Long rods are finally coming to market

[fishballer06]

Looks like St. Croix is revealing their extra long rods to go with BASS now allowing rods up to 10' in length. What does everyone think of these sticks?

 

 

https://www.bassmaster.com/news/st-croix-debuts-half-dozen-extra-long-legend-tournament-bass-casting-rods-bassmaster-classic

 

Quote

MODELS:
LBC80HMF (FLIPPIN') 8’, Heavy-Power, Moderate-Fast Action
LBC88HF: (BULLFROG) 8’8", Heavy-Power, Fast Action
LBC88HM: (MAGNUM CRANKER) 8’8”, Heavy-Power, Moderate-Action
LBC811HMF: (FLIPPIN'/PUNCHIN') 8’11”, Heavy-Power, Moderate-Fast Action
LBC811XHF: (MEGA SWIM BAIT) 8’11”, Extra-Heavy-Power, Fast Action
LBC911HMF: (FLIPPIN'/PUNCHIN') 9’11”, Heavy-Power, Moderate-Fast Action

 

[Falkus]

Would love to have one of those but how will this fit into my Nissan Sentra ? 

 

it gotta hang out of the windows or put on the Thule Rack ! 

 

[Oklahoma Mike]

I'm not a big fan of anything over 8'... but then again, there was a time when I wouldn't fish a rod longer than 6'-6" so maybe I will change my mind over time.

[Yudo1]

I have no desire to get a rod that long.  For me, transporting and storage would be a pain.  I wonder how tip heavy they will be.

 

[RichF]

I think they'd just be more of a pain than their worth.  They're not gonna fit in my rod locker, truck, or apartment.  They with definitely be tip heavy unless you add a bunch of counter balancing weights (or they have 2 ft long handles).  I just can't imagine they'd be comfortable to fish with.  Who would want to frog with an 8'8 heavy rod?!

[Deleted account]

Except for flipping, I don't usually use a rod over 7' now, so for me, meh, I can see where in some specific situations they might be useful, but not for me.

[*Hootie]

I remember when anything over 5 1/2 ft. was a long rod.

 

Hootie

[Angry John]

I would havery to pass.  I have an 806 and I am not fond of a rod that long.  My 7'6" cranking rod is as long as I will go again.  Might try a dobyns 795 but longer than 8 is a storage and transportation nightmare.  I am sure some proom will start telling us that we have to get these but I am not biting.

[smr913]

If I did any deep cranking I would consider a 9 foot cranking rod.

[lmbfisherman]

I think I will pass, may be my height.  I won't go pass a 7'6".  I think that is more than long enough.

[kickerfish1]

1 hour ago, *Hootie said:

I remember when anything over 5 1/2 ft. was a long rod.

 

Hootie

Yep! Hootie, we are not old, we are vintage.

[Darren.]

No interest whatsoever for bass fishing.

 

I do use long rods from 10-20' for no-reel

fishing. Just long poles. Lots of fun.

[BassThumb]

I wonder how they balance out with a standard-sized reel.

[MickD]

I have an RX8 Rainshadow 8 1/2 that I built into a casting rod, and it's fine for salmon.  Will throw a spoon a "mile," and really nice to handle fish with it, but it's more rod than I want for bass.  I just don't see.  Unless I'm offering a whole bunch of new design long rods for all the guys who have already bought all my shorter rods.

8 minutes ago, BassThumb said:

I wonder how they balance out with a standard-sized reel.

they have to be tip heavy.  I see no practical way that they can be anything other than tip heavy.

[hunterPRO1]

never used a rod over 7'6 and unless i pick up an 8 foot swimbait stick i probably never will.

[BassThumb]

44 minutes ago, MickD said:

they have to be tip heavy.  I see no practical way that they can be anything other than tip heavy.

 

I wonder. I have a 7' 9" Dobyns Champion Extreme flipping stick that is in no way tip-heavy. Granted, the rods listed are all a foot or more longer. I'd really like to fish with one, especially the cranking stick.

