The Birth Of 10-Foot Bass Rods...

[ec1]

After catching my first salmon on the great lakes this year, I think that the 9.5' or 10' rods could do a lot of damage for cranking. Those extra long rods definitely get baits way further than anything else and it also opens the door up for people wanting to crank with spinning rods.  Of course, this is lake and pattern dependent.

Good thing I have no interest in a longer flipping rod. My elbow was not happy when I owned a 7'9 punching stick.

Sight fishing bed fish could also be very interesting now.

[Turkey sandwich]

There's definitely a money making side to this, and despite the added inconvenience of storage/damaging the rods, I can definitely see advantages in chucking lures a hell of a lot farther.   I can't imagine they changed the legality of fly rods or trolling on the Elites, though. Trolling would change tournaments tremendously, and while opening up the Elites to fly anglers would be interesting, I just don't see B.A.S.S. pushing for guys to be waving around the whippy stick.  

 

 

[J Francho]

I have a three piece, 15' float rod, and the whole "ferrules make a rod less sensitive" is bologna.  I can feel that egg sag grace every rock, ledge, log, root, and odd weed as it drifts weightlessly in the current - and I'm using regular old mono!  There will certainly be two piece rods before there are 10' rod lockers.

[OCdockskipper]

33 minutes ago, Turkey sandwich said:

...while opening up the Elites to fly anglers would be interesting, I just don't see B.A.S.S. pushing for guys to be waving around the whippy stick.  

I believe B.A.S.S. had a tournament in the 70's that either included or was exclusively flyfishing, but I couldn't find any history of it via google.

[J Francho]

5 minutes ago, OCdockskipper said:

I believe B.A.S.S. had a tournament in the 70's that either included or was exclusively flyfishing

They did.

I know quite a few kayak bassers that catch pigs on the fly.  Generally, they're using at least an 8 wt (not a buggy whip!) fast taper rod to put a big popper frog right in the same spot in a field of slop or pads.  Drop it on the spot, twitch it, false cast, drop it back.  There's no other way as efficient.  A conventional casting rig has to be reeled in, bait cleaned off, re-cast past the spot, and reeled into the target area, rinse, repeat.

[Turkey sandwich]

2 minutes ago, J Francho said:

They did.

I know quite a few kayak bassers that catch pigs on the fly.  Generally, they're using at least an 8 wt (not a buggy whip!) fast taper rod to put a big popper frog right in the same spot in a field of slop or pads.  Drop it on the spot, twitch it, false cast, drop it back.  There's no other way as efficient.  A conventional casting rig has to be reeled in, bait cleaned off, re-cast past the spot, and reeled into the target area, rinse, repeat.

Even with my 8wt, I see myself cursing A LOT trying to do this.  

[J Francho]

I've seen it with my own eyes.  These are good sticks with the fly rod though.  They will out fish you in the slop, lol.

I don't care though, I'd rather punch it.  More fun to me.

[Turkey sandwich]

3 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I've seen it with my own eyes.  These are good sticks with the fly rod though.  They will out fish you in the slop, lol.

I don't care though, I'd rather punch it.  More fun to me.

Punching is a lot of fun, but I would love to have that kind of confidence growing big flies.  Big flies hate me.  (Read: I suck at casting big poppers and giant streamers)

[Team9nine]

20 minutes ago, OCdockskipper said:

I believe B.A.S.S. had a tournament in the 70's that either included or was exclusively flyfishing, but I couldn't find any history of it via google.

In the March/April 1975 issue of Bassmaster Magazine, Ray Scott, in his Scott on the Line editorial, introduced the concept of fly-fishing tournaments into the fold of the Bassmaster Trail.

“You can count on a one-day ‘Flyrod Only Tournament’ before the regular pro national tournaments in April, May and June. This maybe the most fun we’ve ever had at a BASS tournament. We expect most of the BASS pros to give it a whirl, we’ll probably see a few previously timid flyrod ‘experts’ jump in the contest since we’ll be using weapons of their liking.”

