The Birth Of 10-Foot Bass Rods...

[WRB]

Dee had to put a reel on his 12' rods to fish local tournaments and believe he just taped or hose clamped a reel on the handle to satisfy the TD. I remember fishing a tournament agianst Dee and he was friendly making no secret about how he was fishing, nobody cared until started winning!

Tom

[J Francho]

What about the money?  So every advancement or new technique that requires something different is "about the money?" I don't understand.  When we made the switch from steel, cane, and fiberglass rods to graphite, it was money driven?  Better hooks with wider gaps, and a z-bend was financially driven? 

I mean in some respects, it's always about the money.  The company that does not satisfy the demand for a product consumers want doesn't get that revenue.  You can look at this in many ways.  I'm sure there are people running companies that are all about the quick buck, but to characterize evolution in gear as some conspiracy motivated to get us to spend money is a little silly.  You've always had to part with your wallet to try something new.  Fishing tackle isn't like cell phones or other consumables with designed obsolescence.  The new doesn't really cancel out the old.  Besides, if you don't see a need, or don't want to try something new, then you aren't forced to buy it.But don't tell me that an industry made up of primarily small businesses (yes, this is true and you'd be surprised how small) is somehow all about the money, and conspiring to jip you.

[Preytorien]

I don't think I could fit a one-piece 10ft rod in my little trusty Chevy Tracker - 7'6" is pushing it! 

[WRB]

I don't  buy into the money as being the primary factor for innovation, it's about problem solving. If the problem solved satisfies a market, then money can be made. This is why manufacturing products creates innovation to solve problems and continue to be competitive.

Tule dipping using very long rods solved a problem fishing from delta dike roads, the long rod called a jigger pole that could reach over and into the tulies and allow a jig to be dropped down into pockets where bass were at.

Frog gigging and tulie dipping was often done from a pick up truck bed, not always from a boat. 

How many bass anglers need a 10' rod is yet to be determined and will only become popular if tournament bass anglers find a competitive advantage using them.

Tom

[J Francho]

1 minute ago, Preytorien said:

I don't think I could fit a one-piece 10ft rod in my little trusty Chevy Tracker - 7'6" is pushing it! 

My 15' float rod is made up of three, five foot sections.  The 13' is two 7-6 sections.

[WRB]

9 minutes ago, J Francho said:

My 15' float rod is made up of three, five foot sections.  The 13' is two 7-6 sections.

I have 12' and 16' Kencore surf rods that 2 and 3 piece. Long surf rods help keep the line off of breaking big waves when casting and placed in rod holders. I can't think of a fresh water application where surf rods would work for bass fishing.

Tom

[Catt]

15 minutes ago, WRB said:

I don't  buy into the money as being the primary factor for innovation, it's about problem solving. If the problem solved satisfies a market, then money can be made. This is why manufacturing products creates innovation to solve problems and continue to be competitive.

Tule dipping using very long rods solved a problem fishing from delta dike roads, the long rod called a jigger pole that could reach over and into the tulies and allow a jig to be dropped down into pockets where bass were at.

Frog gigging and tulie dipping was often done from a pick up truck bed, not always from a boat. 

How many bass anglers need a 10' rod is yet to be determined and will only become popular if tournament bass anglers find a competitive advantage using them.

Tom

Dabbling, Doodle-Socking, Jigger Pole, & Tule-Dipping were solutions to a problem for "Meat Hunters" not tournament anglers. This technique was used all across America as a way to catch bass, perch, Crappy, & catfish without buying a boat or lots of tackle.

Dee took a backwoods frowned upon technique brought into the heart of bass fishing & acceptance!

[Preytorien]

Why stop at 10ft?
 

 

 

[Felix77]

On 9/27/2016 at 10:22 AM, J Francho said:

Oh boy, that trolling topic is a good one.  I used to catch a TON of smallmouth trolling.  It was the primary tool with nothing more than a flasher, and the giant desert that is Lake Ontario.  Find some reasonable breaks, catch three or so in the same spot, and anchor up, start dropping tubes.

Oh yeah, the 10' rod thing....  bring it on.  Dee just raised a fist through into the air from the grave!  Jigger poling!

