All-Around Spinning Rod Help...

[Catch and Grease]

Hey guys, I wanna get a Pflueger President and pair it up with a nice all around rod... I'm not too experienced with spinning set-ups and would like yall's help. I'm looking for more help on the rod power and action rather than a brand but by all means give me suggestions on good rods.

 

(Price range is 100$ or less...)

 

I wanna be able to dropshot on it and also be able to throw stuff like weightless/light texas rigs (Speed Craws, Senkos, etc....) and while those are the two important things to me I would like to be able to do other stuff on it too... I fish decently thick cover like grass and cypress trees.

 

I'm thinking a M/F would work good, Does that sound about right? Or should I go for something like a medium/moderate??

[Missourifishin]

M/F sounds about right to me.

[illinifan4152]

I use a 7ft M/F for all my finesse techniques 

[adam32]

I would go with a 7' medium power fast action. Bass pro carbonlite is a good rod for 100 bucks.

[Catch and Grease]

I was looking at those St.Croix Mojo rods and they look pretty good too for about 100$, they get pretty good reviews... Anybody have experience with em?

[aavery2]

Back when the Mojo rods were first released I purchased a couple based on cost and build quality.   I was disappointed when I began using them, they felt heavy and did not transmit vibration well.  I used them for a short while for moving baits and they were fine for those techniques.  One of my least favorite rods from St. Croix.

 

If you have a Gander Mountain close check their closeout rack, our GM here has the Rage rod for 99, it has a much better blank is much lighter and IMO a better rod overall.  Some will criticize the use of SS guides on the Rage rods, in my hands using a mixture of line, I have had no problems.

 

my .02

[Missourifishin]

I was looking at those St.Croix Mojo rods and they look pretty good too for about 100$, they get pretty good reviews... Anybody have experience with em?

I'm a big St. Croix fan. I've never used a Mojo spinning rod. But I have a casting one that I like a lot. There are a lot of options to check out around $100 though.

[Catch and Grease]

There is a gander here so I'll stop by and see if they have those rage rods your talking about and I'll give em a look

[hatrix]

I don't know how much grass you fish and to what level you want to fish a specific technique. I bought a new spinning rod this year for primarily fishing grass and also double as a rod for small hollow body frogs ect. It is a fenwick HMG 7' M/H. It is plenty strong to be able to pop a bait out of grass or drive a hook home. If I was fishing tons of grass and only had 1 rod I would rather be over powered then under powered. They also have a full front grip and that is a big factor for me in spinning rods.

[Catch and Grease]

I wouldn't be fishing it in really heavy grass but a bass could run into a a big clump of grass or try to run around a tree or something, not really worried about hooksets, more worried about just getting the bass back to the boat before he gets in some junk...

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

I find myself going more and more toward ML power rods for spinning tackle. I use them on the outside weed edges and even deeper in lilly pad pockets with no problem. They present the small baits better and I have better feel and contact with lighter baits. I use my medium spinning rods the way a lot use MH casting rods, but when the wind is making casting a pain. 

[hatrix]

Well it depends what you want to throw on them. Some frogs and even jigs and hollow belly swimbaits can have a fairly decent sized hook and I like be able to stick them easily since I use it for the highest range of things I would use on spinning. I am not above going lighter with it though if I had to. I can make it work easily.

[fishindad]

I find myself going more and more toward ML power rods for spinning tackle. I use them on the outside weed edges and even deeper in lilly pad pockets with no problem. They present the small baits better and I have better feel and contact with lighter baits. I use my medium spinning rods the way a lot use MH casting rods, but when the wind is making casting a pain. 

I tend to agree with this. I live in Michigan and therefore mostly chase smallies, and mostly with spinning tackle because of the typical windy conditions on the Great Lakes and, my relatively uneducated casting thumb, lol. And I lean towards the lighter side of all my gear since we don't have thick vegetation (until late Summer) or flooded timber up here, at least on Lake St. Clair and Erie. And I am gradually switching to 832 for all my setups so going down in rod power work fine, for me.

 

That said, I've used spinning rods that were no good for dropshotting and casting rods that were great for dropshotting. Why buy a spinning outfit since nowadays you can get ML and M casting rods that would work great for what you need, especially since you tend to fish relatively thick cover? The main reasons that I see for using spinning gear for bass are: lightweight lures in windy conditions, ultra clear water that calls for 6 and 8 lb. fluorocarbon line, or you find a rod action that works beautifully but isn't available in a casting version. Both St. Croix and Loomis (as examples only) make both spin and casting rods with the same blanks. A MLXF or MXF blank from either company would do great for what you mentioned and you can get their casting version. 

