Berkley Lightning Rods

[Mcnasty]

GARBAGE!!!! at least the new ones that they are selling right now at gander mountain. i know they have been making these for years now.

i bought one bc the price was right and seemed like a ok rod for the money (39.99) and been using it as a crankbait rod.

Soo ive been out on Kent lake 6 times in the last week in a half or so and have lost 5 different baits on this rod setup with 20 spiderwire! Instantly set the hook and snapp line in your face!! Last night when it happened for the 5th time i finally pin pointed the problem. The top 4 or 5 line guides at the bottom of each eye are RAZOR sharp!!!!!!! i really didnt make much sense why this was happening and just thought SH*t that was a big ass fish.. at first it was spooled with 10 pound flouro and after breaking off i was like no not again suckers and went to braid. 2 of 5 the times, im sure that the fish were pike and the other 3 dont know but prob bass.

Funny story- (if you can make breaking a lure off funny)
i was throwin a lipless crank and 10 feet from the boat bang pike, wasnt huge maybe 24" this fish i fight for 2seconds and snap. 10 mins later i hear a rattling sound like a lipless crank and i look over and theres that pike jumpin like a sailfish tryin to spit that bait!!!!!


i can name the baits if anyones caught bass or pike in the last few days out there with lures in theyre mouths! sad thing is if they were deep it might have killed the fish.....

anyways i returned the rod w no problem to gander today and told them about the problem. crappy part is im out 35 bucks or so in lures!!!! i hope this helps you guys out
check your guides!!!!!

[play for keeps]

ya i agree with you, i work at gander mtn and i dont really recomend that rod because the metal inserts in the guides.we return a lot of those rods for various reasons, your problem is the most common! for the same price you can get a gm advantage rod with ceramic inserts, or for about 70 bucks you can get a st.croix triumph

[Mcnasty]

yeah ive heard about metal inserts get cut by braided line, metal inserts or not... they shouldnt be razor sharp!

i just found out the hard way.  its crazy how it worked bc i caught other good sized fish without problems on this road. the only time it didnt work was when they followed it to the boat. instant snap!

[Mike S.]

I have 6 Lightning Rods, and I don't have a complaint about any of them.  I have spinning rods, casting rods, and my flipping rod with braid is a Lightning Rod.  Not 1 bad thing to say about them. 

[Mcnasty]

How long ago did you buy them? im glad to hear you havent had any problems. since then gander mountain took them all off the shelf, after showing them and exchanging it out for a different rod.

[Mike S.]

My newest one is just over a year old.  Only complaint is that I bought a 6 footer.  I can't get a hook set to save my life with that thing.  Works awesome for my 10 year old, though.