Impressions: It has been so long since I started testing the Fury that I had to go back to my initial notes to remember where the rod was positioned back in May 2015, when it was first introduced. At the time it was a major move for Dobyns to bring a rod down to the $119-$129 dollar price point, which was even lower than the existing Savvy Series, which retailed for $40-$50 dollars more. Up until this point the company had focused on more premium offerings, like their Champion XP and Champion Extreme Series rods.

The Dobyns Mainstream line - The Fury Series

Fast forward to present day and a lot has changed. While the Champion XP and Champion Extreme Series rods are what the company is still probably best known for, the Savvy Series has been replaced by the Sierra Series at the $159 dollar price point and make use of Fuji reel seats and Fuji Alconite or Micro guides, and the Fury Series is a top seller. I remember talking to Gary about the challenges of introducing a quality 100 dollar rod nearly three years ago, and today the company even offers a true value line with the Colt Series, at the ultra-aggressive $79.99 dollar price point. A lot can change in the course of a few seasons.

The Fury Series may be affordable but it still makes use of Fuji reel seat that is dressed up with a "Fish 2 Win" embossed decal

At the time of the Fury Series introduction Gary realized that he needed a more affordable rod series to address the mainstream market. He knew that making a more affordable rod meant making some sacrifices, and he decided to prioritize features that impacted fishing performance versus cosmetics.

The 795SB swimbait rod configuration should look familiar to any Champion XP fans

The result was a rod that still looked like a Dobyns rod, but didn't have all the details and fancy styling than his higher end rods. In some respects the Fury Series appears more muted than other Dobyns rods, with a primarily black matte finish, but many anglers find the rods look clean and tactical. The use of green logos and threading on the rod are a nice touch, and give the rods just enough pop so they stand out on the rack, or in your rod locker.

The Fury 795SB features very similar styling to the Champion XP rod, just with green highlights

Sacrifices also had to be made in terms of components. Fuji reel seats and guides are expensive, but to my surprise Gary decided that it was worth the additional cost to keep the proven Fuji ECS graphite reel seat. To help reach the price point Dobyns turned to Sea-Guide for their performance guides. Though Sea-Guide was certainly not as well known as Fuji this Chinese company had already been selling rod components since 1997, and owns and runs their own factories in WeiHai China. 

I have found that normal low profile baitcasters balance out well with this rod and are more than enough to handle mid sized swimbaits

There was a lot of initial skepticism about the guide choice, mostly concern about how well the guides would hold up over time, especially when used with braided lines. Knowing that the original Champion 795ML rod was one of my favorite swimbait rods Gary sent me the comparable Fury Series rod for comparison.

The proven Fuji reel seat keeps reels nice and low

Next Section: How the Fury Swimbait Rod Measures up...