 

Not trying to sway you from spinning tackle since I fish it a lot but if it were me and I fished heavy cover most of the time, I wouldn't mess around with spinning gear. I don't frog or punch much here since I don't usually fish lakes that call for that. All this said, my advice would be to go to a big box store and have someone let you put that exact reel on a bunch of spinning rods and see what feels best to you in that price range. There are lots of good choices.

[Raul]

I find myself going more and more toward ML power rods for spinning tackle. I use them on the outside weed edges and even deeper in lilly pad pockets with no problem. They present the small baits better and I have better feel and contact with lighter baits. I use my medium spinning rods the way a lot use MH casting rods, but when the wind is making casting a pain. 

 

I don´t think a ML rod is appropiate for the places C&G fishes, the guy fishes southern swamps where there are cypress trees.

[F14A-B]

You could still use a medium heavy spinning rod with a proper tip for casting, and beware cause all makers ratings are diff. My Falcons are good sticks however @ their MH rating? Nope, more medium for sure. I did use mh & m power rods in central fl. No sweat! I would prefer a bit stronger rod though, Croix seems to bit more powerful than their rod ratings indicate.

[OntarioFishingGuy]

Fenwick HMG Is a great rod at 100$

[ww2farmer]

I own several spinning rods from the $50 price point up to the $150 range... Of those rods, THE most versatile, and best bang for the buck is 7' M Berkley Lightning Rod Shock. It's primary duty for me is back up to my better rods, but on occasion I pick it up and fish it just for grins and giggles and it's not bad, not bad at all.

[WIGuide]

I really like having an extra fast action for my finesse applications. I know you said you were looking at the Mojo. I've got a few of the casting models and they aren't bad at all. I've really heard good things about the "wacky rig" rod. It's a 6'8" M/XF. I'd check it out. 

[EmersonFish]

I find myself going more and more toward ML power rods for spinning tackle. I use them on the outside weed edges and even deeper in lilly pad pockets with no problem. They present the small baits better and I have better feel and contact with lighter baits. I use my medium spinning rods the way a lot use MH casting rods, but when the wind is making casting a pain.

I'm with DVT on this one. If you are like me, and are use to using casting gear most of the time, you will want a spinning setup that will allow you to use techniques that you can't do well with said casting gear. So to me, if you are going to have one spinning setup, you should lean ML, or perhaps toward a M rod that is "underpowered." The only spinning setup I carry regularly at the moment is a ML "Shaky Head" rod, but it is actually a fine drop shot rod if used properly, and works well for the other finesse techniques I wouldn't use a M/XF casting rod for.

[tomustang]

Out of the ballpark but the croix legend tournament dropshot rod would be perfect, it's alot different than the mojo model.

Something lower in price would be a vendetta or veritas 6'9ML.

[Catch and Grease]

I don´t think a ML rod is appropiate for the places C&G fishes, the guy fishes southern swamps where there are cypress trees.

This is what I'm worried about... I mean if a bass makes a good run and gets on the other side of a cypress your pretty much done for unless you get lucky...

I'm leaning more towards M/F but I'll definalty look into ML more and see if I change my mind...

[Catch and Grease]

Look at the setting of this picture. This is what I'm fishing most of the time, its cypress trees with moss and grass... If a bass gets around a tree or in a clump of grass/moss am I really gonna have the power to get them back with a ML??

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

That looks like one of the M spinning / MH casting situations I mentioned in my post. You have to get bit first before getting them in is a factor so it comes down to how light a rod will handle the baits you're talking about.

[EmersonFish]

I guess if the sole purpose of having a spinning outfit is to fish lighter lures that might be difficult to manage with a baitcaster, but you still mean to use heavier gear, than maybe a M action rod would make more sense; but I'd still go with a XF action. To me a true M/F spinning rod is just kind of "meh." Nothing I'd do with it I wouldn't do with a casting rod anyway. But everybody is different. You'll just have to figure out what works for you.

[Weld's Largemouth]

st croix triumph, these specs: TRS70MLF 7' ML Fast 1 4 - 10 1/8 - 1/2 4.2 4 $ 90

you dont need MH that will be stiff, lack of action in rod. ML is fine in florida, thats what i fish in florida and i have been in some heavy muck, its perfectly fine.

Once pulled a bass stuck around a solid pipe out, no problems

http://www.stcroixrods.com/products/freshwater/triumph/