Senko/Fluke weightless plastic rod suggestions...

[chris55552]

Anyone who has fished weightless soft plastics knows the challenge of trying to cast these incredibly light but effective lures.  What would be a good rod to cast senkos/soft plastics reasonably well?  Fishing mostly weightless senkos, trick worms and flukes.  Saw a Falcon Cara 7ft medium action today on clearance for 89 dollars, was wondering if that would be a good rod, anyone have any suggestions?

[IndianaFinesse]

A 7' medium powered, fast action spinning rod.

[NYBasser]

+1 on the spinning rod. I find that weightless senkos, worms, and flukes are much easier to cast and fish on a spinning setup.

[junyer357]

+1 on spiining. My current setup is a dobyns champion 683sf with a pflueger supreme and 15# slick8.  Have had no trouble with it getting fish from cover and 0 backlashes. One of my most used rods. 

[ww2farmer]

For spinning my all time favorite is the St. Croix 6'8" M/XF...........pick your price range, they offer that length/power blank in many of their different series.

 

For casting, I like a rod with a little tip, and some extra length, it really helps to toss weightless and light weight stuff out there effortlessly. A surprisingly good rod for not a lot of money that I found for this is the Abu Garcia Vendetta Gen2 (gen 1's are too stiff) 7' M casting rod, and also the gen 2 Vendetta 7'3" MH casting rod. That 7'3" has a nice light tip and casts weightless/light baits really well despite it being a MH power rod.

[Rozebol]

A Senko/Fluke is a dream on a 6'8 M/XF St. Croix spinning rod. I run 15# Braid or 6# YoZuri.

[offsidewing]

27 minutes ago, Rozebol said:

A Senko/Fluke is a dream on a 6'8 M/XF St. Croix spinning rod. I run 15# Braid or 6# YoZuri.

^^^^This^^^^

[uncle reddog]

If the cara is the weightless worm model then ya go for it. I have that rod and throw weightless senkos and such on it with no problems.  That's a good deal on that rod too. 

[unhallowed]

I throw all my weightless plastics on a casting  7ft m/f abu veritas with micros with no problems, even down to stuff like baby brush hogs that have no real weight to them. Although I will say that I can definitely cast a 5" senko further than the baby brushhog.  I do break out the spinning rod here and there though, which I use a 7ft m/f daiwa tatula. 

[roadwarrior]

 

[npl_texas]

I throw my weightless plastics on a Duckett Ghost 7' M/F. Lews Tournament MB reel. Works great for me. 

[curtis9]

I agree with the st croix 6'8" mxf, though I prefer the casting rod for senkos and flukes.

[kbeeb374]

I have a 7' MF tatula spinning rod that I love for weightless senkos

[ethan-333]

i threw weightless flukes and weightless senkos on a revo s baitcaster with a 7' MH carbonlite rod from basspro and had no problem getting them out there or skipping them under docks 

[Stephen Selph]

On 3/9/2017 at 7:39 PM, chris55552 said:

Anyone who has fished weightless soft plastics knows the challenge of trying to cast these incredibly light but effective lures.  What would be a good rod to cast senkos/soft plastics reasonably well?  Fishing mostly weightless senkos, trick worms and flukes.  Saw a Falcon Cara 7ft medium action today on clearance for 89 dollars, was wondering if that would be a good rod, anyone have any suggestions?

Nice find on that Cara! If you don't mind, where did you find that deal? I have purchased 3 Cara T7's in the last month, all at full price "around $180-$230."

[CTBassin860]

On 03/09/2017 at 10:41 PM, Rozebol said:

A Senko/Fluke is a dream on a 6'8 M/XF St. Croix spinning rod. I run 15# Braid or 6# YoZuri.

This rod has been brought up so many times in the last week.I'm starting to get itchy.Bait....Monkey....to.....strong....

[new2BC4bass]

4 hours ago, Stephen Selph said:

Nice find on that Cara! If you don't mind, where did you find that deal? I have purchased 3 Cara T7's in the last month, all at full price "around $180-$230."

 

I'm with you.  I have several Falcon rods.  At that price I would buy it anyway and worry about what application to use it for later.  If the OP doesn't want it I will give you first chance to buy the rod as my only Cara is that model.  

 

OP: All Falcon Mediums I have are rated 1/4-1/2 oz. (these are casting rods).  Normally I stay within a rod's weight parameters so I have never tried a lighter lure with my Falcons.  I can say a 1/2 oz. spinnerbait being pulled upstream with a Medium Falcon is a bit more than I would use on this rod unless it was all I had with me.  The rod will do it, but I feel a MH would be much better.  However, I wouldn't be afraid to try lighter as they seem to load very well.  Too dang cold to give it a try until warmer weather arrives.  

[Stephen Selph]

On 3/12/2017 at 8:55 AM, new2BC4bass said:

 

I'm with you.  I have several Falcon rods.  At that price I would buy it anyway and worry about what application to use it for later.  If the OP doesn't want it I will give you first chance to buy the rod as my only Cara is that model.  

 

OP: All Falcon Mediums I have are rated 1/4-1/2 oz. (these are casting rods).  Normally I stay within a rod's weight parameters so I have never tried a lighter lure with my Falcons.  I can say a 1/2 oz. spinnerbait being pulled upstream with a Medium Falcon is a bit more than I would use on this rod unless it was all I had with me.  The rod will do it, but I feel a MH would be much better.  However, I wouldn't be afraid to try lighter as they seem to load very well.  Too dang cold to give it a try until warmer weather arrives.  

You're right about Falcon's rating system. I have definitely noticed they seem a little lighter than they are rated. I shot the OP a message to see if he's interested in selling it. I would love to find a good deal on that rod since I've paid full price 3 too many times. lol

[Paul Roberts]

Ditto ww2farmer's preference for a longer rod with lighter tip. That tip helps in casting but also helps in detecting takes by "weighing" the line for tension. Bass will often hold plastics. Not so with jigs where a stiff powerful tip is best.

[OnthePotomac]

I am different I guess.  My Senko and Strike King caffeine shads are on 7" MH fast tip rods.   Lighter worms also, but with a 3/16  slip sinker.

[12poundbass]

On 3/9/2017 at 9:21 PM, ww2farmer said:

For spinning my all time favorite is the St. Croix 6'8" M/XF...........pick your price range, they offer that length/power blank in many of their different series.

 

For casting, I like a rod with a little tip, and some extra length, it really helps to toss weightless and light weight stuff out there effortlessly. A surprisingly good rod for not a lot of money that I found for this is the Abu Garcia Vendetta Gen2 (gen 1's are too stiff) 7' M casting rod, and also the gen 2 Vendetta 7'3" MH casting rod. That 7'3" has a nice light tip and casts weightless/light baits really well despite it being a MH power rod.

X2 on the Vendetta Gen2. I use a black max with it and have no issues at all. I don't even own a spinning set up. With that said after reading everything on here all winter long that's about to change so I can expand my options and try new things.

[Kris2016]

For weightless soft plastics I have started using a spinning set up.  Some Friends like a Medium Light but I prefer a Medium with a Fast tip.  I presently have two setups.  I have a custom tie 6' 10" HML, MF, 1/4 - 3/8 with a new AG ProMax and a Dobyns Fury FR703SF, 7', MF, 3/16 - 5/8 with a Daiwa 3000.  Both reels are loaded with P-Line Fluoroclear.  The Dobyns is a new addition but I have four of their rods total.  I have used my "Blackhorse" rod all last year happily.