[Caliyak]

If anyone surf fishes, long rods are common in that industry. Nothing new in fishing. I hope they come in 2 piece. 

[RoLo]

In surf-fishing, a long-cast is necessary to reach the swash, otherwise buy a boat.

But the long freshwater wands I see kicking around violate the point of diminishing returns.

The longest one-piece rod in my arsenal is 7'6", and that will be the first rod to find my overhead fan 

 

Roger

[WRB]

All you backseaters need to wear a helmet! Can't imagine a 8'11" crankbait rod with a few feet of line hanging down with 10X crankbait whizzing past your head all day!

Tom

[soflabasser]

Funny how some people are telling others they need +8 foot rods for bass fishing and +20 years ago people where doing just fine with 5'6"-6'0" rods.

[WRB]

What happened is B.A.S.S. changed their tournament rule to allow rods longer than 8'.

The 8' rule came from flipping when Dee Thomas was using 12' rods back in the early 70's.

I don't see a big advantage going over 8', although some swimbait anglers like 9' rods for greater casting distance.

Tom

 

[Catt]

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".

 

“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

[fishindad]

I have no idea what BASS was thinking when they put this out there (other than more dollars for rod companies) nor do I think this was very smart on St Croix's part to make these rods one-piece. Can you imagine all of the warranty claims they will be dealing with? As mentioned it's enough of a pain to deal with rods over 7 foot.

 

The main scenarios I see these rods as an advantage is big water cranking/swimbaiting where it helps to cover tons of water. Or dippin' tules like Dee Thomas did/does. And IMO, there's no way St Croix had enough time to thoroughly field test these rods given the time between BASS' announcement and them rolling out (no pun intended) this line of long rods. These rods seem more like muskie-type rods. And where's the fun in yanking 4 and 5lbers, 9 feet out of the water?

[fishballer06]

24 minutes ago, fishindad said:

I have no idea what BASS was thinking when they put this out there (other than more dollars for rod companies) nor do I think this was very smart on St Croix's part to make these rods one-piece. Can you imagine all of the warranty claims they will be dealing with? As mentioned it's enough of a pain to deal with rods over 7 foot.

 

The main scenarios I see these rods as an advantage is big water cranking/swimbaiting where it helps to cover tons of water. Or dippin' tules like Dee Thomas did/does. And IMO, there's no way St Croix had enough time to thoroughly field test these rods given the time between BASS' announcement and them rolling out (no pun intended) this line of long rods. These rods seem more like muskie-type rods. And where's the fun in yanking 4 and 5lbers, 9 feet out of the water?

 

I don't think everyone is realizing the demographic for these rods. Every single one of these rods are built for a very specific purpose/technique. Techniques that the average fishermen probably just gets by with something else that he already has. Even further on the average fishermen aspect, these are Legend Tournament rods. These are $300 rods. Again, something that the average fishermen isn't spending for a rod that is specific for just one specific technique. 

 

The fishermen who is going to go out and buy that 9'11" Flipping Stick isn't the guy who throws everything into his Honda Civic and goes down to the local pond. The guys who are buying these rods are competitive tournament fishermen, guide services who are on the water almost every day of the week, or the guys with deep pockets who always want the best edge they can have no matter what the cost is. These are people who know what they need and they know how to treat their equipment. If these rods were being offered in the Triumph line ($80-90 retail), then yeah. You might see Joe Schmoe's buying these and breaking them because they have no clue what they even have. 

 

As for St. Croix not knowing what they're making with these rods, I beg to differ. St. Croix isn't just blundering blindly into a rod over 8 feet in a power that they've never made before. We're talking about a company that has been in the rod making business 70 years. A company that has been producing rods much longer than the traditional bass rods for applications like trout and musky fishing. From just looking at the St. Croix website, I see that they make a 9' Heavy powered musky rod in multiple different product lines. So this is certainly an area where they have familiarity with. 

[J Francho]

A 10' punching rod would be sweet!  They got the taper right too, with mod-fast.