Pioneer V-TRO popping rods - are they any good?

[guy elson]

Hi I am going out to jewel reef next year with nomad to film our new series called rod and a rucksack. I have posted on this forum before, but briefly I have little to no experience with big game popping. I have been looking at popping rods for this trip, and happened upon these pioneer V-TRO rod which seem very competitively priced and well spec'd, my question is has anyone used these rods and can any one recommend them or let me know to stay clear of them. Many thanks guy

[Dan Harley]

I imported two lots of those rods and feel the quality is very good for the cost.  The only real downside for me, and I'll admit I'm spoiled by having more "high end" rods was they are slightly heavier than the more expensive rods.  But they are very strong I picked up a case of gatoraid 24 x 1 liter bottles no problem. I told Seng at Pioneer if he can shave about 2 ounces off the rod, I'll take 50 to 100 pcs   Great price point i thought for those just getting into the game and can't spend big money just yet.  The blank is not that heavy its the grip material IMO, too heavy and a bit too wide, I like a very thin grip as when I go fishing, we fish 10 hrs a day for 5 days straight, so even an ounce or two multiplied by thousands of casts you feel it also I feel wide grips make your hands more tired

[Luke Wyrsta]

I imported two lots of those rods and feel the quality is very good for the cost.  The only real downside for me, and I'll admit I'm spoiled by having more "high end" rods was they are slightly heavier than the more expensive rods.  But they are very strong I picked up a case of gatoraid 24 x 1 liter bottles no problem. I told Seng at Pioneer if he can shave about 2 ounces off the rod, I'll take 50 to 100 pcs   Great price point i thought for those just getting into the game and can't spend big money just yet.  The blank is not that heavy its the grip material IMO, too heavy and a bit too wide, I like a very thin grip as when I go fishing, we fish 10 hrs a day for 5 days straight, so even an ounce or two multiplied by thousands of casts you feel it also I feel wide grips make your hands more tired

But lifting a shitload of weight doesn't necessarily make a nice rod to use.

What is the action like?

[Dan Harley]

I felt the distance was good (85g to 110g) it was accurate.  Had a predictable load and casting effort was not bad at all, tip was strong enough to make a good popping action without being too stiff. The largest fish I caught with it was a #25 Roosterfish on a 100g Salas Surface Iron. I enjoyed fishing the rod, it just made me a little tired given the weight and large diameter grips.