What do you use a 7' 3" Medium spinning rod for?

[NateCatchesFish]

Thinking about picking up a new spinning rod that will be a 7'3" Medium. What are some good uses for this rod?????

[frosty]

Anything. I have a 7' 2". I drop shot with it, use it for finesse stuff, weightless senko. Mine is a Cheap Wright McGill I got from Walmart but I really like it. It's labeled as a drop shot rod. 

[NateCatchesFish]

Just now, frosty said:

Anything. I have a 7' 2". I drop shot with it, use it for finesse stuff, weightless senko. Mine is a Cheap Wright McGill I got from Walmart but I really like it. It's labeled as a drop shot rod. 

I have a Medium Light right now I use for drop shotting and pretty much all finesse. Its the only spinning rod I own. I wanna get a medium or Wacky rig, light shakey heads and even skipping weightless t rigged senkos under docks and overhangs.

[dsqui]

I have a dobyns champ extreme hp 742 I use it for Ned rigs shaky head drop shot weightless t rigs spybaiting senkos neko rigging pretty much anything finesse. Ya needless to say I love that rod

[NateCatchesFish]

3 minutes ago, dsqui said:

I have a dobyns champ extreme hp 742 I use it for Ned rigs shaky head drop shot weightless t rigs spybaiting senkos neko rigging pretty much anything finesse. Ya needless to say I love that rod

Im the same way. I have a Mojo Bass 6'10" medium light I use for most finesse techniques. Its deigned for droppshotting. That rod hardly leaves my hand. Im just not sure if its worth buying a medium when i have that rod.

[Ski213]

I think it'll do what you're looking for it to do. There's a lot of personal preference involved and one brand of medium can be somewhat different from another brand. 

 

For me medium spinning is my preference for ds, light shakey heads, and some weightless applications. 

[NateCatchesFish]

1 minute ago, Ski213 said:

I think it'll do what you're looking for it to do. There's a lot of personal preference involved and one brand of medium can be somewhat different from another brand. 

 

For me medium spinning is my preference for ds, light shakey heads, and some weightless applications. 

The one im looking at is the *** *** by ***. Im a huge fan of their products. I also plan on using this for maybe some very light finesse spinnerbaits and jerkbaits. I use a medium light now for finesse applcations. Thats all that I have. I love the feel of it though because a 2lber feels huge. I got is specifically for drop shotting but havent done much of that yet with it. Im just not sure if its worth getting a second spinning rod.

[fishnkamp]

Most often your ML will cover baits that weight between 1/16 to 5/16 or 3/8.  Most medium cover baits that weigh between 1/8 to 3/8, or 1/8 to 5/8 or 3/4. I fish a G Loomis ml fast for the lighter baits like ned rigs, drop shotting real light tubes, and unweighted plastics,  Sometimes even for lightweight texas rigged baits. 

 

Medium spinning rods with the fast action are better for fishing shakey heads, heavier texas rigs up to say 5/8 (hook,bait and weight combined) medium to heavier tubes, 5 inch grubs texas rigged, and even baits like belly weighted Keitech swimbaits.  These baits need a little stronger action to get a good hook set. 

 

I find both rods extremely important and yes it is worth having in your arsenal.

[NateCatchesFish]

Just now, fishnkamp said:

Most often your ML will cover baits that weight between 1/16 to 5/16 or 3/8.  Most medium cover baits that weigh between 1/8 to 3/8, or 1/8 to 5/8 or 3/4. I fish a G Loomis ml fast for the lighter baits like ned rigs, drop shotting real light tubes, and unweighted plastics,  Sometimes even for lightweight texas rigged baits. 

 

Medium spinning rods with the fast action are better for fishing shakey heads, heavier texas rigs up to say 5/8 (hook,bait and weight combined) medium to heavier tubes, 5 inch grubs texas rigged, and even baits like belly weighted Keitech swimbaits.  These baits need a little stronger action to get a good hook set. 

So in your opinion is it even worth buying a medium as well? I just like the idea of being able to have wacky rig tied on one and for instance a weightless senko texas rigged on the other.(I have a hard time skipping with a baitcaster and my whole hinking is getting this rod for things I cant skip and also or shakey heads and other baits like maybe a weightless trick worm)

[fishnkamp]

Ordinarily, before I start fishing, if you look in my rod locker you will find 10 of my 12 baitcaster inside.  Then once I gear up you will find 3 or4 of the baitcasting combos will be on deck, there will always be at least 2 of my 3 spinning on deck as well.

