Introduction and help with rod suggestions

[boudroux]

Howdy all.  Great site here with tons of info, since finding it last week I've spent more time on the video section then I'd like to admit.  Been trout fishing all my life, mostly by fly however I've now discovered how much fun bass fishing is.  I picked up an older Ranger bass boat and my boys and I have been hitting it hard this past year.  I'm from the Riverside area (SoCalifornia) and am now spending a lot of time on the lower Colorado River between Yuma, AZ and Blythe, CA, because of my business the Lower Colorado will be my primary fishing area.  This section of the river and it's backwaters is mostly sand/mud/thick muck bottom, nothing to deep, mostly 1-4' with some deeper holes up to 10-12'.  This area is packed full of dense tule/reeds 10-20 feet out from shore with lots of little pockets and breaks in them and in the summer when the water warms up the backwaters get choked full of (I think) milfoil.  This stuff gets so thick it's crazy. It does make for killer frog gigging in the summer though, they sit on top of this stuff everywhere. With the boat we will also be hitting as many of the Southern California lakes we can for bass.

 

I'm now looking to gear up with another rod.   I like the Curado I's and will stick with those reels.  I can spend between $100-150 on a new rod right now and will be able to do it again early June so even a couple different suggestions would be appreciated.  Currently I have the following rods.

 

A price point Abu Garcia Vengance 7' M rod.  It says it's a fast action but it seems a hair soft in the tip then what I would consider fast paired but who knows, paired with a Curado I.  

A Dobyns 7'6" MH flipping stick with a Curado I

A Rogue 8'6" Heavy with a Ambassador C3 I've had for years that has an amazing, soft first 3rd and the backbone of a elephant. I've caught everything from 40 pound flathead cats to 25 pound dorado on it.  I'm using it for big swimbaits and it is awesome.

I have tons of spinning gear and am good there.

 

Being so new to bass fishing I'm a little overwhelmed on what I could  use to round out my bass rod quiver from here.  Frankly, at this point I'm not even sure what I should be throwing with the Vengance rod and what direction to go for another setup.  Considering what I have currently it would seem I need something in the MH to Heavy range but holy cow reading about bass fishing set-ups makes choosing fly fishing equipment easy. HA.  From my research it seems like the summer fishing on the river, with all the milfoil, weedless frogs would be the ticket but we have had success with smaller, shallow diving crank baits, spinner baits, curly tails on a jig head if we can keep them out of the darn milfoil.  We also discovered killer smallmouth in the fast flowing main river which is an absolute hoot!

 

It seems Dobyns Fury rods are a good bang for the buck in my price point but I'm open to other suggestions on brands however my main hangup is weight and action and what sort of rigs this new rod would be good for.  I truly appreciate any suggestions and thank you in advance for your time.

 

A couple shots of my little fishermen.

 

[A-Jay]

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~

A-Jay

[roadwarrior]

 

 

 

[Crestliner2008]

Welcome aboard! You've found the finest fishing forum for pure, unadulterated knowledge on the subject, that you will ever find.

[boudroux]

Thanks all.  After posting I found that thread above and did a bunch of reading.  I've ordered up a 7' MH/F.

 

Great stuff here, thanks again.

[Darren.]

Welcome aboard!

[jimf]

MH/F was where you looked like you could use something, so I think that is a good choice.   Next time you are in that price range I would look at the St. Croix Mojo Bass rods.