Best Baitcasting Rods For The Money – 2023 Reviews & Buying Guide

When you’re after big bass, pike, or muskie, you need the best baitcasting rod with plenty of backbone, excellent guides to protect your line, and the ability to throw heavy lures on the strongest lines you can buy. That’s just as true if you’re on the hunt for catfish, monster walleye, or lake trout.

Baitcasting rods designed for the punishing fight these predators deliver can be brutally expensive, and most of us can’t afford to spend $500 or more. To help you find the right rod at a fair price, we’ve reviewed a few of our favorites, explaining why we selected the options we did.

Quick glance at the best casting rods:

Related: Best Baitcasting Reels

Best Baitcasting Rods Reviewed

Dobyns Rods 734C FH Champion Series - Our Pick!

Amazon 

Length: 7’3”
Power/Action: Heavy/Fast
Material: Graphite
Handle: cork/casting
Guides: 10 + tip/Zero Tangle Kigan with SiC inserts
Lure size: ¼ - 1 ounce
Line weight: 10 - 20 lb.
Pieces: 1

Dobyns is a name known to pretty much every bass angler, and their rods are trusted tools that have proven their effectiveness season after season and tournament after tournament. It’s no surprise that a Dobyns rod made our short list, and the 734 is an impressive addition to our reviews.

7’3” long, the 734 offers both sensitivity and strength from its graphite blank. In fact, this rod is sufficiently powerful, light, castable, and sensitive enough that it’s simply fantastic with crankbaits, jerkbaits, worms, jigs, and anything else you’d want to throw. Perhaps the best all-arounder I’ve seen, if you can only bring one rod to the lake, this would be an awesome choice.

One thing to note about this awesome rod is that, though it’s rated for heavy lures and line, it can still throw ¼ ounce jigs! That tells you a lot about tip sensitivity and blank quality.

11 Kigan guides with silicone carbide inserts will keep your line cool and fray-free. If this is your first quality rod, you’ll soon realize that you’re getting less break-offs in hard fights.

One of my favorite things about the Dobyns 734 is it’s long, high-quality cork handle. I generally prefer a continuous handle on my rods, and if you do, too, this is an excellent choice. For big fish, I think this design is ideal.

Pros:

• Awesome, all-around blank
• Excellent guides
• Excellent handle
• Very sensitive
• Great for a variety of lures and techniques

Cons: ???

Cadence CR7B

Amazon 

Length: 7’0”
Power/Action: Medium-heavy/Fast
Material: Carbon Fiber
Handle: split EVA foam/casting
Guides: 7 + tip/Stainless steel and SiC inserts
Lure size: ¼ - ¾ ounce
Line weight: 12 - 20 lb.
Pieces: 1

You can spend a lot of money on a good rod, and they get expensive quickly. And while it’s generally true that you get what you pay for, not every angler can afford to throw a few hundred dollars after a rod. For the budget-minded, it’s important to find affordable quality.

The Cadence CR7 series of rods offers features that you’d expect at a much higher price point. For instance, rather than graphite, these rods use a carbon fiber blank, and all-in-all, you can count us as impressed by the components the CR7 offers!

We recommend the 7’ multi-purpose rod as a great place to start if you’re looking for an all-arounder. It offers a medium-heavy blank with plenty of backbone to play large fish and a tip that’s sensitive enough for good lure action and excellent strike detection.

Obviously, there need to be some compromises to keep costs down, and two areas that you’ll notice this are the guides and handle.

The CR7 runs stainless guides with silicon carbide inserts. These are a fine choice, but not a top-notch competitor for more expensive rods. There are also only eight of them, and we’d really like to see a few more, but for the money, that’s not realistic.

The CR7’s handle is a well designed split EVA foam design. Don’t expect anything fancy or flashy here, but it’s sufficiently comfortable that you should have no complaints.

Overall, where this rod really struts its stuff is blank quality.

Pros:

• Awesome, all-around blank
• Very sensitive
• Great for a variety of lures and techniques
• Inexpensive

Cons:

• Corners need to be cut at this price point
• OK guides
• OK handle

Daiwa Tatula TXT731MHFB

Amazon 

Length: 7’3”
Power/Action: Medium-heavy/Fast
Material: Graphite
Handle: cork/casting
Guides: 9/Fuji aluminum oxide
Lure size: ¼ - 1 ounce
Line weight: 10 - 20 lb.
Pieces: 1

If you fish, you know the Daiwa name, and their Tatula series rods are serious additions to your fishing arsenal that won’t break the bank.