I personally like 6'6" to 6'10"  for my mediums especially when I want to fish tight to cover or skip.  My two "tight cover rigs" are a 6 ft G Loomis SJR722 medium spinning rod and my favorite universal baitcaster , which is a Powell Max  683 CEF. That rod is a weapon!!! 

[NateCatchesFish]

17 minutes ago, fishnkamp said:

Ordinarily, before I start fishing, if you look in my rod locker you will find 10 of my 12 baitcaster inside.  Then once I gear up you will find 3 or4 of the baitcasting combos will be on deck, there will always be at least 2 of my 3 spinning on deck as well.

I personally like 6'6" to 6'10"  for my mediums especially when I want to fish tight to cover or skip.  My two "tight cover rigs" are a 6 ft G Loomis SJR722 medium spinning rod and my favorite universal baitcaster , which is a Powell Max  683 CEF. That rod is a weapon!!! 

Well right now I only have 4 rods. A Medium Light Spinning which primarily has a wacky rig tied on, Medium Baitcasting which usually has a Spinnerbait chatterbait or crankbait of some sort tied on(the rod is designed for plastics so i also throw weightles senkos cause it casts them amazing. However I dont like using it for shaky heads. IDK why just personal prefrence), Medium heavy casting which usually has a jig or weighted texas rig or flip bait tied on, and my cranking rod. I am a power fisherman but if fish are biting a wacky rigged senko i wont put that rod down. even if its a cranking bite or anything else. I am considering getting a medium so i can learn to slow down and fish shakey heads, weightless texas rigged trick worms, ned rigs more(realisticly the only finesse bait I throw is wacky rig) so is it worth getting another spinning? Im slowly building my arsenal and I also am a tournament fisherman and shaky heads and trick worms are huge factors where i fish so i think this could help me learn. 

[PatrickKnight]

I fish a medium power when I want to go above 3/16 oz, if I want to go with 15-20 lb line, or if I am going to go with a thicker wire hook. I don't use a certain power rod based on a technique I use them based on how I will fish that technique.

[NateCatchesFish]

34 minutes ago, PatrickKnight said:

I fish a medium power when I want to go above 3/16 oz, if I want to go with 15-20 lb line, or if I am going to go with a thicker wire hook. I don't use a certain power rod based on a technique I use them based on how I will fish that technique.

Well see I use 20lb braid on a medium light. Probably not ideal but it's worked perfectly for awhile now

[adam lancia]

I go to a rod like when it's really windy and I need to throw something really light and I don't want to deal with picking out professional overruns every other cast. It's also great if I'm fishing from a kayak because of how versatile it is.

[NateCatchesFish]

1 hour ago, adam lancia said:

I go to a rod like when it's really windy and I need to throw something really light and I don't want to deal with picking out professional overruns every other cast. It's also great if I'm fishing from a kayak because of how versatile it is.

That's pretty much the same I use my medium light for. And I also Kayak fish and honesty would prefer to use a spinning rod just because it's easier to get distants on casts. I'm just debating if getting a Medium to go along with my Medium Light is worth it or just a waste of money(at this point. I will probably get it regardless eventually)

[fishnkamp]

I am not sure what your budget is butt take a good look at a rod like the Dobyns Sierra SA693 SF. I really like these rods. It specs 3/16 to 5/8 but will handle a bit more.

Another good option would be a St Croix  Avid X AXS68MXF.  That is a 6'8" Medium xf rod and specs the same.

I like to throw Berkley FireLine 14 pound test which is equal 6 pound mono.  I also usually add a 4 foot leader to it. I really like P Line CXX in 8 pound test,  That combo works great. 

 

There are a great deal of basic bass lures that will help you catch fish and much of it can be best fished on that medium spinning rod.  Look to add these lures to your arsenal.

Like you, I always have a swimjig tied on usually with either a paddle tail swimbait or a grub body. I also have a 5 inch kalin Linker grub tied on my spinning rod. It will either be bluegill, smoke salt pepper or watermelon/ red flake.  Check out a BPS Perfect Finesse Worm Jighead. It is like a slider head and is perfect for grubs and small worms.  It is a one piece texas rig. Definitely add shakeyhead jig heads and some typical straight tail worms like the Z man products.