Might make trolling from a kayak more interesting ... Just wonder how I will store that sucker ... LMAO

[J Francho]

56 minutes ago, WRB said:

I have 12' and 16' Kencore surf rods that 2 and 3 piece. Long surf rods help keep the line off of breaking big waves when casting and placed in rod holders. I can't think of a fresh water application where surf rods would work for bass fishing.

Tom

My point was about how to handle the storage issue.  I've stated several uses for a longer stick in bass fishing above.  The long rods I was referring to are for presenting baits on a float rig.  The terminal rig can be over 8' long, and the long rods help you place that rig in the proper flow for a long drift, while staying out of the fishes' view, since this is downstream presentation, unlike traditional upstream presentations.  It also keeps the line off the water, which aids in picking up slack when the float drops from a pick up by a fish.

I also made the point that longer rods aren't necessarily heavier, and that multi piece rods don't lack sensitivity.  I don't know of any need for a 15' rod for bass fishing, but I can certainly see 9-10' spinning rod for delicate finesse presentations, or a heavy powered, long rod for punching and flipping.  Swimbaiters already know the benefits of a long stick. 

There's always gonna be detractors, heck there's been a few threads demanding to know where to find sub 6' rods with pistol grips!  Having options is a good thing.  We'll see how this long rod deal shapes up.

32 minutes ago, Felix77 said:

Might make trolling from a kayak more interesting ... Just wonder how I will store that sucker ... LMAO

You don't need a 10' rod for trolling.  Any 7' rod will do.  The hard part in a kayak is maintaining a slow, steady pace.  Most bass baits work best at under a MPH.  I generally only troll for pike in a kayak, where 3-5 MPH is the norm.  I can paddle my boat to 3.5 MPH with little effort.

[WRB]

The was a crappie fisherman Turner Jones who made custom 9' spinning rods for use with his 1/64 to 1/32 micro jigs. The technique was simple drop the micro jig in front crappie and let the fish hook itself by pulling the tip down a technique common with crappie anglers. Long technique specific rods aren't new as both you and Catt have noted.

Tom

[Wind Knot]

12-foot tenkara rod anybody?

Aaaaaaaand the picture's gone.

[Bass Turd]

 

[J Francho]

15 hours ago, WRB said:

The was a crappie fisherman Turner Jones who made custom 9' spinning rods for use with his 1/64 to 1/32 micro jigs. The technique was simple drop the micro jig in front crappie and let the fish hook itself by pulling the tip down a technique common with crappie anglers. Long technique specific rods aren't new as both you and Catt have noted.

Tom

Was he the guy building crappie spinning rods out of fly rod blanks?  I think I recall reading about this in In-Fisherman.  The photos showed a tremendous, arching flex when he had a slab on the hook.  Looked like a deadly presentation.  I only express interest because back when there was a closed season for bass, I fished micro jigs for crappie, or "strawberry bass" as they're known around here.

[Logan S]

FLW hasn't ever had a length restriction and 8'+ rods haven't really made news on their tour, at least that I can remember reading anyway.  I'm sure we'll see some 8' to 10' rods now that they're allowed for B.A.S.S. but I'd be surprised if it was 'revolutionary'.

I think the extra length would be beneficial for the 10XD sized crankbaits...That's the biggest thing that jumped out to me.  I bet the first places we see the longer rods show up in force is the offshore cranking events.

FWIW, I doubt boats would change much...I can fit 8' rods in my locker with significant space to spare, I bet I could fit up to a 9' rod in there if I owned one that long.  My boat is just a 20 footer too.  I don't think it's 'about the money' either, the market for 8' rods is already pretty small...Over 8' is going to be even smaller.  

[Airman4754]

I would use a rod over 8' for deep cranks. For the guys that huck swim baits over 6oz I could see them wanting a longer rod. 

[WRB]

3 hours ago, J Francho said:

Was he the guy building crappie spinning rods out of fly rod blanks?  I think I recall reading about this in In-Fisherman.  The photos showed a tremendous, arching flex when he had a slab on the hook.  Looked like a deadly presentation.  I only express interest because back when there was a closed season for bass, I fished micro jigs for crappie, or "strawberry bass" as they're known around here.

