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Thread: ESP Spinning Rods (Cabelas)

  1. #1
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    Default ESP Spinning Rods (Cabelas)


    Just saw the ESP spinning rods on the Cabelas website. I love the feel of a TN handle and was curious if anyone owns or had used these rods. Also, they have a PL (Power Lite) as an option is that similar to a medium light? I have a 7ft bps Medium Lite crappie rod that I use for trout fishing but, honestly the tip bends to much to hold spinners in current. Was hoping to find something just a slight bit stiffer for trout fishing.

    Thanks,

    VCM

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    Quote Originally Posted by VaCrappieMan View Post
    Just saw the ESP spinning rods on the Cabelas website. I love the feel of a TN handle and was curious if anyone owns or had used these rods. Also, they have a PL (Power Lite) as an option is that similar to a medium light? I have a 7ft bps Medium Lite crappie rod that I use for trout fishing but, honestly the tip bends to much to hold spinners in current. Was hoping to find something just a slight bit stiffer for trout fishing.

    Thanks,

    VCM
    Yes, I own 3 ESP rods : 5' UL .. 6'6" PowerLite .. 9' PowerJig

    Their TN handle is graphite, and has metallic discs that are attached to the rod blank, and touches the inside of the handle. This allows the transmission of any vibrations, to travel up the rod, thru the discs & into the handle. They call it Vibration Amplification Technology. They're made of high modulus graphite, and have a "fast action" rod tip.

    Not sure what "action" a BPS ML rod has ... so I can't really answer to whether or not the tip action of a ESP would be what you're looking for. "Power Lite" doesn't translate to med lite (IMHO), since all the ESP rods have "fast action" tips. Most of my other rods have a parabolic bend ... where the action of the rod is softer than a fast action rod would be, in that they bend in a arch, over the majority of the length of the rod. A fast action rod bends more in the top 1/4 or 1/3.

    ... cp

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    I have 2 6' power lites and agree with Pappy. I would rate them as lites, but I can tell you that they are very good rods and I will be getting more in the future
    Minnermatics Prostaff
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    best price I found on these rods was from Sportsmans Guide
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    Can't add anything to cp, I have the 7 ft power lite, best 7 footer I've ever owned, caught a 4 lb green carp on it and no prob at all, awesome rod!
    I clever quip fishing ironic statement crappie!

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    they have a rod designed for inline spinners
    I only fish on days that start with T, like tuesday, thursday, today, and tomorrow.

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    I have been using 2 of these rods for several months now....the one piece 6' 6" UL and the 7 foot, 2 piece PL model. IMHO an ESP rod is far superior to a BPS ML Crappie Rod. I gave these rods a pretty good write up on here when I first bought them. Now that I have caught literally over 1000 fish with these two rods I can give a much better perspective. With the 7 footer I have caught over 500 Crappie and over 200 Trout. Last Friday I used the 7 footer to bounce Trout Worms off the bottom at the Caney Fork River and the rod performed flawlessly using 4# test for this method of fishing. The 7 footer is without a doubt the best rod for casting for Crappie I have ever used. When fishing for Crappie I use 2# test on the 7 footer even though it is not rated for 2# test. I also use 2# test when casting for Trout with this rod and you can rip their lips off with this rod. The UL rod I also use for Trout and have caught hundreds of huge Bluegill with it also. I do have a problem with both of these rods and while it is not going to cause me to quit using them...they are good rods...I am taking them to a rod builder to tell me what causes my problem. When a fish pulls drag and the line goes through the guides it becomes kinked. I e-mailed my concerns to the designer of the rod and he told me it was my line. Fine...I went out and bought 3 different brands of mono and all of them did the same thing. The line looks just like your line would look when you tie your hook and forget to wet the line before cinching up the knot. I think it is from excess friction. So who ever reads this please don't post back about reeling while a fish is pulling drag. That is not the case. After spooling up the line I placed the rod at an angle you would hold the rod while fighting a fish and just pulled the line out...no lure..no fish...just pulling the line by hand and it kinks. So I wasted about 15 bucks finding out what I already thought....it was not my line. Now I have not lost a single fish because of this. As a matter of fact if you go to the Trout Magnet web site you can see a sample of a few of the more than a dozen Small Mouth I caught with the 7 footer using 2# test and those fish were between 18 and 21 inches. Quite a testament to the rod and the line. All I know is this should not happen and I am going to settle my curiosity and find out from the rod builder what he thinks is causing this. Now I am not going to quit using the rods. If I were you I would buy. Like I said it is a great rod for Crappie and your catch rate will go up with Trout.