Our favorite Tatula casting rod is the 7’3” medium-heavy with a fast action. Like the Dobyns 734, this is a versatile rod that offers top-notch performance with a variety of techniques. The tip is admirably sensitive, and from jigging to topwater, it will help you get the most life-like action from your lures.

Strike detection is excellent as well.

The Tatula series features a graphite blank that’s both stiff and light-weight, an ideal combination. There’s more than enough backbone here for muscling a bass out from cover, and with the drag set properly on a quality reel, I’d feel confident fighting a large pike or muskie.

Guide quality is excellent, as you’d expect from Fuji components. Like the St. Croix, we’d like to see an extra guide or two, but that’s really just a quibble.

The long, continuous cork handle on this rod is awesome, and like the Dobyns, if that’s your thing, you should take a close look at the Tatula. Especially when the pressure’s on with a big fish, you’ll appreciate that length.

As an all-arounder for freshwater fishing, this rod makes a lot of sense.

Pros:

• Awesome, all-around blank
• Excellent guides
• Excellent handle
• Very sensitive
• Great for a variety of lures and techniques

Cons:

• Two less guides than Dobyns

Lew's Tournament Performance TP1 Speed Stick

Length: 7’0”
Power/Action: Medium-heavy/Fast
Material: Graphite
Handle: split Dri-Tac handles by Winn Grip/casting
Guides: 8 + tip/American Tackle Microwave Guides
Lure size: ¼ - ⅞ ounces
Line weight: 12 - 25 lb.
Pieces: 1

Lew’s Speed Stick casting rod, like the Cadence CR7, offers a lot of rod for the money. In fact, it just might be the most bang for your buck that you’ll find. From the excellent handles to the fantastic blank, we’re impressed by what it offers.

We recommend the 7’ medium-heavy rod. It’s got the strength to control a big bass in a fight or turn a pike from cover with aplomb, while still offering a tip that’ll help you work your lures. While probably not as good as the best on our list, for a rod that’s roughly half the price, you won’t hear us complain!

The nine American Tackle “Microwave” guides are admirably slick. They’re a bit small, however, and you’ll need to take care with your leader knots as a result. We’d like to see one or two more, as well, especially if you’re after really big pike or muskie.

The Speed Stick’s handle really stands out. Whatever Winn’s proprietary Dri-Tac is made from, it’s comfortable, grippy, and attractive. The split design is well done on this rod, and you can expect all-day comfort no matter how large or small your hands.

Pros:

• Awesome, all-around blank
• Very sensitive
• Great for a variety of lures and techniques
• Awesome handle
• Inexpensive

Cons:

• The guides are very small, which can cause problems with leaders

St. Croix Mojo

Amazon 

Length: 7’4”
Power/Action: Heavy/Fast
Material: Graphite
Handle: split cork/casting
Guides: 8 + tip/Kigan Master Hand 3D guides with aluminum oxide inserts
Lure size: ⅜ - 1 ½ ounces
Line weight: 14 - 25 lb.
Pieces: 1

St. Croix is on the path to becoming a legendary name in the fishing world, and they’ve quickly built a reputation for some of the finest rods you can buy. Their Mojo won’t disappoint, especially at its price point.

The Mojo baitcasting rod we recommend is the 7’4” featuring heavy power and a fast action. Like many St. Croix rods, expect the blank to be on the stiff side for the description, and we find that this heavy sticks to that trend. When complimented by the sensitive, fast tip, you’ll find the Mojo lets you detect light strikes, work your variety of lures well, and still have the muscle you need to control a monster.

Guide quality is excellent, though the Mojo could probably use an additional guide or two to compete with its competition. Most of the time, you probably won’t notice, but you just might if you tie into a really big muskie!

The handle is a split cork design that’s comfortable and attractive. I might like a touch more length, but that’s largely a matter of personal preference.

Pros:

• Excellent blank
• Excellent guides
• Good handle
• Very sensitive

Cons:

• Could use an additional guide or two
• Handle might be a tad short

Ugly Stik GX2

Amazon 

Length: 7’0”
Power/Action: Medium-heavy/Fast
Material: Ugly Tech Construction (Fiberglass/Graphite blend)
Handle: EVA foam/casting
Guides: 7 + tip/ stainless steel
Lure size: ¼ - ¾ ounces
Line weight: 10 - 25 lb.
Pieces: 1

The Ugly Stik GX2 makes a lot of review lists for a reason: it’s ridiculously inexpensive and durable. If you’re looking for a rod that can take a beating, need an inexpensive back-up, or need to outfit a small group with rods, the GX2 is a great choice.

