Swimbaitrods 8-ft 1-6 oz Mod Review

[Bass_blaster]

Was lucky enough to get my hands on one of these (built by @rwp on here). 

I make all my own stuff and this is actually the only rod I have that I didn’t build myself. It’s also now one of my favorite out of the 13 swimbait rods that I have so here’s a quick review. 
 

The Rod Itself:

Its built on a two Piece blank from Black Hole. Not cheap, but well worth it. The blank itself is a moderate action (not parabolic and not fast), relatively small diameter, and very light weight for the rating. It’s rated for 1-6oz but I’ve only thrown up to 4oz on it and I think that’s as high as I’d really go. This particular version also has the LOOOONGEST tiger wrap ive ever seen. Great to gaze at when waiting for some action. The build quality is great. You can tell he spent time making it and the attention to detail is there for sure. 
 

Usage:

It’s been out on two trips so far, and 95% of the time it’s thrown my 86 Doomrider in blue gill. My first trip I paired it up with a Deps Z2020 and the second I used an old school Conquest 250DC. It paired great with both, and I think I’ll keep the conquest on there long term now. 
Casting performance is solid with baits that size and it’s very well balanced with a long handle. It’s also the first spiral wrapped rod I’ve used and so far I like it plenty. Not really a noticeable difference and it gets the job done and doesn’t hurt anything for sure. 
Working the glide bait with subtle rod twitches is nice as it has enough tip to do it but not such a light tip that it lacks sensitivity with heavier stuff. 
Catching fish on the rod is also very nice. Great action and loads up really nice. I was able to get 4 fish total on it with the 86 glide and on all of them (biggest maybe 3.5 lbs) it did exactly what I would have wanted (loaded up nice and kept them pinned).
 

Overall I’d rate the rod very high. The blank itself is awesome and my main comparisons are to all the blanks I’ve used which are Phenix for the most part. This one is just different but in a good way. Softer action for sure, close to the Phenix Titan series long fall blanks. The handle is a great length, the whole thing is very light to fish, and whether fishing or catching its been a great addition to my arsenal. 

[rwp]

Not as pretty as the one that @Bass_blaster has, but this is my personal version of the rod.

These blanks are rated to handle the full 6oz, but it does get a bit squirrely.

The one pictured above was originally going to be kept for myself, but on all the rods that have been built since then are rated as 1-5oz, and I feel that is a more accurate rating. The baitsanity explorer is my favorite lure to throw with this rod because it retrieves it so well, but requires a step down from full send casting.