Dobyns Rods Champion Series 806CB Crankbait Rod Product Review

Rod Review

Cranking It Up with Dobyns Rods's 806CB!

Date:	9/7/15
Tackle Type:	Rod
Manufacturer:	Dobyns Rods
Reviewer:	Cal

Total Score: 7.75 - GOOD

Introduction: Fresh off of our Editor's Choice Awards podium, Dobyns Rods makes another foray into our review archives with a stick built especially for the new, LOUS Syndrome hitting tackle store pegboards everywhere. The subject of today's review is touted in many bass angling circles as being THE stick for baits like Strike King's 10XD. Here now is our look at Dobyns Rods 806CB.

Dobyns Rods 806CB Specifications
Material	High Modulus Graphite
Length	8'-0"
Line Wt.	10-20lbs
Lure Wt.	1/2 - 2 oz
Pieces	One
Guides	11 + tip Kigan SiC w/ tangle free frames
Rear Handle Length	10.75"
Power Rating	Heavy
Taper	Mod-Fast
Rod Weight	6.1 oz
Origin	Made in Korea
MSRP	$259.99

Dobyns Rods's 806CB is made for LOUS style cranks.

Quality/Construction: The 806CB from Dobyns Rods is an eight 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. Epoxy work around the guides is clean 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 perfectly aligned.

Quality Ratings for Dobyns Rods 806CB
Finish (1-5)	Grip (1-5)	Epoxy (1-5)	Blank (1-2)	Guides (1-2)	Total	Possible	Rating (= Tot/Pos * 10)
5	3	5	2	2	17	19	8.9

Matched with a Quantum EXO PT 6.6:1 reel.

Performance: I fished my Dobyns 806CB with a number of reels including Quantum's TourMg and ExoPT baitcasting reels and Abu Garcia's Revo Winch. I varied my line choices from braid, to braid topped with a mono leader, to straight mono all in an effort to get a good feel for this stick.

Accents of electric blue adorn this stick.

Casting: Every once in a while I come across a stick that has that "it" factor when making a cast. The last one that comes to mind was Megabass's F6-72X4 Destruction. Few rods can rival that stick's butter smooth action while casting. Well, for an eight foot stick, the 806CB has that "it" factor. You don't really feel it with baits weighing less than three quarters of an ounce, but hit this stick's sweet spot with a lure that weighs over one ounce like the LOUS Strike King 10XD and wow - this stick is a really fun launching pad.

Guides are Kigan Tangle Free SS Frames with SiC inserts.

Sensitivity: The advantage graphite cranking sticks have over fiberglass? Sensitivity! The 806CB, even with it's mod-fast taper, has really good sensitivity when dredging baits down along the bottom yet it's still soft enough to not pull the hooks out of a fish's mouth. It's not as soft as fiberglass of course, but that extra bit of sensitivity to know if your bait is snagged in the rocks, caught up in weeds, or actually stopped by a fish is worth it.

The blank has a satin black painted finish.

Power: The 806CB has a mod-fast taper that serves really well to keep pressure on a fish once its hooked. You can actually see this in the rod's deflection curve below. The 806CB's curve (in red) starts out aligned with the deep cranking rod average, but once you hit about a pound of pressure (16oz), the rod softens up to align with the medium cranking rod average.

Fig 1 : The chart above illustrates the deflection characteristics of our Dobyns Rods 806CB against the averages from our Year of the Crank.

This means the stick has the backbone to pull your bait down along the depths and set hook, but once the battle is on, it softens up so as not to pull the hooks out of the fish's mouth. That eight feet of length together with the mod-fast taper gives you plenty of leverage to battle your catch.

Performance Ratings for Dobyns Rods 806CB
Pitch (1-5)	Cast (1-5)	Sensitivity (1-5)	Hook Set (1-5)	Control (1-5)	Total	Possible	Rating (= Tot/Pos * 10)
4	5	4	5	5	23	25	9.2

A closeup of the cork handle.

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