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LDC XH


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I didnt know how to approach writing this review. I dont want to rant and runoff on a seperate tangent so I'll try and stay on topic.

 

LDC 8' XH production

 

My game has been stepping up to larger and larger baits and I wanted a good rod for the baits size that throught the last year I have been throwing 80% of the time. 3.5-6.5 oz hard baits. I have rods that do it well but with all the good stuff said about Ben and LDC i had to try one out.

First off the intro price with shipping is $235. I dont think much more has to said on that topic. Stellar bargain.

I place my order and it arrives rather quickly, less than a week. It came in a white 3" pvc drain pipe and was nicely packaged. This actually saved the day since my 6 yr old was bouncing on the rod tube when i got home from work! :lol::lol:

 

Now on to the real business. Mounted up my ABU and felt the balance. Really balanced and it just feels right in the hand with a 6000 series abu garcia. Handle was longer than I was used to by far. I thought I would not like this and already had mod. plans :roll: This was the farthest thing from what actually happend. Eyes wrapped looked good and you can tell after its laced up the eye positions allow the line to lay naturally and flow freely on the cast. I havent used these style eyes on a bass rod but my dad has one for sturgeon thats wrapped that he loves so I was interested to see the performance. Great looking rod thats balanced and feels "stout".

So I grabbed this rod and went fishing. All I can say is wow! Casts were noticably longer and actually I needed to use my thumb more on my short roll casts because the casting was so easy I banged a couple on a rock and one on a dock because they flew about a foot too far. The line flows like butter through those guides and I tested this by switch back and forth between my old stick and the LDC. 3.5-4.5 oz wakebaits casted great and this rod handled them really well for a rod rated heavier. I do like my rods on the stiff side though. But great feeling on these sizes. Perfect actually. So no fish teh first outing. Next day took off in the morning with my big rat. 6oz and 14" with a tail. Again the XH outperformed my expectations. The Longer handle is a blessing. I am so used to short handles for ease of casting in tight quarters thats all i know.. or knew. With this new stick the longer handle is different but I was able to adjust to it within a couple trips and am now shooting big baits into tight little nooks and crannys. On the LONG open water casts the handle is obviously great providing excellent leverage to propel a big bait as far as you can chuck it. SICK! now my only question was how would it handle a fish.

An hour later i got my answer.

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she hit about 5 cranks in on a 25 yard cast. GAME ON. there was cover very close via tules, weedbeds and some scattered wood so there was no playing with this fish. I put the screw to her and cranked her in and grabbed her lip. 10 lbs 1 oz. I dont really use drag at all and this fish pulled hard! the rod played the perfect game of balancing power and finesse.

On the the next fish.

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this one bit with 10 ft of line out. watch her eat it boatside and SWUNG! she yanked the hell outta me and took me for a walk around the boat. I just let the rod do the work as I was in VERY close proximity to alot of cover. Fish stayed button no problem and we put her in. Lucky we didnt need the net for her. Rod was great even with a mean 7 yankin on 10 feet of 25 pound big game. I stretch the first 15 ft if my line so it doesnt coil so the rod was providing most of the give and once again, GREAT! next cast......

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Again the rod handled this fish nicely providing the flex neccesary even for a smaller fish.

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this little baby even was allowed to bounce around and put up a little fight.

The last thing is I lost a teener boat side and I know fish storys are juts storys but believe me, this fish was a giant and the LDC Whipped her, it was my fault for not bringin my net. She came boatside and shook her head outta the water a few times before the hook came out. My fault on that fish, not the rod's, it did its job.

 

So in conclusion I went into this hoping for a good rod. I had some misconceptions about what I think a swimbait rod should have... boy was i wrong. I'll leave that to the expert(Ben) from now on. The handle issue has turned into another one. Now I want to extend the handles of my other swimbait sticks :lol::lol: Rod looks great, service was great and most importantly it does its job! Casting and putting the hurtin on BIG fish.

Oh yeah, the fatigue from throwing bigger baits like 4+ ozs is drastically reduced, i guess through ergonomics of the whole rod package. From the blank to the eyes on down to the handle length and black foam instead of that silly cork that fall apart.(im really rough on my gear :lol: )

 

Hope this helps and ask any ?'s if I forgot something. I wanted to make sure I posted about this rod because it exceeded my expectations by far. I have already ordered #2 XH again. That rod is the shizzy fo sheezy! Word up Ben! I'll have some more toad pics to send your way shortly! HELL YEAH!

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:lol::lol: I forgot to edit the pics so now you can actually see how tight I am to cover in the 3rd pic. Both the 2nd and 3rd pic are fish from the same set of docks. Pay no attention to those docks.. they never hold fish :roll::roll::lol:
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In your opinion, what would be the heaviest bait you would throw comfortable on the LDC XH?

 

I can throw a 10" Rago Raptor. That beast weight around 10 oz. that is as heavy as I will throw. But it handles BAA 's and OG Wakes very easily. But you can throw a FS Shad on the thing no problem as well. The all-round rod. And they look bad ass.

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In your opinion, what would be the heaviest bait you would throw comfortable on the LDC XH?

 

I can throw a 10" Rago Raptor. That beast weight around 10 oz. that is as heavy as I will throw. But it handles BAA 's and OG Wakes very easily. But you can throw a FS Shad on the thing no problem as well. The all-round rod. And they look bad ass.

 

So would this be a good rod for both eight inch freestyles and the 10" wake? Also thinking for bigger soft baits in the 7.5oz range. Do you guys think it will handle all of the above mentioned pretty easily?

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In your opinion, what would be the heaviest bait you would throw comfortable on the LDC XH?

 

I can throw a 10" Rago Raptor. That beast weight around 10 oz. that is as heavy as I will throw. But it handles BAA 's and OG Wakes very easily. But you can throw a FS Shad on the thing no problem as well. The all-round rod. And they look bad ass.

 

So would this be a good rod for both eight inch freestyles and the 10" wake? Also thinking for bigger soft baits in the 7.5oz range. Do you guys think it will handle all of the above mentioned pretty easily?

yes.

Something I didnt put in the review. With lighter lures the rod seems to have a med/fast action. This allows the lighter baits (3oz's) to be handled well, but as you put more on the rod it starts to bend deep into the blank, more parabolic. While I havent casted the baits 7.5 and up on the rod, with the lures I used it never felt like it was strained, even a little, and I was throwing 6 oz's.

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  • 1 month later...

Been doing alot of work with my XH's since the review. All i can say is they keep impressing me. With the bigger 4.5oz+ bait I originally bought these rods to throw, the performance is great as said in my review, but what I have found now is the way they handle 2-3oz baits. The range the XH has blows my mind. I could roll all xh's and feel like I have the right rod for every situation I encounter. 9" slammers handle so well its silly, from casting to imparting action to hooking a fish waaaaayyyy out on a huge cast, it gets the job done. 8" hudds seem like they were made for the XH. Big walkers/gliders, I havent found a bait that doesnt feel great. The Big 3:16 K-9 also seems to be a match made in heaven(The K-9 is no joke! thing gets it done!). The balance the rod has also has made long days of chucking big baits a breeze. Any new swimbait rod will be a LDC XH for me from now on, unless its a XXH 8-)

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Thanks Ceaser....It's exactly why i've ordered a XH for "Big baits"

You'll want another one :lol::lol: I ordered one, then another, now Im ready for another... and so it goes :D

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