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Rod Review


The Stowable, Powerful, Versatile 706CB from Dobyns Rods

 

Date: 4/29/15
Tackle Type: Rod
Manufacturer: Dobyns Rods
Reviewer: Cal






Total Score: 7.77 - GOOD

Introduction:
Introduced at the beginning of 2014 is a new for Dobyns Rods cranking stick made for those who find the extreme lengths of today's more common deep cranking sticks difficult to manage. Sure there's no replacing the casting distance you can get with a properly designed eight foot (8') cranking stick, but sometimes you want the ability to throw a deep diving crank on a "normal" sized fishing rod. Dobyns Rods steps up to the plate with their 706CB.

 

Dobyns Rods 706CB Specifications

Material High Modulus Graphite
Length 7'-0"
Line Wt. 8-20lb
Lure Wt. 3/8 - 1 1/2 oz
Pieces One
Guides 10+tip (Kigan Tangle Free SiC)
Rear Handle Length 9.5"
Power Rating Heavy
Taper Mod-Fast
Rod Weight 5.2
Origin Made in Korea
MSRP $249.99

 


Introducing Dobyns Rods 706CB cranking stick.

 

Quality/Construction: The Dobyns 706CB is a seven foot long, full graphite (as opposed to composite or full fiberglass) fishing rod. It comes with a matt black finish on the blank, a full rear grip made of a fair grade of cork. The amount of fill is about average. Epoxy work around the guides is good and when looking down the length of the rod from the real seat towards the tip, the super long blank is straight and the guides are all in good alignment.

 


Epoxy work is good.

 

Quality Ratings for Dobyns Rods 706CB

Finish (1-5)
Grip (1-5)
Epoxy (1-5)
Blank (1-2)
Guides (1-2)
Total
Possible
Rating (= Tot/Pos * 10)
5
3
4
2
2
16
19
8.42


Transition between materials is also clean.

Performance: I paired my Dobyns Rods 706CB with the Editor's Choice Award winning Shimano Metanium from Japan. Not what I'd consider a traditional deep diving cranking reel, but the Metanium certainly has the power to pull baits like Strike King's 10XD.


Checking out the 706CB's taper.

Casting: The 706CB from Dobyns Rods comes with a recommended lure rating of three eighths of an ounce up to one and a half ounces. This is quite a wide range! It gets better, the rod's sweet spot is with baits over one half ounce. I didn't set an upper limit because this stick can handle Strike King's 10XD pretty easily and that bait weighs just a hair under two (2) ounces! This stick doesn't achieve the distances like its lengthier brethren, namely the 806CB ,but it's no slouch with this bait either.


A closer look at the 706CB's cork grip.

As for pitching with this stick, this is where I'd stick with the lower end of the rod's lure rating on up to maybe one ounce. Any more and the tip loads a bit too much for my liking. This can be attributed to the rod's taper. Yes, it's designed as a cranking stick so there are those who would say, why bother pitching? But if you're close in to a dock or a tree overhanging the water from the shoreline, sometimes the only way to get your bait back "there" is with a low trajectory pitch.


The 706CB comes with a Fuji ECS reel seat.

Sensitivity: This of course, is where graphite cranking sticks shine. Well, graphite cranking sticks made with good quality graphite that is. I've fished plenty cranking sticks made from low quality graphite that have the right taper, but are no more sensitive than glass. My reaction to those sticks is, what's the point? The 706CB and really, all the graphite cranking sticks we've fished from Dobyns Rods, have very good sensitivity because the manufacturer doesn't hold back on the grade of graphite for these moving bait sticks.


Guides are Kigan stainless steel framed, SiCs.

Power: This is another area where the 706CB shines. As you can see in its RoD Deflection curve below, this stick charts somewhere between our average for medium and deep diving cranking sticks. So it can, as we discovered out on the water, handle a wide range of crank bait types. Once you get a strike, the rod has a wonderful taper that allows you to set hook and battle the fish without fear of pulling the hooks out of the fish's mouth. Granted, it's not as soft and buttery as a glass stick - graphite rods never are - but it gives you a lot of control.


Fig 1 : The chart above illustrates the deflection characteristics of our Dobyns Rods 706CB
against the averages from our 2009 Year of the Crank.

In fact, this stick has so much power, I wouldn't hesitate to also fish single hooked baits on it like soft bodied swimbaits, jigs, Texas rigged plastics and so on. Because of the rod's moderate fast taper, you have to be conscious of the fact it may require a little more effort to set hook, but once the fish is on, that softer curve is a welcomed commodity in keeping the fish buttoned.

Performance Ratings for Dobyns Rods 706CB

Pitch (1-5)
Cast (1-5)
Sensitivity (1-5)
Hook Set (1-5)
Control (1-5)
Total
Possible
Rating (= Tot/Pos * 10)
3
5
4
4
4
20
25
8.0


The guides on our 706CB were in good alignment.

Next Section: Fuji and Kigan components

 

   

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