Ugly Stik makes their rod blanks from ultra-tough fiberglass blended with graphite. I’ve owned one--many anglers have--and I can attest to their durability. I put that rod through things that I shouldn’t, and it never let me down. The GX2’s tip is plenty sensitive for lure action and strike detection, and there’s simply no question of breaking the blank (or the bank!).

That said, it will flex differently from a carbon fiber or graphite blank, tending a bit more toward a parabolic arc. There’s still plenty of backbone there, and the GX2 is stiffer than the Ugly Stik’s of the 80s. Hooksets might not be quite as sharp as the competition, but then, this rod is a fraction of the cost.

We recommend the 7’ GX2 in medium-heavy power. It’s a great all-arounder, especially if you need to keep your costs as low as possible.

Guide quality is meh. While this rod can take a beating, your line can’t, and if there’s a real issue with the GX2, this is it. The quality needed to prevent friction just can’t happen at this price point, and I’d hesitate to use this rod in a fight with a real beast as a result.

This GX2 features a long, comfortable EVA foam handle that’s great for forcing a big fish to turn his head your way.

Pros:

• Good blank
• Unbelievably tough
• Good handle
• Very sensitive

Cons:

• Could use an additional guide or two
• Guide quality is poor

Our Pick - The Dobyns Rods 734C FH Champion Series!

The Dobyns 734C is pretty much everything we’re looking for in the best baitcasting rod.

Its blank is both strong and sensitive, putting it among the best we’ve handled. There’s plenty of backbone for a mean fight, plenty of power to turn a pike or bass from cover, and plenty of sensitivity to work your lure or feel a tentative strike. We’re impressed, and we think you will be, too.

The guides are excellent--and there are plenty of them! This allowed the Dobyns to edge-out the otherwise awesome Daiwa for the top spot, but we can strongly recommend both rods. The 734C features 10 Zero Tangle Kigan with SiC inserts, making it very, very hard to beat.

And when combined with a long, comfortable cork handle, we think the 734C is about as good as it gets, though the Daiwa comes close.

For the more budget-minded, the Lew’s Speed Stick delivers the most bang for a limited buck, and we’d be more than delighted to fish for muskie, pike, walleye, or bass with that rod. The blank is quite good, the handles are excellent, and the only real downside is its small guides.

We hope these reviews have helped you find the right rod for you, and as always, we’d love to hear from you!

Baitcasting Rods - Why Use One? The Basics Explained

A lot of what we’ll say below deals with reels rather than rods. That may seem strange, but there’s a very good reason.

Rods are matched in design to the reels they accept. Just as spinning reels are paired with spinning rods, the best casting rods take casting reels. The exception is the spincasting reel, which comes in either spinning or casting configurations, to fit rods of those types.

As a result, if an angler is looking for a baitcasting rod, that’s because they have--or soon will have--a casting reel.

But why use casting tackle at all?

Every tool has its place, and baitcasting tackle is at its best with heavier lines and when you want to use fluorocarbon as main line. It also offers a few other advantages over other reel designs, making the best casting rods and reels a popular choice for a variety of fishing adventures.

Let’s discuss these strengths in more depth:

Heavier line - In contrast to the fixed spool on a spinning reel, baitcasting designs feature a spool that spins to release and retrieve line. The higher the quality, the more frictionless that spool’s movement will be, but physics doesn’t like to be cheated.

As a result, irrespective of the number of bearings, the viscosity of the lubrication, or the materials involved, that spool will generate friction. With monofilament line below eight pounds (or the diameter equivalent) and very light lures in the range of 1/32 of an ounce, this will noticeably affect casting. That’s why the vast majority of ultralight and light rods wear a spinning reel.

But with 10-pound line or heavier, and heavier lures, the baitcasting reel comes into its own. In fact, with heavy line, baitcasters perform as well or better than spinning alternatives.

Fluorocarbon main line - We’ve talked about using fluorocarbon main line before, and for some applications, it’s the best choice you can make. It’s waterproof and UV resistant, and it offers great sensitivity when compared to nylon monofilament. Because it stretches quite a bit, it also provides fantastic shock strength.

In short, there’s a lot to like about fluorocarbon.

However, one of its less awesome characteristics is elephantine memory. Even the best fluorocarbon lines, with the possible exception of Sunline Super FC Sniper, are notably stiffer than mono or braid. This lends them quite a bit of stubbornness as they come off the spool, and they’ll generally want to hold the shape they were in.

