new2BC4bass

Hey! I have this rod and several others in the Smallmouth series. The 6'10" MF is a favorite of mine. I've been trying to think of one of my rods that is excellent, but not owned by everyone and their brother. Possibly the Okuma Helios 7' MF qualifies. Very light yet fishes weights beyond its rating. TT gave it a "Great". I really enjoy my Rainshadow RX7 7' MHF. Probably not a lot of those around either. Very sensitive rod for its price.

Fenwick HMG 6'6" MF and MHF, BuCoo 6'6" Medium Moderate and 6'6" MH Moderate Fast, Lowrider 6'7" MH Moderate Fast and 13 Fishing has 6'7" in several lines.

As far as attention span goes, I think it depends on the child. Many of the kids today are gungho on gaming and have no patience. Gratification has to be instant. I started fishing at 5. No such thing as electronic games. Had no problem soaking worms for hours without running around. Nor did my brothers. Obviously it will be better for him if he can catch fish on a regular basis. Can't argue with the shorter rod suggestions. The Fuego is a great reel to learn on...as long as it isn't too big for his hands. But even then it might be fine for him. I don't think you have to palm a baitcast reel in order to use one.

I've weighed very few lures, but one was a 1/2 oz. War Eagle spinnerbait. Don't remember the model. It weighed .82 oz. Add a trailer and I'd have to think you are pushing the limit for that rod although I know St. Croix rods fish a bit heavy. Don't know how heavy you can go with that rod. Above my pay scale.

Lew's has a ton of rod and reel lines. The TP-1 Black gets great reviews. Love to try one, but already have too many rods. The Tournament Pro LFS gets great reviews. Haven't been out with mine yet. I always tell people to buy what interests them the most as I think they will be happier going that route...usually.

Don't know the cover you fish in, but I fish in some of the lakes around Deland when visiting relation. I use a MHF with 40# braid for casting into the lily pads and along the edges of cattail. But I am in a canoe. I'd want a decent MHF minimum....depending on manufacturer. The $150-$200 rod range has lots of good options. Will you be fishing from shore or a boat? Personally I prefer 7' or longer, but if you will be fishing from shore with bushes, trees, weeds, etc. nearby then something along 6'6" through 6'10" may be a better fit for you. I know nothing about the Zodias, but have read good things about them. I like my Tatula rods. The Falcon Lowrider and Expert are excellent from the little I've been able to use mine. The Ark Money Maker is a MHF that fishes more towards a Heavy. You will probably get a ton of suggestions. Knowing lure preference (and weight) and type of cover being fished would help. There are also a lot of good reel choices in the $150-$200 range. I doubt you need a DC reel or one with an SV spool. Lew's Tournament Pro LFS gets great reviews. A few of our members have good things to say about the Tour S3. Tackletour gave the reel a "Great" rating. I've got several brands of reels...and like them all...but admit I own more Daiwa reels than any other brand. EDIT: I have no experience with Douglas Outdoors. I was researching fly rods over the winter. Should I decide to get a 7wt, the LRS would be high on my list. They've got a pretty good reputation for fly rods, and the LRS casting rods just might be an unexpected (good) surprise.

Add Falcon BuCoo and Lowrider to your list. The choices are many. Hopefully you have a store near you where you can handle a few. Where in PA are you?

X2 OP, look through the rods on TW. Not a lot of MH-EF, but most well know brands have at least one or two in various model lines.

Couldn't pick out one favorite, but can name 2 least favorite...Daiwa Ballistic 7'7" MR and 7' MH Airrus Ultra XL. I can't think of any niche where either rod would be the best choice.

I use 8 and 12 pound on several reels. Don't use line conditioner. Hold rod tip in water for first few retrieves. No problem after that. I find it to be looser on the spool the first couple casts than Siege. Siege looks like a slinky in front of the reel....after sitting quite awhile, yet doesn't give me the loose coils on the spool that Big Game does. (Probably from my lack of skill.) You shouldn't have a memory problem if fishing on a regular basis. Some of my reels sit quite awhile before getting used. You might try a couple co-polymers....McCoy Mean Green ($25 for 1000 yds 12#) or Izorline XXX ( $17 for 1100 yds 12#). Both get good reviews. I'd guess from the reviews I've read that both handle better than Big Game. Have some of both to try, but only been out once with McCoy and not yet with XXX. Big Game Clear is $11 for 1175 yds of 12#. Pretty hard to beat that price. Prices from TW. Might find for less elsewhere.