 

Be sure to add some tubes to your arsenal and they have lots of ways to be rigged as well. When fishing more open water (covering flats, fishing between docks, even covering a grass flat etc.) I will either texas rig it with an internal weight or even use spit shots and make a finesse carolina rig,

Next comes paddle tail swimbaits. I use primarily Reaction Innovations  Little Dippers, Skinny Dippers and Big Dippers. I also like some of the Roboworm baits, and Keitechs as well.  If you are fishing them on swimbait hooks unweighted than a medium spinning rod is my choice. If you are fishing them on a belly weighted swimbait hook then it goes on your medium spinning rod also.  If you are throwing them in deep water then use a swimbait jig head like Picasso offers. They look like a fish head molded on the hook.  I will throw 3/8, and 1/2 0z. These would probably throw best on your baitcaster, maybe your medium.

If you fish early and late season (cold water ) add some jerkbaits, things like Lucky Craft, McSticks ets.  Normally these would be fished on a medium mod baitcaster using say 10 to 14 pound fluoro, but in cold water throw them on 5 or 8 pound test on a spinning rod.  Fish them slow with small twitches and long pauses.  ALso if you are fishing deeper cold water add some Cincy Fisher blade baits. These are a very well made copy of a Silver Buddy and cost way lees. They also come with great hooks.

These are just a few of the baits that will help you as you dial in your rod arsenal.  There are many more, but these baits allow me and my wife to catch bass, stripers, panfish and catfish from my home waters on the Chesapeake Bay ( Susquehanna Flats, Upper Bay, Middle River, Potomac River etc) and deep clear lakes we travel hours to get to. Some of these are located in Tennessee, Kentucky, VA, PA, MO,and NC. Oh and if you do not have Ned rigs get them. These little do nothing baits have saved my but and helped land over a dozen smallies and largies that weighed over 6 pounds. I fish them on my ml spinning rod.

[NateCatchesFish]

27 minutes ago, fishnkamp said:

I am not sure what your budget is butt take a good look at a rod like the Dobyns Sierra SA693 SF. I really like these rods. It specs 3/16 to 5/8 but will handle a bit more.

 

Another good option would be a St Croix  Avid X AXS68MXF.  That is a 6'8" Medium xf rod and specs the same.

 

I like to throw Berkley FireLine 14 pound test which is equal 6 pound mono.  I also usually add a 4 foot leader to it. I really like P Line CXX in 8 pound test,  That combo works great. 

Right now I'm planning on getting a 13 ***. I'm a big *** fan. They are solid rods and reels.  And I'll probably pair it with either a *** or the new shimano Sahara 

Just now, NateCatchesFish said:

Right now I'm planning on getting a 13 ***. I'm a big *** fan. They are solid rods and reels.  And I'll probably pair it with either a *** or the new shimano Sahara 

Not really sure as to why it blanks out the brands 

[fishnkamp]

This website was asked by the manufacturer to censor it's name or face legal issues,  There were some ignorant members that let's say were not fairly treating their brand here on the site. The owner took action and developed this censor, something that satisfied the manufacture at the time.  Glen is not trying to suggest the brand should not be mentioned because of any other reason than a serious request by the manufacturer.

 

The shame of it is time has past, most of the members on here consider their products to be first rate and would actually give them high praise for their products.  You can understand that the ills caused by a few often impact the rest of us.

 

I forget where it is but I read a note on here sorta explaining all of this in one of the sticky posts.

Ironically, when it is censored, so we can not read it, we sorta automatically know who you were typing anyway. LOL 

Have you had one of their " Fate Chrome: rods in your hands. That 7'1" looks like it might be nice.  Actually so does the Fate Black.

[NateCatchesFish]

1 hour ago, fishnkamp said:

This website was asked by the manufacturer to censor it's name or face legal issues,  There were some ignorant members that let's say were not fairly treating their brand here on the site. The owner took action and developed this censor, something that satisfied the manufacture at the time.  Glen is not trying to suggest the brand should not be mentioned because of any other reason than a serious request by the manufacturer.

 

The shame of it is time has past, most of the members on here consider their products to be first rate and would actually give them high praise for their products.  You can understand that the ills caused by a few often impact the rest of us.

 

I forget where it is but I read a note on here sorta explaining all of this in one of the sticky posts.

Ironically, when it is censored, so we can not read it, we sorta automatically know who you were typing anyway. LOL 

Have you had one of their " Fate Chrome: rods in your hands. That 7'1" looks like it might be nice.  Actually so does the Fate Black.

