I just bought this rod today at Cabelas. I got the 6.5 footer medium. Price is $39.99 at Cabelas. I cannot beleive how light this thing is. It is capable of catching 15 pounders. I paired it with the Pflueger President 30 spinning reel. Its fish on in 2022!
All right Paul. Congrats on the new combo. Make sure to send me a pic when you get the big one and we can show it on the report. Let everyone know you don't need to spend $500 on a rod. Good luck.
That’s a nice combo Paul- I put the same exact thing together as a gift to friend last year. I’ll admit to taking a leisurely stroll down to the local pond with it to make sure everything was in working order before giving it to him. I was impressed! As somebody who owns many high end rods from G Loomis, St Croix, and Fenwick…I found the Lightning Rod to be a tremendous value. I have purchased four new rods for myself in the past year since gifting that combo- all four were Lightning Rods.
I found the Berkeley lightning rod in Walmart yesterday and was thinking this seems like a good quality rod for this store. So thankfully found your video and sure enough the very same one I was interested in was the one in your video. $42 now, could probably get it cheaper on Amazon but oh well I'm going to put her to the test. Thanks!
It’s almost like a moderate action with a fast tip. Going to use it for fishing moving lures like spoons. Handles smallmouth very well. I’ll use my Fenwicks for walleye jigs.
I tail hooked a 26 lb Buffalo with a Berkeley Flicker Shad on 10 lb braid with a Lightning Rod and never felt out gunned. My go to Ned rod is a $30+ Berkeley AMP from Walmart.
I picked up the 7' mfb rod recently. Its a decent rod, especially for the money. I would recommend folks spend the extra 10 bucks and get the Diawa Arid-X. That is an amazing rod at 49 dollars.
I like the Berkeley Lightnings very much and own 3 of that exact same rod. (2 of them are on the bottom of the Delta near Sugar Barge due to a kayak capsizing). But bought the third one as a replacement.
@@indeeponthedeltawithstevec5997 I like the Berkeley Lightnings very much. The two on the bottom of the Delta are due to a capsized kayak I went out and bought a replacement because I like them so much.
Beginner fishermen should definitely consider the Berkeley Lightening over the Ugly Stick 1. A lot Lighter 2. Guide inserts are much better a) My Ugly Stick guides are scored from a couple of seasons of monofilament use 3. I really like the moderate action as Steve points out 4. I suspect they are close to or just as durable as the Ugly Stick 5. Price point is very competitive. 6. I do like the cork/rubber handle as Steve points out. 7. Actually, I've bought 4 of them, I forgot about the trout rod I bought.
Compared to the ugly stik GX2? The gx2 seemed more sensitive than the berkeley lighting when I tried it in the store, so I bought the gx2 for panfish and if I don't like it I'm getting the berkeley lighting
i bought the 7ft medium heavy casting iv been using it on saltwater with a Calcutta 200 iv caught my PB snook on the beach with its really good for the price
My son just gave me that exact rod. I'm about to arm it with an Abu Ambassadeur 6500 reel. Should be a good bass and pike outfit, and OK for muskies. I really like the quality of the finish. The reel seat, grip and handle put some higher end rods to shame.
Bought a 5'9 lite action for a back up crappie rod today for 35 dollar's and based on the parabolic bend and overall feel appearance of quality made, I'm hoping it lasts along time. Of course I'm aware it's only a 24 ton modulus graphite so I'm not expecting a great deal of sensitivity but I'll probably be using a bobber or just casting for cruiser's near the bank so if they hit what I'm chunking that won't matter too much.
You don't have to spend a lot of money to get a great crappie rod. P S I got a giant crappie this week on a chatterbait-today I saw a pod of really big crappie out at Mildred-at first I thought they were bass.
I know this comment is almost a year old, but wanted to chime in. I've sold multiple $250-$300 setups, but my $20 Hank Parker combo and my garage sale 15 year old Lightning Rod ain't going anywhere... :)
Hello Steve. I'm new to the delta and actually new to fishing overall your videos have been very helpful so KUDOS my friend! One question tho, Any spots in the Delta that are kayak friendly as in not much boat traffic if thats possible hehe. Thanks Steve!
Thanks for your support-Yes their are great kayak spots all over the Delta-At the end of 8 mile road -The old Hermon and Hellens boat launch has been closed for years-lots of docks and things to fish-the place has very little boat traffic-no security to bother you-also you should drive the Delta loop off of Hwy.12-I think you will find lots of great water-lookaround Owl Harbor-It's on the map-the fishing is good in 7 mile slough-good luck
I have 2 they fish like a 200 dollars rod, for the finesse go with medium light 6.6 one piece you will understand what I mean . I use them for walleye .
@@indeeponthedeltawithstevec5997 I fish from shore on the Detroit River for walleye throwing 3/4 to 1 ounce jigs, should i still get the Medium or medium heavy ?
It depends on the day. I like to keep the deck clean so a max of 8 rods on the frnt. deck. If I'm alown I may have a couple of rods on the side rod holders. I really like to have 4 or five rods out. This time of year a punch rod-chatterbait-worm-frog and popper rod. If I need more than that I'm struggling.
Hi Steve, what are your tips for flouro/mono on the reel? It looks like you have straight flouro on there. I struggle with line twist (particularly on lighter weights) and can't get away from it even trying all the online tricks. So, I run braid to leader even on my 2500 spinning reels. I will make the leader longer on clear water. But I notice that casting can be troublesome. Be great to see if you have any tips for cleaning that up. Thanks for the rod review!
I really like 20 or 30 lb braid with 4 to 10 feet of mono leader. Just depends what your throwing-my rule of thumb for clear water is to take the water visibility and double that for leader length-5 ft vis-10 ft leader. On the Delta 4 ft. Good luck.
Check out Steves video on the FG knot. The way he sets up the FG knot - tied well and coated with UV glue really improves casting performance. When it comes to minimizing line twist obviously the reel needs to be spooled correctly but people overlook manually closing the bail. With spinning reels its important to close the bail by hand and not by turning the handle. I let the line flow through my fingers as I cast and simultaneously shut the bail as I move my hand to the bail. Give it a shot!
@@indeeponthedeltawithstevec5997 I like that rule of thumb! I found a spot on the delta yesterday near Big Break that had a lot of grass - the water was crystal clear. Definitely needed to have a long leader in there! Thanks again for the great tips. Keep em coming!
@@nathancooper4954 I saw that video and still need to put that into practice. I'm using the alberto knot at the moment. Soon I'll clip my leaders and retie trying Steve's technique with the FG knot. I try to close the bail by hand most of the time, but I have to admit, I suspect that I'm just not spooling properly. Gotta go double check that. Thanks for the reply!
Hi Suresh. This rod is not a power rod. It's a med. power at best. It's good for baits up to about 3/8 oz and best used with 8 to 10 pound test line. It's a fun rod to catch fish on but if you're looking for a heavey rod this is not the rod to choose. Hope that helps.
