Papa_squat69

I’m an update- I ended up getting the 7,11” and love it. Haven’t caught anything on it yet but took it traveling and missed a barracuda and a tarpon on it with the extremely limited time I got to fish from shore. For being rated as an XH rod it casts light lures remarkably. The lightest I’ve gone this far is 3/8oz dark sleeper. 1/2oz is better. Still need to get a proper beach spinning rod but am extremely happy with this one. It cast everything from spoons to top water pencils, 4” paddletails. Favorite lure combo (missed barracuda and tarpon on this) was the ISM magnaberius. Super responsive with 50lb braid and 100lb mono leader. It will likely replace dragoon for travel purposes, though the rod sock it comes with is IMO overkill. It’s made out of like cordura kr something and has pockets and neoprene and stuff and It’s tough to get it into a standard fly rod tube. It’s worth noting that this rod also did not fit into any of my regular rod socks, even a blue water fly rod. Dragoon packs much better. Having had and travelled some with both, I think 7’11” is my new go to casting as If I’m going to travel for fish it’s likely salt or musky and dreams of peacock bass. The 7’11” just feels more versatile for reaction baits. Even casts 1/2oz spinner bait very well. If there’s bass or river fishing, probably will take dragoon. And locally (mid tn) I see myself using it more as it’s so damn light. I haven’t got into frogging yet, but it does cast them quite well and seems responsive. I like it for jigs and single hook weedless swimbaits. Also pitching into trees. My new favorite lure for it might actually be a Separ 9 and Duo Clawtrap. Casts a mile. Haven’t put in a lot of time with those yet but they seem promising. Also love it for free rig.

I have this rod. I love it. I migrated from fly fishing so multi piece rods in quality BC equipment rules. “Needed” this for a vacation in Argentina and caught Dorado and tararira on it, as well as taking it to Florida. And not as fishing trips specifically. The earlier comments on it being an awesome heavy jig rod are true. It says 1/2-3oz and it can do it but I find it loves the 1-2.25 oz range. If I’m bass fishing I use a curado 150 w 17lb flouro and mostly the faster tip for soft plastics. Someone mentioned 5” spark Shad. It’s very sensitive with this tip. Also like some baits like Raid GI like this. Used the mod tip for treble hook baits while traveling. Recently bought some TK and mod tip with that and copoly on a penn 300 reel has been real nice. Got the pen on no package clearance for next big bait rod. Haven’t put a lot of top water time in but seems like it would be good for that. Mod tip also great for spinnerbaits. I imagine it would rule for large jerkbaits. tried an 8” mag draft and it’s too much IMO for this rod. With the 150 reel I find it casts down to 3/8” very nicely. it can handle the bigger end of its range fine but i don’t feel super confident doing it. Ended up getting the 6’6” two tip spinning rod too. Love it. They also are really pretty. Kinda disappointed in made in China but they feel very nice to me. jf you get it I think you’d like it. The above zillion blue PwrPro combo sounds like an awesome setup. I won’t lie though, it has made me want the Valkyrie travel rods. Specifically the 7’11”XXH. If you’re wanting to mostly fish north of 2oz and need multi piece, I’d look there. Never fished it, but it seems awesome.

New to these boards! Can’t testify to the VWE rods but I plan to get the 8’. Xxh for big baits and some musky, but I own and absolutely love the dragoon. I even got the Yamasemi spinning rod version that also has two tips. the Dragoon with the soft tip is great for the TK and other treble hook reaction. Baits. I also love the fast tip as it makes the rod very sensitive and seems like it would be a great smaller beast hook soft bait rod. I keep a 150 size reel for smallmouth floats with the fast tip for jigs, Texas rig, etc, and use the regular tip and a 300 size reel when i use this as a dedicated small swimbait rod (specifically TK). It is also great for spinner baits and seems like it would be great for smaller magnum flutter spoons (a new technique for me) not a great jerkbait rod but I can cast pointer 100 size lures on it if needed. it will handle the 3oz rating but I feel like it’s not super comfortable. Eg I don’t love casting an 8” mag draft on it. The 1-2.75 range is perfect though, specifically the 2oz sweet spot (TK) my first fish on this rod was a dorado in Argentina on a Raid Japan G.I. And it was perfect for it. Dorado bite slowed down and water was super low so we went after tararira (so much fun). Switched to fast tip and pitched weed mats straight braid to wire leader with a 1(I think) oz Mepps spinner with a weedless Stanley Ribbit style frog as the trailer, casting on top of weed mats and letting it fall off the edges. took it to Florida and caught fish. Taking it river striper fishing and plan to use it as a musky small bait rod for our smaller water musky and our lake musky that sometimes like small lures. Also have caught rainbow trout with it on jerkbaits. I Keep it in an old fly rod tube hidden under my truck seat and don’t have to worry about it breaking or being seen. Fits in a standard 9’ 4piece fly rod tube and comes with a standard 4 piece (very nice) fly rod sock. same thing with the Yamasemi. Use the regular tip for trout in the smokies with an indicator and double nymph rig (Nikko stonefly, mayfly, caddis etc and even actual tied flies) and the fast tip for smallmouth fishing with owner finesse football heads and Nikko hellgrammite/leeches and even 3” swimbaits on a 1/32 jig head. Same rod. For both rods I keep the rod tube tied onto my bag and worst case scenario I have an extra tip if one breaks. Also, it goes with me as a carry on. having been a fly fisherman for years before switching over to having more fun, the tech for multi piece rods is sound and solid so long as you assemble it correctly. I have noticed with casting bigger baits it’s good to check the ferrules and alignment every so often. As you would a knot connection. These rods are not cheap and I was quite disappointed to see the made in China when there is a lot of literature and talk about “handmade in Japan”. To be fair, blanks made in Japan and assembled to whatever degree in China. They are beautiful and feel very high quality, and highly sensitive, especially with the faster tip. that being said they are worth every penny (to me) and i would recommend them to anyone if you can find them. I will be curious to see reviews on the VWE rods as they seem amazing and will be my next rod purchase 100%. The only reason I chose the dragoon over a VWE as my first travel rod was the versatility of the two tips.