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Un happy with Ugly Sticks

reelxite

reelxite
in Tackle and Techniques

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reelxite

reelxite

Posted
Posted

I am highly disappointed with quality of the big water ugly sticks I bought for Lake Ontario Salmon fishing. I spent over $1000 on a number of rods that I believed would be a superior product only to find that in normal use they could not hold up to the riggers of big salmon. Last August I decide to replace all of my yellow rigger rods with the 8" 3" ugly stick trolling rods since then 6 of them have broken. The retailer and wholesaler stood behind them for the first year but now are referring me to the manufacture who I have found out will not stand behind their product which claimed to have a 5 year warranty. Pretty sad for what was suppose to be a quality company. I suggest everyone stay away from this product.

ray koziatek

ray koziatek

Posted
Posted

if their breakin where ya put them togeather they are a matched set,,, I mixed two rods in fla and broke one on a grouper.. ive landed 100,of salmon on some cheep 2.00 (on sale) 12.99 reg price rode from walmart... I have never broke another ugly sence the fla. mixup ..if their breakin 2 ftish from the tip yer trying to lift too much........Sorry to say its gotta be your technique ,i crank mine almost to the water and have not had a single issue with my 8.6 ftrs...also I layer my rods between blankets in the cabin to eliminate stress points when trailering......I ant promoting them but if i ant breakin a med action cheepo rod i must be really lucky , do your reels have drags? :lol: PS ive landed two 7 ft plus sharks with the 8.6 ftrs and many many hudge King mackeral,and their still workin on L.O.

jekyll

jekyll

Posted
Posted

I've got 3 ugly sticks (all 2-piece). The female joints are fraying on each rod (2 seasons on 2, and 3 on the 3rd). These are the only rods on my boat with this problem and all my rods get treated the same way. Heartland (dark gray and green), Okuma (GLT and Blue Diamond) and Cabela's all show no simlar wear. Also, the outer half on each Ugly stick twist when fighting fish. No other rod on my boat does this. Guys swear by the 1-piece rods but, I've been unhappy with the 2-piece rods.

Never had a problem with Heartland or Okuma GLT rods on riggers, dipsies and junk. From my experince, I won't buy another Ugly Stick or Blue Diamond.

ray koziatek

ray koziatek

Posted
Posted

should add mine are over 10 yrs old ,,,,,,,,,,,,,maybe the new stuff is going downhill :( guess it wouldnt be the first product that "Used to be Great" that someone found a way to save .03 cents per item by cutting corners.....

K Gonefishin

K Gonefishin

Posted
Posted

First time I've heard of someone having problems with Ugly Sticks maybe newer quality is going downhill. I run alot of shimano trolling rods Talora and TDR and I've been pleased with them, tried some cheaper Okuma's pure garbage they do have some nicer rods in the 70.00 range but haven't tried them, come to think of it I don't like anything Okuma. I do have some Heatlands for riggers and the epoxy arounds the eyes is cracking already and I only use them 20 days a year and they are only 3 years old, slightly dissapointed but we'll see how they last in the long haul, diver and rigger rods take a beating so for 25-30 bucks what do you expect.

Silver Fox

Silver Fox

Posted
Posted

It could be the newer ones. I've never broken one in the 20+ years of having them. I use 9' light 1100 model.

If I ever need more maybe I'll consider another brand. Thanks Bob.

[ Post made via Android ] Android.png

hawkeye625

hawkeye625

Posted
Posted

I have 4 1101 9' and 1 8'3 light action ugly sticks for rigger rods...0 problems in 2 years...probly at least a dozen 20+ lbers on each rod in that time frame. I will say the tip section does rotate a little during the day but nothing major.

Hard to believe shakespeare wont stand behind them.

Tim Bromund

Tim Bromund

Posted
Posted

The vast majority of the rods on my boat are Daiwa Heartlands and I can honestly say I've never had a problem with any of them.

Tim

GAMBLER

GAMBLER

Posted
Posted
The vast majority of the rods on my boat are Daiwa Heartlands and I can honestly say I've never had a problem with any of them.

Tim

+1. I have a bunch of Heartlands and 4 Okuma Roller rods. I have been running the Heartlands for 8 years with no issues. So far no issues with the reel seats on the Okuma roller rods but I have heard of people having issues.

Fishtails

Fishtails

Posted
Posted

I HAD two ugly stick rigger rods, both two years old....both snapped In half this season while popping off the release. The are junk....stay away from them.

spoonfed-1

spoonfed-1

Posted
Posted

Got 9 Ugly sticks on the boat for Browns, some are 12 years old, a couple are two years and a couple last year when they raised the rod limit to 3 rods per man. 8 '3" 2 pc. light action

No problems.

Will be buying 2 more for next spring. :yes:

Glen

popbear

popbear

Posted
Posted

I have three brands of rigger/dipsey rods and been using them since '96. The 8'3" 1100 Light Ugly's are my favorite. Maybe the new ones aren't made the same. They sent me a new Med. spinning rod FREE for testing. It seems to be of totally different construction, flat black, single support ferrules. I use the rods mostly for stripers in the Hudson which can run pretty big and often we can't stop the boat to reel them in. Never had a problem. I use 20 lb. test mono and set my drags to just barely lift a 6 lb. ball. A jerk on the rod should let the drag slip. You'll be surprised how heavy that feels on an 8'+ rod. Don't set your drags by hand feel. This may help.

JD_Striper.jpg

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