DOBYNS “CHANNELS” THOR FOR A LIGHTER MORE WELL BALANCED ROD

Near the end of the Marvel Comics movie “Avengers: Age of Ultron”, the world is on the brink of destruction due to the machinations of the villain Ultron. In the midst of a chaotic and violent battle scene, one of the good guys, Vision, picks up Thor’s hammer and bashes Ultron. He then returns the hammer to Thor and remarks with astonishment “It’s terribly well balanced!” Thor, in his typical all-in-a-day's-work manner, responds “Well, if there is too much weight, you lose power on the swing.”

I don’t know if Gary Dobyns is an Avengers fan, but his vision for his rod company is similar to Thor’s vision of the proper hammer- it is always about balance and feel. Using this vision, Gary and his team have achieved another success with the introduction of the Kaden Series rods. True to Gary’s vision, these are light-weight rods, but more importantly, they are extremely well balanced, because even the lightest rod, if not well balanced, will cause fatigue.

Kadens come in at the same price point as the Sierra Series, a Tackle Warehouse “best seller”. So why the need for a second line of rods at this same level? According to Dobyns, it is because

customers have requested a rod with faster action, full cork handles on bait casting models, and because Gary has a never ending quest to build better rods with new and better performing materials.

As bass fishing gets more and more specialized, experienced anglers want to see changes in products to fit very specific niches- that is, fishing situations. While the offerings in the Kaden and Sierra series handle nearly the full range of fishing techniques, with the Kaden, Dobyns has

further specialized their lineup. Compare, for example, a Kaden spinning 712 rod to a Sierra spinning 702. The Kaden definitely has a faster action and it is just a hair stiffer. The Sierra, in general, will handle “moving” type single hook baits better, while the Kaden will better handle jigging and worming single hook baits. At the same time, even any seasoned angler would not be sorry to using the Kaden or Sierra for either strength.

Back in the early summer of 2020, Gary produced a prototype batch of Kadens. He made them available exclusively to members of the Dobyns online community for the purposes of testing and research. He received a lot of feedback, most of it very positive, but also some constructive criticism that he took seriously. The result is an even better Kaden series of rods now available to everyone on the Dobyns website, and they will soon be available at all the normal outlets that carry Dobyns rods.

Ryan Said is a tournament angler and U.S. Coast Guard licensed guide on Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie, as well as many of Michigan's inland lakes. He books trips through Marcels Guide Service - an affiliation that is beginning its eighth season. His interest in the subject of Guided Trips stems from his interest in being open to new ideas. In 2011, after winning the Bassmaster Northern Open points championship, Ryan had the honor of fishing the Bassmaster Classic and the Bassmaster Elite series trail. He has fished the Bassmaster Open Series several times, as well as the Costa (now Toyota) Series. Ryan is an engineer and teaches high school math. He coaches the college bass fishing team at Lawrence Tech, and offers seminars and "on the water" instruction for high school anglers. Ryan is pro staff for Dobyns Rods, Lew's Reels, Costa Sunglasses, P-Line and Blackfish