Performance: I matched the F5st-611X7 up with the Megabass FX68L spooled with 30lb Daiwa Samurai braid and topped with a 12lb Seaguar Tatsu leader for its tests. Primary fishing grounds were Clear Lake, California and also the California Delta.

It's a heavy powered stick with a stinger tip!

Casting: Given my past experience with Megabass stinger tipped rods, I started out in great trepidation with this stick and what I came to discover is that it fishes just fine. Casting takes one or two swings to get used to as that tip has very unique loading characteristics. For the most part, I stayed within the rod's recommended lure rating and really found myself favoring it for small topwater plugs and small, shallow running crankbaits.

So time to restart the review process.

Pitching, on the other hand, is a little tricky because the tip does not load like that of a typical heavy powered stick so adjustments in your presentation need to be made. Once you adjust, it again becomes second nature.

Despite the rod's unusual tip, it still makes a good pitching stick.

Sensitivity: Of course, with a stinger tip on a heavy powered rod, this is where things got interesting. You really have to adjust your presentation when trying to do something like drag a jig across the bottom. The stinger tip is so giving that you can't quite get the same movement you might be accustomed to. Instead, what the stinger tip allows you to do is gradually put pressure on the line to the point where you can be sure your jig is sitting upright on the bottom and the trailer and jig skirt are doing their thing waving around in the current.

The rod's blank is unsanded and wrapped in Megabass's Yoloy material.

Then it's a matter of watching that tip for unexpected movement or just feeling the bite because a lot of times those green fish will just hammer that jig or soft plastic. The Bearing Down Type X is almost like a bubba-sized shakey head stick.

Fig 1 : The chart above illustrates the deflection characteristics of our Megabass F5st-611X7 Bearing Down against our baseline Creature Fever stick, G.Loomis's MBR844C GLX.

Power: Once you do detect a bite, leaning back into the rod to set the hook is a familiar feeling. That stinger tip is now an afterthought as the Bearing Down Type X's backbone is very reminiscent of a classic heavy powered stick. Looking at the RoD Deflection Chart above, you can see this on the water experience agrees with our findings in the lab as the last part of the F5st-611X7's curve lines up perfectly with our baseline rod and the non-stinger tip version of the same stick.

Next Section: Features worthy of a premium rod?