On a spinning reel, that leads to trouble, and tight curls of fluoro are going to ruin your day. But a baitcaster can handle fluorocarbon with far less trouble, and line conditioners help, too. We recommend you use them if you’re running fluoro.

• More control - Not everyone agrees about this, but plenty of anglers find that having their thumb on the spool provides greater line control and feel than you get with a spinning reel.
• Higher gear ratios - Everyone can agree about this one! Generally, baitcasting reels offer higher gear ratios than spinning reels, meaning that for every crank of the handle, more line is picked up by the spool. This helps you cover more water, more quickly, picks up deep jigs and lures faster, and can help you work fast-moving crankbaits.
• Awesome drag - A final strength of baitcasting reels is their drag systems. Rather than a knob fore or aft spool as on spinning reels, casting reels offer a star drag that tightens directly on the spool. While not ideal for the light line they’re not designed to handle, they’re smoother, stronger, and better performing than anything else with heavy lines.

As you can see, there are some real advantages to baitcasting reels, making the rods that hold them naturally popular. This is especially evident when fishing larger, more aggressive fish like bass and pike, where heavier lines and lures are the norm.

What We Consider When Selecting a Baitcasting Rod

Action

A rod’s action describes where along its length it will begin to bend under load. Fast action rods are stiff for most of their length, bending near the tip. By contrast, slow action rods begin to give closer to the handle and reel seat, curving over a much greater percentage of their length.

For finesse techniques like jigging, a fast action is important. You want the rod tip to be sensitive, and you want to be able to use that whip-like tip to impart action to your jig, but you also want the rod’s backbone to start showing its strength relatively quickly for good hooksets.

But for other techniques and applications, a moderate or slow action is preferred--for instance, when throwing treble-hooked crankbaits. That’s because a soft hookset will be less of a problem than one that’s too hard, and you’re essentially using the rod as a shock absorber or cushion.

Power

Power describes how much force is required to bend a rod. Together with its action, a rod’s power tells you a lot about how it will perform.

Baitcasting rods are designed to be paired with heavier line and lures, and they’re typically intended to hook and fight substantial fish like bass. As a result, you’re not going to find many ultralight or light power casting rods, and we recommend you start your search at medium.

You’ll find plenty of options from medium to heavy.

Length

For a general purpose rod, 7’ or so is about where we’d start to look.

Shorter rods are perhaps a bit more accurate for casting, but every extra inch gives the blank a little more length to play it.s strength.

The rods we review run from 7’0” to 7’4”.

Line and Lure Weight

These rods are designed for heavy lines and lures, playing the advantages of baitcasting reels.

The weights we’ve listed are for nylon monofilament, and of course, you can run much heavier braid of the same diameters.

Guides

Guide quality is essential on a casting rod, as they’re intended for a serious fight. Since they help your rod and line take the strain of a big fish, this is not a point for compromise. You also want as many as you can get. Since each one helps distribute friction and force, more means less stress on each guide.

The best way to test guide quality is also demonstrated below. Just try sawing the line you use against a large guide. If the line breaks quickly, it’s a sign to give that rod a pass.

video demonstrating how fragile line really is and how quality guides can be tested

Material

Modern fishing rods can be made from a variety of materials, including carbon fiber, graphite, and fiberglass. Some feature composite construction, using more than one material in the blank that provides their backbone.

• Graphite is strong, stiff, and ultra-light. Due to its high stiffness, it’s also quite sensitive, and it makes a great, durable choice for a rod.
• Fiberglass is heavier than graphite and usually less expensive. It’s not quite as sensitive or as stiff, but it can be incredibly strong, earning it a place in your angling arsenal. Especially for crappie, this is not necessarily a disadvantage, as cushioned hooksets are ideal.
• Carbon fiber is the stiffest, strongest, lightest, and most expensive material used for rod blanks. Its performance is unparalleled, but so is its price!

Handle

Much about which handle to choose is a personal decision, and what’s comfortable to me may be misery for you. Generally, there are two primary handle materials: cork and EVA foam.

• Cork is warmer and more attractive, but less forgiving of rough treatment.
• EVA foam is softer and cooler to the touch, and it’s pretty tough stuff.

Final Considerations

The rods we’ll review are fantastic all-arounders, and they’re all great choices if you’re in the market for the best casting rod to do it all. There may be better choices for specific techniques like drop shotting, jigging, or crankbaiting, but these are general rather than specific recommendations.