The 1975 season added a new concept in bass tournament fishing – a one-day fly rod tournament that anglers could choose to participate in or not. The advantage that the fly rod event gave was an extra day of practice and also much needed points towards Classic qualification. Because of this, most anglers grudgingly fished the fly rod events. For the 1976 season, though, the fly rod competition was discontinued, probably due to complaints from the anglers.

On the Fly Rod Front

Bull Shoals also marked the first fly rod-only event of the season. The tournament was held the day prior to the regular tournament with 63 anglers participating. Eleven fish were caught and weighed with Ricky Green taking the top honors with two fish that totaled 3-04. His fish netted him an extra $1,400 dollars. Ron Deardoff and Austin James each took big fish honors with single fish weighing in at 3-03 along with second and third place honors.

Russell Breckenridge (brother of Rayo) collected a fourth-place check of $300 with one fish that went 2-05, while Roger Moore held on to the fifth spot with one fish that weighed in at 2-04. Other anglers who caught fish were Bill Dance, Billy Westmorland, Rick Clunn, Jim Nolen and Walt Sawicki. In all the 63 anglers caught 11 bass.

Kerr Fly-Rod Only Tournament

For the second straight event, B.A.S.S. hosted a fly-rod only tournament the day prior to the main event. This time Jon Hall took the winning honors, besting 65 other anglers, with five fish that weighed 11 pounds. He caught his fish on a 4-inch blue Mann’s Jelly Worm. Dick Busby placed second with two fish for 8-02. He too didn’t conform to traditional fly rod baits, catching his fish on 1/4-ounce spinnerbaits in the trees.

Although Don Shealy didn’t finish too well in the main event, he did bring in two fish for 6-07 and 3rd place. He was the only angler to utilize conventional fly gear, catching his fish on popping bugs. Ricky Green (5-03) and Tom Mann (5-00) placed 4th and 5th respectively.

Santee-Cooper Fly Rod Only Event

Although Don Shealy stunk it up pretty bad in the main event at Kerr, he came back at the fly rod only event held at Santee-Cooper. Shealy weighed an impressive 10-fish limit that went 17-10 and also created a new fly-rod only tournament record. He caught his fish His fish came on a combination of popping bugs and plastic worms.

Bo Dowden finished in 2nd place with 12-14 and Johnny Morris weighed in 12-03 for 3rd place. Jon Hall, who won the Kerr fly rod event, placed 4th with 9-04 and Bill Dance placed 5th with 8-05.

Source:

Bass Fishing Archives Part 1

Bass Fishing Archives Part 2

 

[bigfruits]

19 hours ago, adrenalizd said:

With ten foot you don't have to cast,  just drop the jig in the water. 

dont need a reel either.

[Turkey sandwich]

I had no idea this was done.  I would love to see some for, of this happen again - with legit fly anglers.  

[blckshirt98]

I fish with a couple of 8'6" and 9' salmon/steelhead rods mainly for the surf, and the extra length definitely comes in handy. Not sure what the new "bass specific" long rods will have that current salmon/steelhead models don't already have but I'm sure there's going to be plenty of people opening up their wallet for a shiny new rod.  Punching/flipping? I also bet they go two piece with an offset ferrule point closer to the handle (like the St. Croix Mojo Surf or Shimano Expride) so that you have an 8 foot blank with a 2 foot base/handle it attaches to.

[adrenalizd]

1 hour ago, bigfruits said:

dont need a reel either.

Lol, you are right! Cane poles in a bass tournament!

