Thread: Mass Beat III 634L Travel Rod

It's probably a PB, though it came from my own pond so I'm not counting it. Kind of like fishing from a personal aquarium. I believe it's the only one that size in the pond.

We live on what was my grandparents place, has a decent sized pond and a hand built in ground cement swimming pool 24 x 48. The pool is a lot of work to maintain. Every year it needs drained, cleaned and patched from all the leaves, algae, toad and frog eggs, and cracks that develop over winter from freezing. For two years after my mom passed away I didn't bother to get it ready for the summer. I think one of the neighbor kids caught a decent sized bluegill and LMB and put them in the pool. For a year or two I saw them swimming in the pool. The next time I went to get the pool ready I tried to catch them on a rod to put them back in the pond. I didn't catch them so once the water was low enough I ended up netting them and putting them back in the pond 2 years ago. At the time the blue gill was the biggest I had seen since I was kid, as far as I can remember. Not sure what it was eating in the pool but it must have been eating good.

I was actually wondering if it was still alive, as this is the first time I've caught it in those 2 years. Most of the fish in the pond are stunted, bluegill, LMB, couple yellow perch and 6 crappie I put in this year because I didn't want to fillet them, so I'm pretty sure it is the one that lived in the pool for a year or two.

Fished the MB3 travel rod a lot today. Hit the lake a little before 7 am, was foggy with temps in the high 40s to low 50s to start the day. Glad I had a spot marked fairly close to the dock as it was to foggy to see where you were going.

The rod model is 634L, 6'3" 4 piece, Light power. After fishing it in the pond yesterday it didn't seem like a Light power to me. I did some bending curve comparisons between other JDM rods I have to see how similar or different they were. Initially I did the comparison between other Abu Garcia rods, after 2oz of weight the power is almost identical to the Carabus Extreme that is rated as UL. I'm not saying the rods are equal, just that the power of the rods are very similar. I switched between the two rod while fishing today. Fun factor is pretty close, but the Carabus is much lighter and more refined as it should be considering the price difference.

I also compared it to my Major Craft 632SUL and UL. From 1 to 4 ounces the bend is almost identical with the SUL. The Major Craft 632UL has more backbone than the MB3634L.

I'm a big fan of having fun when catching fish, mostly smaller fish, IMO this rod delivers plenty of fun with decent sized gills, 6" and bigger fish put really nice bend to the rod. Several times I had fish on that felt like pretty good fish, that ended up back in the lake and not the live well.

I was a little concerned that with the Light power rating it might not being very fun catching the size fish I catch most of the time. I'm pleasantly surprised that the manufacturer over rated the power of the rod compared to the other JDM rods I have.

Thanks for confirming what I found the rod to be .
IMO, it’s definitely an UL and a fun rod to fish .
Also I feel like it’s one of the best bargains in a JDM rod .
A four piece rod that feels and fishes like a one piece .
I’m glad you like it .

Originally Posted by skeetbum

Glad to hear the deal finally worked and that it works for you. Too many differences from one maker to another makes it tough to find the right one. Have fun with it.

Just as Skeet said. I have 2 variants of Abu UL...the MB iii (2 pc) and my most expensive rod to date, Abu Eradicator 5-10. While both UL they fished world apart. Thanks for write up, Z!

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I have no idea what criteria (if any) or how rod makers use to come up with the power rating of a rod, even with the same maker in this case Abu Garcia there doesn't seem to be any consistency.

Just talking about Area trout rods I have 3 different models now. Carabus Nano XUL, Carabus Extreme UL, and the Mass Beat III Light.

I have a Carabus Delicate 622UL coming will have to see where that falls with the power rating from the rod maker.

Using a totally arbitrary testing method of putting the rod in a jig that holds it at an angle of apx 60 degrees and measuring the rod tip height from the floor initially then adding weight 1oz at a time. I got the following percentages of for how far the rod tip moved from the original height.

Carabus Nano XUL 54% with 3 oz of weight
Carabus Extreme UL 48.6% with 4 oz of weight
Mass Beat 3 Light 50% with 4 oz of weight

While fishing it's hard to hook a fish that doesn't give you a good time on the XUL. For pure fun factor it's my favorite rod. Both of the Carabus rods are much lighter weight wise Nano (58.7g), Extreme (51.5g) than the MB3 (77.5g) 25 to 30% lighter. They feel more refined and almost delicate in comparison. It looks like the price of both the rods has gone up since I bought them, they are now 3 to 5 times more expensive than what the MB3 is going for on Amazon.

As Gillchaser said value for dollar spent the MB3 would be hard to beat for an introduction to what a JDM rod has to offer. I have ordered two more of the rods, hoping the order goes through before you can't get them at the current price.

Might come down to %carbon used, Z. But no doubt bangs for bucks, Abu MB hard to beat...BUT against a $100 St. Croix triumph UL, I won't dare fish it at the SoCal pier.

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Duplicate post

I own a few 6’6” St Croix Triumph light action rods .
Although not as lightweight as the Abu Garcia MB3 , the action is similar.
They used to be my #1 rod for fishing a float and jig rig .
I’ve thought about ordering another MB3L , but I’m going to put a light 500 size reel with some 2# Floroclear on one of my SC Triumph and see how it’ll throw a 1/64 jig .
I have a 7’ SC Premier UL , but have never fished it much because it’s just too noodlely . It reminds me of a 7’ Iprimi . Not a jig rod .
I’m not exactly sure when it happened, but some time in last few years I’ve become a primarily jig fisherman .
I fish a jig probably 90% of the time .
Addicted to the thump !

EDIT : I got curious about the weights of these two rods .
They’re closer than what I thought.
The AG MB3 weighs 78g or 2.75oz
The SC Triumph weighs 88g or 3.1 oz for a two piece rod , one piece is 3.0oz
Only 10g difference.
Most of that is in the 3” extra length and the full cork handle .

One thing about fishing the SC , I’d be able to lift those pound size shellcracker when fishing off the dock .
I’ve been hand lining them up once I have them played out .