    Regards

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    Quote Originally Posted by Alphahawk View Post
    When a fish pulls drag and the line goes through the guides it becomes kinked. ... The line looks just like your line would look when you tie your hook and forget to wet the line before cinching up the knot. I think it is from excess friction.
    Interesting! I think, as you do, it must be a result of friction between the guides (which the manufacturer says are "chromium stainless steel") and very thin (2 lb. test) line. The mfr. might be keeping the cost of the rod down by buying guides with rings that are not well polished--have you examined them under high magnification? Also, I wonder whether there is a sharp angle between any of the guides, or between the reel and first guide, when the rod is loaded. How big is the guide closest to the reel on the 7' rod? The picture of one of the ESP rods (length unknown) on the Cabela's site looks like it might have a mere 20mm guide, and with a rather short stem at that; both a small ring and a short guide stem would increase the angle at which the line crosses the guide and therefore increase friction.

    Sounds like a terrific rod in most respects, but I can't get interested in buying one if 2 lb. line kinks under load on it. I would use that line with very light lures, and it's hard enough to have a slowly-sinking 1/64 oz. jig straighten line enough for good feel of the lure without kinks in the line.

    Does the kinking also happen with 4 lb. line?

    One other question, and I hope this doesn't come across wrong. I didn't see you specifying how much line you pulled out by hand. Just wondering whether there is any chance the line roller on your spinning reel has frozen and isn't turning. With light lures, that wouldn't be noticed until line went out against the drag, and then it would be making a 90 degree turn across a surface that might not dissipate heat very well (the line roller), and that could probably cause line deformation.

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    Quote Originally Posted by split handle View Post
    Interesting! I think, as you do, it must be a result of friction between the guides (which the manufacturer says are "chromium stainless steel") and very thin (2 lb. test) line. The mfr. might be keeping the cost of the rod down by buying guides with rings that are not well polished--have you examined them under high magnification? Also, I wonder whether there is a sharp angle between any of the guides, or between the reel and first guide, when the rod is loaded. How big is the guide closest to the reel on the 7' rod? The picture of one of the ESP rods (length unknown) on the Cabela's site looks like it might have a mere 20mm guide, and with a rather short stem at that; both a small ring and a short guide stem would increase the angle at which the line crosses the guide and therefore increase friction.

    Sounds like a terrific rod in most respects, but I can't get interested in buying one if 2 lb. line kinks under load on it. I would use that line with very light lures, and it's hard enough to have a slowly-sinking 1/64 oz. jig straighten line enough for good feel of the lure without kinks in the line.

    Does the kinking also happen with 4 lb. line?

    One other question, and I hope this doesn't come across wrong. I didn't see you specifying how much line you pulled out by hand. Just wondering whether there is any chance the line roller on your spinning reel has frozen and isn't turning. With light lures, that wouldn't be noticed until line went out against the drag, and then it would be making a 90 degree turn across a surface that might not dissipate heat very well (the line roller), and that could probably cause line deformation.
    It happens with 4# also but I am using a 1/32 or more with 4# so it does not have as much of an affect on the jig. All of my Shimano reels are in good working order and I checked the line roller plus I put 3 reels on the rod and one of the reels is a new Pflueger Supreme XT. Since I fish almost everyday I clean my reels and inspect after each day fishing....don't want any surprises out there. I will drive up to Nashville next week and the rod builder is going to look at them and I told him I would pay him for his time as I don't expect him to give me his time for free. It will also give me some education on rods...guides.....friction and so on. I just bought a new Fenwick Elite Tech river Runner UL and it is great. As I said I will continue to use the 7 foot PL ESP Rod for Crappie as it does a great job. But the ESP UL is in the corner until I find out what is causing this and if he can tell me what is causing it can he fix it and at what cost. The only magnifying glass I have is not powerful but you can see what one would call an orange peel paint job on a car when you look at the inside of the chrome guides....it looks like the surface of an orange. If he tells me it is the guides and if I have to pay as much as 40 bucks to get good ones put in I will do it because one has to fish with these rods to see how different they are. They are not the "Holy Grail" of rods but they have their place in ones rod locker.


    Regards

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    Alphahawk, thanks for the reply. Let us know what the rod builder says.

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