Spinning rod ... pond fishing

[msujohn]

I'm looking to buy another rod and reel that can complement my other rod(typically fish in ponds, bass and bluegill), abu Garcia veritas (medium/fast, 6'6) it has a pflueger president 6935 reel.   I was thinking about getting a Fenwick HMG.   I just don't know if I should get a medium or medium/heavy.   For reel I'm considering getting the president xt.  Is it an upgrade over the president?   Should I get the 6930 or 6935?   

The overall intent is to be able to use this rod in pond fishing, but have ability to handle larger fish in Lake Michigan, etc.  

[fishnkamp]

I would look at it this way.  All Veritas rods run a bit stiffer than they are rated.  I have owned several Veritas baitcasting rods and this was definitely the case. I am not saying anything bad here, just a statement of reality.

So since you have fished with this rod, then think about what type baits does that rod fish best.  The rod is rated for baits weighing from 1/8 to 1/2  ounce.  Is the rod better for baits that weigh closer to the 1/4 to 1/2 and even to 5/8 of an ounce? I bet it is a better rod for throwing bottom contact baits like grubs, jigs, heavier texas rigs ( like 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 ounce) and even lighter carolina rigs ( like 1/2 and 5/8 ounce ones). Do yourself a favor tie on a worm with a 3/4 ounce worm weight and toss it in your favorite pond. See if it overpowers the rod.  If I am right it will handle it fine.  

 

If that is all true,  then I would consider looking at a much different rod for my next rod. I would eventually add both of the next two rods in your arsenal. Deciding which one to purchase first is a choice only you can make and it should be determined by the water you fish and the baits you wish to throw most often.

 

One rod I would add is a rod that can handle reaction baits well, like crankbaits, squarebills, spinnerbaits and even chatterbaits. These baits require a rod that is more moderate or softer tipped than your current Veritas.  This rod would also fish like a Keitech of reaction Innovation Skinny Dipper. I throw these baits all over the country and they flat out catch fish.  Toss them on a belly weighted swimbait hook and look out.

 

My other rod would be a 6'9 to 7'3" medium light rod. This rod will work best throwing really light baits like Ned rigs, drop shots, lightweight grubs and texas rigs ( like ones fished with 1/16 to 1/4 ounce weights), Sencos, floating weightless worms, shakeyhead worms etc.

 

A good crankbait rod can cost as little as $50 or well over $300.  Look for a Berkley Lightning Shock rod in a 6'6" medium. This rod can handle most of your needs and it normally costs $49. If you go to WalMart you may find one in stock. Some members here have had them scanned and they came up priced to sell for as low as $10. They were marked as $49.    For the money that spinning rod does a great job. My wife fishes all of her crankbaits, rattle traps, and spinnerbaits, Skinny Dippers and more on it. She has it matched up with a Pflueger President 6935 and it balances well. You can go with a 30 but I prefer the larger spool.  We use 17 pound test Berkley Fireline braid and it works great.

 

Now let's look at good options for the 6'9" to 7'3" ML rod.  Here I would spend a little more money on this rod just to get a high quality, very sensitive rod. The baits we use on this rod are LIGHT and require FEEL so here are my best suggestions.

 

I would look at a Dobyns Fury rod. Ironically Dobyns tends to run opposite to you Veritas, it tends to run a half step lighter than it is rated. So I would choose a Fury FR 703SF.  It will meet your needs perfectly and if you fished one it will feel much more like a $200 rod than the actual cost which is $110.  My friend Kris fishes with one of these for these exact baits and loves the entire Fury line. He purchased one and now owns 4 different models of them.

Again match this rod up with a 35 series reel. That reel will perfectly balance the Fury rod.

[msujohn]

4 hours ago, fishnkamp said:

I would look at it this way.  All Veritas rods run a bit stiffer than they are rated.  I have owned several Veritas baitcasting rods and this was definitely the case. I am not saying anything bad here, just a statement of reality.

So since you have fished with this rod, then think about what type baits does that rod fish best.  The rod is rated for baits weighing from 1/8 to 1/2  ounce.  Is the rod better for baits that weigh closer to the 1/4 to 1/2 and even to 5/8 of an ounce? I bet it is a better rod for throwing bottom contact baits like grubs, jigs, heavier texas rigs ( like 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 ounce) and even lighter carolina rigs ( like 1/2 and 5/8 ounce ones). Do yourself a favor tie on a worm with a 3/4 ounce worm weight and toss it in your favorite pond. See if it overpowers the rod.  If I am right it will handle it fine.  

 

If that is all true,  then I would consider looking at a much different rod for my next rod. I would eventually add both of the next two rods in your arsenal. Deciding which one to purchase first is a choice only you can make and it should be determined by the water you fish and the baits you wish to throw most often.

 

One rod I would add is a rod that can handle reaction baits well, like crankbaits, squarebills, spinnerbaits and even chatterbaits. These baits require a rod that is more moderate or softer tipped than your current Veritas.  This rod would also fish like a Keitech of reaction Innovation Skinny Dipper. I throw these baits all over the country and they flat out catch fish.  Toss them on a belly weighted swimbait hook and look out.