So basically you are saying it's the reel, not the braking system as Daiwa uses Magforce Z...which is magnetic braking. I'm not into the nitty gritty of brakes, but AFAIK the Daiwa Magforce doesn't use any form of centrifugal braking. Maybe some of the guys that do their own reel work have a better understanding than I do. My reels get sent out. Also it's possible you got a poor specimen. Everyone said how great the SV105 was when it came out. Mine had a tendency to backlash during the middle of the cast (a lot!), yet I felt it was over braked. A trip to a professional turned it into a much better reel. He actually tuned the inductor to make the spool a bit faster. No more overruns in the middle of the cast.

You are worse than me. Decided I wanted to get into fly fishing. Over the winter I bought 6 rods, reels, lines for them (expensive sheet), leaders, and a bunch of flies. I may even get out with one of them in the next couple months. Haven't looked at waders, nippers, staffs, nets, etc. Thankfully I have no place to tie flies. That would be another rabbit hole.

I don't understand this. I've made some pretty long casts with magnetic only brake reels.

See my answer in your other recent thread. I'm another with more MH rods than any other power. Not all Fast action, tho. My wife will never see this thread, but I'll keep my number of MH rods to myself anyway.

6'6" to 7' MF or MHF rods are often the answer given for the question "What is a good all around rod?" I'd try everything with it. Probably not much you can't use it for (within the weight range it can handle). Might not be optimal, but it could still get the job done....from crankbaits to jigs.

This is like asking "What is your favorite rod?" Can't answer either question. I can say if I could only have one rod, it would most likely be a MHF. Once I started bass fishing...versus anything that swims...I started using lures that fit very well in a MH's wheelhouse. The old Techna AV 7' MF is rated 1/4-1 oz. (like many MH rods) and would make an excellent choice as Mike pointed out for his do-all rod....although Mike may prefer the MHF. Another rod that I really like is the 7' MHF Rainshadow RX7. Pretty sensitive, too. Fishes above its price. Especially the used price I got it for. OP. Your title says 'Unicorn casting rod', but in your post you said "...one that is just right for what you use it for." More than likely these 2 choices are not going to be the same rod. Love my Aetos 6'6" MLM for what I use it for, but it definitely isn't a Unicorn rod.

Look through rods at TackleWarehouse. If 2-piece, it will say so. Also a lot of JDM rods are 2-piece. I have an Olympic GraphiteLeader 6'9" MHF casting rod and a 6'7" LF Major Craft Benkei spinning rod (both 2-piece) that I carry in my car's trunk. Today's 2-piece rods are much better than when I started fishing 68 years ago. Heck...doesn't matter if they were one or two piece rods, they are all better today.

Obviously neither. I hear kidneys go for good money.

And I have the Expert Amistad, but haven't had a reel on it yet. I am also a fan of Falcon rods.

A bomb for me is about half that distance. Never will be as good as some of these guys are.

DVT is a sponsor of this site. He's done a few reels for me. There are others if you have something against the name 'Mike'.

Just how finesse/lighter are we talking about? According to TT's review the Alphas 800 is good down to 1/4 oz. total weight. I've got quite a few reels that will handle that weight. Mostly all older. I don't know whether or not the reels would be smooth enough for the OP. New reels that may handle that weight that I bought still sit in boxes....16 Scorpion 71HG, 19 Scorpion MGL, SLX 71 MGL and Lew's Tournament Pro LFS. OP, from what I've read DC reels aren't the best with light lures. I only have one...an older Exsence DC...but have only used it on MH rods. Seems darn smooth to me, but I am not as adept at noticing the little things as most people are. The difference usually has to be outstanding for me to notice.

I am. I really like my Patriarch XT (blue model). Light, nice looking, and casts quite well. As I've mentioned more than once, I can run the brakes lower on this reel than any of my other reels outside of a T3. I picked up a Patriarch and Supreme XT when Pflueger was closing them out for about 50% or more off. Still in boxes. An Online friend (ex-tournament fisherman) liked his first Supreme XT well enough to buy a second. And he has fished much more expensive reels. I have a Gen1 STXL (magnetic only) that has been a good reel for me. It went to Florida with me for 3 years before buying the Patriarch XT. Have to spread the lovin' around, ya know! They may be from Doyo, but many felt the Gen2 Premier was the best reel in its price range when it came out. New reels are not all that important to me anymore as I've got more reels than I can use, and at my age I won't be looking to upgrade. Just try to use what I have.

May not be huge, but it is pretty. I hope to do some fly fishing this year. Purchased a few rods over the winter. Primary target was supposed to be bluegills. However, I would never turn up my nose at a bass! I learned about 'blue lines', and looked at a map of my area. I have 3 that are closer than any lake, so I may try for a trout or two this year as well. Might as well make use of that lifetime trout stamp.

$17 for a reel cover? I thought $6 was bad. Can't image having over $1000 invested in reel covers.