New Rod Reccomendation...

[sarcazmo]

So I'm in the market for a new rod and was hoping you guys could help me get closer to the kind that I need.

Right now I have

7ft Medium Carbonlite with Pro Qualifier just spooled it with seaguar 15lb floro for t-rigs. Mostly fish 1/4oz with it.

7ft 3 MH Veritas with Lew's Tournament Pro. Spooled with the same line as the carbonlite. Made this my carolina rig stick.

6'6" Medium Compre with Stradic Ci4 8lb Pline copolymer for finesse applications though I usually leave it set up for drop shotting.

I recently purchased an Okuma Helios reel that I really like and I'm trying to fill the gaps in my line up. Since I'm not super familiar I was hoping you guys could point me in the right direction.

I've been looking pretty hard @ those Phenix Recon rods and would like to keep it under 200.

[Western-Mass-Bass]

Spinning ? Casting? Fishing from a boat?

Tough call to make. More info and you will have more ideas than you can handle. LOL these guys in here are great. I highly recomend listening to what they have to say. Good luck with your purchase.

[sarcazmo]

Spinning ? Casting? Fishing from a boat?

Tough call to make. More info and you will have more ideas than you can handle. LOL these guys in here are great. I highly recomend listening to what they have to say. Good luck with your purchase.

Well I'd be pairing my next rod with an okuma helios bc reel. I just bought a boat so def fishing from it! :-) I can see why so many rods is a must, it sucks retying!

[zachb34]

you need a cranking set up so id go with one of the crucial or veritas crankbait rods

[Western-Mass-Bass]

I just purchased a cranking rod for my winch reel. I highly recomend that you take a look at Powells line up of cranking rods. Im loving mine

[sarcazmo]

In regards to a cranking setup. My helios is a 6:x:x ratio. Would you recommend pairing it with a different (slower) reel?

Also any advice on my current set ups (IE if Im using the wrong rods for wrong applications) would be fantastic. Love this website.

[Western-Mass-Bass]

I would have to say yes. But that doesnt mean I am right. Someone will chime in real soon .

[11justin22]

Maybe a spinnerbait rod, jig rod, or something for topwater?

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

A 6:1 reel is fine for all but the deepest cranks, then a 5:1 (Revo Winch/Chronarch E5/Daiwa Crazy Cranker etc) is nicer to fish all day. Depending on the type of cover you fish a Hvy flippin'stick or frog rod might be a good addition.

[sarcazmo]

A 6:1 reel is fine for all but the deepest cranks, then a 5:1 (Revo Winch/Chronarch E5/Daiwa Crazy Cranker etc) is nicer to fish all day. Depending on the type of cover you fish a Hvy flippin'stick or frog rod might be a good addition.

I've got zero experience fishing frogs TBH. If I got a frog stick could that double as a flippin/jig stick?

What kind of rod would you recommend for topwater?

[new2BC4bass]

Re-tying is a pain. Sure is nice to have several rods already set up with different lures. Grab a different one and start casting. Lots of good rods in that price range. Smalljaw talked me into getting a couple Elite Tech Smallmouth rods. The 6'10" MF has gone on every fishing trip with me since I got it. The other is still in its plastic due to the fact I haven't been getting out that often. The Recons get good reviews. The new Pinnacle rods are getting some really good reviews. Powell's are always a good option. I like my Villain spinning rod well enough that I wouldn't mind having a casting model as well. I like my Falcon rods. I like my Zillion rods (used to get within your budget which is how I had to go). Of course we have Shimano, St. Croix, Lamiglass, etc.

It is fun to look at all the possibilities. It is great to have all these really good options. Lots of options is a good thing, but when it comes time to make that final decision, it can be frustrating to narrow the choice to one.

Another possibility is having a rod built just for you. Have you considered it? Mike is more than willing to spend time with you going over your needs and desires. I had a cheap Senko rod for my daughter built by Mike as a Christmas gift. I'm sure he didn't make much off me, but that didn't keep him from trying to build a perfect rod for her within my budget.

[new2BC4bass]

I've got zero experience fishing frogs TBH. If I got a frog stick could that double as a flippin/jig stick?

I'm not TBH, but I have absolutely no qualms throwing a frog on my Zillion 7'6" Flip and Pitch rod (and have done so on more than one occasion), or even my 7' MH Techna AV. I've been told my Airrus Ultra 7' MH has plenty of power for throwing frogs as well. May not be the best frog rod, but capable of getting the job done.

As for topwater rods, there seems to be a lot of different preferences out there. I have been using a Medium Fast, but also have a Medium Extra Fast that I want to try. I have no idea which one I am going to prefer. I think most would chose a rod with one of these 2 actions, but I have read posts from a few that use moderate action rods. Guess it is a personal preference, but no doubt where they fish and what lures they fish with has a bearing on their choice.

[sarcazmo]

Re-tying is a pain. Sure is nice to have several rods already set up with different lures. Grab a different one and start casting. Lots of good rods in that price range. Smalljaw talked me into getting a couple Elite Tech Smallmouth rods. The 6'10" MF has gone on every fishing trip with me since I got it. The other is still in its plastic due to the fact I haven't been getting out that often. The Recons get good reviews. The new Pinnacle rods are getting some really good reviews. Powell's are always a good option. I like my Villain spinning rod well enough that I wouldn't mind having a casting model as well. I like my Falcon rods. I like my Zillion rods (used to get within your budget which is how I had to go). Of course we have Shimano, St. Croix, Lamiglass, etc.

It is fun to look at all the possibilities. It is great to have all these really good options. Lots of options is a good thing, but when it comes time to make that final decision, it can be frustrating to narrow the choice to one.

Another possibility is having a rod built just for you. Have you considered it? Mike is more than willing to spend time with you going over your needs and desires. I had a cheap Senko rod for my daughter built by Mike as a Christmas gift. I'm sure he didn't make much off me, but that didn't keep him from trying to build a perfect rod for her within my budget.

I agree! I'm trying to find the most glaring hole in my lineup (IE no specific spinning rod, pitching, crank rod) and hope to address that. Once I address that then I'll narrow it down to a few different manufacturers and hopefully go handle them before making my final decision.

It seems that MH/Fast actions are pretty versatile the biggest difference being the length?

[Arv]

Like most people have said, I would either look for a flip/pitch/frog rod or a cranking rod. I think it depends a lot on a) what you fish/want to fish most and b)what conditions you are fishing. If you don't fish a lot of heavy cover, you could probably get away with your Lews set up for a flipping/pitching set up. If there is a lot of slop, I might look at getting something along the lines of a H/F 7+ rod with some heavy braid. This could also double as a frog rod like mentioned before. You could probably tie cranks on your other two rods and get away with it. But if you wanted to get a rod specifically for crankbaits you might want to look at something M/M or MH/M around 7ft depending on how deep running cranks you would throw. Especially since you got a boat you can fish them nice 'n deep like. If you put mono on this it could double as a top water as well. I think once you decide on the application, then you can really start reading and researching what rod will suit you best.