 

My other rod would be a 6'9 to 7'3" medium light rod. This rod will work best throwing really light baits like Ned rigs, drop shots, lightweight grubs and texas rigs ( like ones fished with 1/16 to 1/4 ounce weights), Sencos, floating weightless worms, shakeyhead worms etc.

 

A good crankbait rod can cost as little as $50 or well over $300.  Look for a Berkley Lightning Shock rod in a 6'6" medium. This rod can handle most of your needs and it normally costs $49. If you go to WalMart you may find one in stock. Some members here have had them scanned and they came up priced to sell for as low as $10. They were marked as $49.    For the money that spinning rod does a great job. My wife fishes all of her crankbaits, rattle traps, and spinnerbaits, Skinny Dippers and more on it. She has it matched up with a Pflueger President 6935 and it balances well. You can go with a 30 but I prefer the larger spool.  We use 17 pound test Berkley Fireline braid and it works great.

 

Now let's look at good options for the 6'9" to 7'3" ML rod.  Here I would spend a little more money on this rod just to get a high quality, very sensitive rod. The baits we use on this rod are LIGHT and require FEEL so here are my best suggestions.

 

I would look at a Dobyns Fury rod. Ironically Dobyns tends to run opposite to you Veritas, it tends to run a half step lighter than it is rated. So I would choose a Fury FR 703SF.  It will meet your needs perfectly and if you fished one it will feel much more like a $200 rod than the actual cost which is $110.  My friend Kris fishes with one of these for these exact baits and loves the entire Fury line. He purchased one and now owns 4 different models of them.

Again match this rod up with a 35 series reel. That reel will perfectly balance the Fury rod.

 

It doesn't look like the Dobyn rod sells around me.  I'd like to touch it before I buy it.  What would be another good option?   I really do appreaciate your recommendations.  So what you recommend is to eat 2 different rods.  1) 6'6 medium/fast - like the Berkeley. What others would fall into this category?   2) >6'9 medium/light (fast), can you give me some other options ?    Would any Fenwick fit this option?  

[PatrickKnight]

I fished a ml Fenwick HMG 6'9" a bunch last year and it was a great rod. My current main rod is a Dobyns Sierra 703 and it is a better over all rod than the HMG but at almost twice the cost it better be. I really don't think you can do much better than an HMG at the $100 price point, the Fury is a nice rod as well but I wouldn't like I was missing out with the HMG. Based on what you want to do though I would go with the 7'6" ML HMG. I have never been impressed with the Pflueger reels (I am in the minority here) but you can get a Daiwa BG on Amazon for 85 bucks and until you get to the $200 price point I don't think there is a reel that can touch the BG in terms of performance (it is a bit heavy due to an all metal reel).

[Darren.]

IMO, you will be fine with a M/F rod. I use M/F and

M/XF for 98% of my bass fishing, only have one M/H

rod (casting) that gets some, but not a lot of use.

[fishnkamp]

The Sierras are really nice rods.  With the Dobyns lineups each time you go up in the lineup the rods use a little better, lighter, more sensitive graphite blank and better grips, reel seats and guides. To be honest the fishability difference between the Sierra rod and the Champion rod is not that much.  The champ is built with nicer components, and the graphite is a bit faster, but the sensitivity is close to the same.  So going with the Fury instead of the Sierra will not make a huge difference.

 

As for none located near you where do you live?  II understand wanting to "feel it" first.

 

I did not mean to say you "must" buy 2 more rods. I was trying to show you what rod types do work what types of baits. You may find your that you never need to fish a certain lure type because the waters you fish do not call for them.  Let me explain, if you crawl in my rod box you will find 12 baitcasters and 3 spinning outfits.  My wife and I have fished for bass for over 40 years and until two years ago I NEVER threw a frog!  The lakes and rivers I fished had no heavy vegetation, no lily pads, no big emergent grass beds so there was no reason to own a specific rod to throw frogs, on. Now I live 5 minutes from The Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.  If you ever see any videos of the Upper Bay and Susquehanna Flats then you will see why one of my wife's 6 spinning rod is a special Dobyns Sierra rod that is designed to fish frogs..  One of my Dobyns Champion series rods is a frog rod.  So you can see how I was identifying rods that fit typical needs and only you can decide which needs you should fill.

The design of a typical crankbait, spinnerbait, rattle trap rod is very different than the design of the ML finesse bait rod.

 

When it comes to a crankbait rod you will find many more options in baitcasting than in spinning rods.  The Berkley is a favorite of mine because it is rather inexpensive and fishes really well for this purpose.  It is easy to find at many Walmarts Bass Pro Cabelas and even some Dicks Sporting Goods. You would be looking for a rod rated around 6'6" to 7" medium power moderate action. This means when you strike on a fish there is a bit of delay built in so the fish actually takes the bait and you do not pull it away from him and it has some give to protect the treble hooks from pulling out. 

 

As for another option on the ml rod  Check out a Powell Inferno 702MLEF,  or the Fenwich Elite Tech 6'10 ml.

 

   

 

 

[TX-Deluxe]

Check out St.Croix at Cabelas. Good sales right now.

 

2 piece rods need to be shipped to your house/store