cast. The Hudd had good feel and control, better than what I had experienced with other rods when using mono line. The Armageddon just plain gets out there with this set up! To say the least I am very impressed. One of the spots I bank fish from has a stick up pretty far out that I always try to reach. On a good day I come close. sometimes. I easily passed the stick up by 15 feet now, which puts the bait in a far better position to swim by it. I’ve picked up a few good fish in that area before and I believe there are better ones close by.

 

Overall whether your throwing hard baits with trebles or swimming a Hudd this rod does it all, with either Braid or Mono. The parabolic action will keep hard baits from pulling out hooks and the back bone of the rod has enough power to move the big baits through the water for a good hook set. It has great balance and sensitivity, and I never get tired of throwing baits on it. I guess for the people that already own LDC rods you would expect nothing less, to say the least I'm a believer! Unfortunately I haven’t caught a fish with it yet, 2012 hasn’t been fish friendly so far, but it is mid January in New York so I know it’s not the rods fault.

 

Once again I’d like to thank Ben for letting me help field test the final version for his new line. I really enjoyed sharing ideas and feedback as we worked to make it a reality. I do sort of feel bad for my GLoomis rod sitting in the corner but it doesn't hold a candle to this stick! Seriously not even close. Hopefully some will be available soon for some other people to try, I look forward to hearing other reviews."

 

+1 Above. I've fished that rod too. Amazing!

 

HOWEVER, I have two problems with Ben's rods:

 

1.Before I touched an LDC rod. I thought I was all set with my

7 Dobyns swimbait rods.

 

They seemed to work fine. Even won a major tourney using them

for first time. And like all my other tourney rods (30 Loomis GLX's); if I

broke a rod, a new one is flown in within 24 hrs. Life was good---uh huh :roll:

 

Then I meet this guy called Ben. He hands me an LDC rod as we're loading

into my boat. And my swimbait rod life----was wrecked! :lol:

 

2.I want Ben to charge alot more for his rods, but he won't :D

 

So I "hate" you Ben :lol::lol:

 

-Richard

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How does it handle big fish?do you have any trouble hooking up with such a variety of baits?

 

Nope, they work real good! Right back at you little man!..............................Next?

 

ExPlain, this is a review section after all, and it handling big fish is an important part of the rods

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You know your not gonna buy one so why play this little game? Be a man and say what you want to or shut up.

 

I own a crucial H and havnt seen the reason to use something else no, but it would still be informative/ reassuring for other people that have the same question what the hookups were like? Dont make this something its not Mickey, I asked a simple question...

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