Here are some photo's of the rod that Tony sells.
Starting at the bottom, you will see it has a round gimble. This has two advantages. First, when fighting a fish, the round butt doesn't dig into you and cause discomfort, it is easy on the hip
. Second, when you put the rod in the holder, it falls easily into place. How many times do you "struggle" to find the bar at the bottom of the holder in order to "seat" the rod in the correct position. The only drawback, is the round butt takes up just a tiny bit more room in the holder, and in mine, it goes in, but when a fish is on and the rod is removed in a hurry, the insert comes out of the holder with the rod
. I simply remove the inserts out of my rocket launchers and all is well
. It fits just fine in the gunnel holders, no problem
.
Above the gimble, you will see the rod has a "slick butt". This makes it easier to remove the rod from the holder with a heavy fish attached.
Next you will see metal reel seats (gold in color). These are not plastic and hold up well.
Above that is a cushioned "forearm" to give you excelent leverage while fighting your fish.
Finally, you will see 8 line guides on a six ft rod
The 5 1/2 ft model has 7 rod guides.
I use the 6 ft rods for my board lines, and the 5 1/2 ft rods as my boat rods. The main reason I need two sizes, is if I use the smaller rod on the gunnel, my planer board (weedwacker) line doesn't hit the rod if I have to make a tight turn. I have used the smaller rods with umbrella's back 200 ft with no problem.
For $40 I don't know of another rod that can match it
5th (Marty)