[Robert Riley]

I didn't even know this limit existed, makes sense as to why there aren't many rods over 8'. I have a muskie rod that is 9' and a cranking rod that is 8', my buddy has a custom rod that's 10.5'.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

4 hours ago, blckshirt98 said:

I fish with a couple of 8'6" and 9' salmon/steelhead rods mainly for the surf, and the extra length definitely comes in handy. Not sure what the new "bass specific" long rods will have that current salmon/steelhead models don't already have but I'm sure there's going to be plenty of people opening up their wallet for a shiny new rod.  Punching/flipping? I also bet they go two piece with an offset ferrule point closer to the handle (like the St. Croix Mojo Surf or Shimano Expride) so that you have an 8 foot blank with a 2 foot base/handle it attaches to.

probably just change the sticker and charge $20 more for same rod.

[WRB]

The 8' rod length limit was established to stop the use of 12' flipping rods from use in B.A.S.S. sanctioned tournaments back when Dee Thomas first fished B.A.S.S. events with 12'-14' rods. Dee's first 8' a Fenwick flipping rod had a telescoping handle so the long rod fit bass boat rod lockers.

Going from 8' to 10' is a surprise! The flipping, big deep crankbaits and swimbaits will benefit from longer rods and they will become popular. 

Tom

[hawgenvy]

Question: How long are the longest commercially available fishing poles?

Answer: 70 FEET (21 meters) (they are telescopic)

(http://www.allfishingbuy.com/Fishing-Pole/Pole-A1-JDS-152-HI-21016.htm

[WRB]

Both Loomis bounce back and Lamiglas X11 make salmon rods in 9' to 10' lengths that work for bass fishing.

Tom

[everythingthatswims]

I can't wait to watch someone try to boat flip a fish on a 9'8" rod without enough line out

[Robert Riley]

4 hours ago, hawgenvy said:

Question: How long are the longest commercially available fishing poles?

Answer: 70 FEET (21 meters) (they are telescopic)

(http://www.allfishingbuy.com/Fishing-Pole/Pole-A1-JDS-152-HI-21016.htm

I hope this is asked on trivia night.

[Grantman83]

For cranks and huge swimbaits, I see it.  I also see Marshall and co angler injuries lol.  

Expect to see a bunch of detachable handled bass rods in the future ala the shimano expride until the boat lockers catch up.

as for me, no need as at most I'm gonna have a job boat lol

[Catt]

7 hours ago, WRB said:

The 8' rod length limit was established to stop the use of 12' flipping rods from use in B.A.S.S. sanctioned tournaments back when Dee Thomas first fished B.A.S.S. events with 12'-14' rods. Dee's first 8' a Fenwick flipping rod had a telescoping handle so the long rod fit bass boat rod lockers.

Going from 8' to 10' is a surprise! The flipping, big deep crankbaits and swimbaits will benefit from longer rods and they will become popular. 

Tom

The problem for Dee was not rod length but the fact he had no reel attached, he was in his own words a "Tule Dipper".

Thomas started out as what he refers to as a “tule dipper.”

“I started tule dipping in California in the 50s,” he said. “In that technique, you have a 12- to 18-foot rod. There’s no reel so you either attach a length of line to the tip or you run a length of line down through the rod tip and affix it at the butt-end of the rod. Either way, you have a length of line, about as long as the rod, and that’s what you use to present your lure.”

Reference: http://bassfishingarchives.com/features/the-birth-of-the-flippin-stik-part-one

[Maxximus Redneckus]

It will be fleemzy unless its a heavy action then it will weigh 15oz .no  way they can make a blank the size of a pencil it will look like a noodle also the reels will need to be heavier.then it will  be about balannce

[J Francho]

A 13' Avid centerpin rod (for salmon and steelhead) weighs 5.9 oz. and is rated for baits up to 4 oz.  The 15' version (I've used this rod, and its extremely well balanced with the reel about 9" from the end of the butt) is 6.8 oz.  I have no doubt rod builders and mass manufacturers will no problem applying what they know about these longer rods to bass fishing rods.  I think as bass anglers, we live in a bubble.  Our rods are short, even at 8' by many other standards.

[hunterPRO1]

I have never in my life even considered over 7'6" for a bass rod.

 

As has been said already about the money.