Merlin Olsen, the Ram hall of fame d-tackle and actor,  fished with Turner Jones rods and jigs at lake Sherwood, that is were I first watch him catching crappie and a few nice bass. I asked Merlin what he was using and he showed me the rod and tiny jigs. The rod looked like a 5 weight custom fly rod with spinning guides and size 1000 spinning reel, this was back in the late 70's when Olsen was still playing football and very easy friendly person to talk to, big man with big hands!

Tom

[timsford]

On 9/28/2016 at 11:11 AM, WRB said:

I have 12' and 16' Kencore surf rods that 2 and 3 piece. Long surf rods help keep the line off of breaking big waves when casting and placed in rod holders. I can't think of a fresh water application where surf rods would work for bass fishing.

Tom

How far do you guys think kvd can sling a crank bait with a 10ft rod? I've actually considered buying a surf rod to sling swimbaits and other baits way out there. I like fishing swimbait and big lip less cranks for whatever bites below the dams at tims ford, nickajack, and Chickamauga lakes. If you saw how wide the river is and how small a percentage of the water you could cover from shore,  you might consider it too. There's lots of guys that use them for catfish on the Tennessee river. I may buy a 2 piece mojo surf rod so I can try the long rods out and get a Daiwa ss tournament 1600 or 2600 spinning reel. I know it can handle anything I hook in freshwater and I'll have a combo I can use on the beach if we go on vacation.

[WRB]

Long rods require space behind the angler to load up the rod when making very long casts.

Even using 8' swimbait rods you need to watch behind you when fishing with a partner so you don't them with a big swimbait. Ideally you only need a 10 to 2 casting motion, but you also tend to have about 3' of line out between the rod tip and lure with long rods, something to consider.

Tom

[J Francho]

I VERY rarely cast in a way that my back swing is directly toward the stern.  I'm used to fishing a dual console, and it just doesn't work, even with the huge deck on my 22' Bullet.I am usual casting at a 60° off to port or starboard.  I don't think I'm in the minority here, either.  Otherwise, you're partner will not have much shot at targets either. 

Maybe I'm wrong, and I AM the weird one

Wouldn't be the first time!

[Turkey sandwich]

What I don't understand is the the idea that expanding a market for profit is a bad thing.  Companies being profitable in this industry is a very good thing, but that's even short sighted.  Obviously if companies will be making longer rods, the rest of the industry (if they become popular) will have to adapt.  If this drives innovation in presentations and the equipment needed to make them, that's huge.  

 

My biggest concerns would become transportation and storage, but I guess that means I either buy 4 piece rods like my fly rods, or finally get out of the city and buy an SUV with more space.  Maybe this is another way the universe is telling me I don't belong in a big city. 

[J Francho]

I've witnessed a lot of change over the years with this hobby, and at every increment there have been naysayers.  Sometimes they're right - Boron blanks were a fad.  Braid didn't make all other lines obsolete. However, catch and release tournaments, graphite blanks, and the Ned Rig (har-har) seem to be here to stay.

[fishwizzard]

4 hours ago, timsford said:

How far do you guys think kvd can sling a crank bait with a 10ft rod? I've actually considered buying a surf rod to sling swimbaits and other baits way out there. I like fishing swimbait and big lip less cranks for whatever bites below the dams at tims ford, nickajack, and Chickamauga lakes. If you saw how wide the river is and how small a percentage of the water you could cover from shore,  you might consider it too. There's lots of guys that use them for catfish on the Tennessee river. I may buy a 2 piece mojo surf rod so I can try the long rods out and get a Daiwa ss tournament 1600 or 2600 spinning reel. I know it can handle anything I hook in freshwater and I'll have a combo I can use on the beach if we go on vacation.

I have a 9' surf rod and have been thinking of buying an inexpensive swimbait and trying it out.  I am not sure if I could cast such a beast from my kayak though, so I would need to find a good shore spot for it. 

[J Francho]

I know I can chuck a 3/4 oz. spoon pretty far on my 9-6 spinning rod for salmon....I mean silly far!

[fishwizzard]

I forgot to open the bail on my surf rod once when I had a  2oz Kastmaster tied on.  I believe it landed somewhere between Lisbon and Gibraltar, but I have yet to get anyone helpful on the phone when I try to call over there.