Thanks for the help! I'm definitely gonna be picking it up. My main problem is versatility. I have my confidence baits and even though they catch a ton of fish I would like to expand to catch bigger fish and more fish and be able to do whatever it is the fish are biting. And I have the blackout which is the same blank as the fate chrome with the same quides and I can say it definitely feels like a solid rod in your hands. Should have been priced at more than it was in my opinion 

[fishnkamp]

Never be unhappy with a deal.  Well if you ask my wife she will tell you her number one confidence bait is a grub!!  We have fished for lets say the better of 4 decades and the Kalin grub is it for her. They discontinued her favorite color, so I had to scoop up every available Kalin 5 inch Lunker grub in smoke salt & pepper with red flake in the US. I am the PROUD owner of almost 400 of them.  Believe it or not.  having said that it is her best clear water color, great for gin clear lakes that hold smallies, largies, and Kentucky spots.   We always use that BPS Perfect Finesse worm jighead,

It is a simple rig and good for grubs, worms or small creature baits. It is better than typical texas rig setups because the worm weight will never separate from the bait causing you to hang up in structure.  I have found the watermelon/ red flake is the next best color and bluegill works great in clear and tidal water. We have used a ton of other brands and they never matched up in success.  

The Reaction Innovation Skinny Dippers are my go to bait  I throw them on the belly weighted Gamakatsu swimbait hooks most of the time ( anytime I am fishing in water 5 feet to 10 feet).  If I am fishing shallower than 5 ft it is usually unweighted, any deeper than 10 it will be rigged on a Picasso style jighead..  These are always on our deck for sure.  They also both make great follow up baits for a missed frog or other topwater bait fish.  

My local tackle shop is amazing and stocks so many brands that big box stores do not, that I get to handle rods from your brand, Powell, Irod, Dobyns, Duckett, and many more. They just started to stock reels like the Origins, Concepts ( all of the alphabet LOL)

[NateCatchesFish]

3 minutes ago, fishnkamp said:

Never be unhappy with a deal.  Well if you ask my wife she will tell you her number one confidence bait is a grub!!  We have fished for lets say the better of 4 decades and the Kalin grub is it for her. They discontinued her favorite color, so I had to scoop up every available Kalin 5 inch Lunker grub in smoke salt & pepper with red flake in the US. I am the PROUD owner of almost 400 of them.  Believe it or not.  having said that it is her best clear water color, great for gin clear lakes that hold smallies, largies, and Kentucky spots.   We always use that BPS Perfect Finesse worm jighead,

It is a simple rig and good for grubs, worms or small creature baits. It is better than typical texas rig setups because the worm weight will never separate from the bait causing you to hang up in structure.  I have found the watermelon/ red flake is the next best color and bluegill works great in clear and tidal water. We have used a ton of other brands and they never matched up in success.  

The Reaction Innovation Skinny Dippers are my go to bait  I throw them on the belly weighted Gamakatsu swimbait hooks most of the time ( anytime I am fishing in water 5 feet to 10 feet).  If I am fishing shallower than 5 ft it is usually unweighted, any deeper than 10 it will be rigged on a Picasso style jighead

I personally never fish grubs. It's something I need to try. My go to is a wacky rigged senko or bps stik bait or lately I've been wacky rigging trick worms. It just flat out catches fish for me more than anything. I just wanna become more versatile and if the fish are biting a certain thing really well I wanna be able to do that specific thing. 

[fishnkamp]

My friend is is a stickbait freak as well. Have you tried the Yamamoto fading watermelon/ black flake?  I think that is his favorite. We both fish them with o rings and the wacky style jig heads. Those worms can be fished many different ways but always get bit.  Most people get locked into one type bait on their drop shots too. Big Mistake. The typical drop shot worm is great. If it does not get bit have a bait like the Power Teams JP  Hammer Shads, a leech  pattern or even a goby style bait ready. I like the Hammer shads myself.

 

[NateCatchesFish]

1 hour ago, fishnkamp said:

My friend is is a stickbait freak as well. Have you tried the Yamamoto fading watermelon/ black flake?  I think that is his favorite. We both fish them with o rings and the wacky style jig heads. Those worms can be fished many different ways but always get bit.  Most people get locked into one type bait on their drop shots too. Big Mistake. The typical drop shot worm is great. If it does not get bit have a bait like the Power Teams JP  Hammer Shads, a leech  pattern or even a goby style bait ready. I like the Hammer shads myself.

 

I've never used anything like that. For droppshotting I usually am using a bottom hopper, trick worm, or sometimes a tiny fluke just to show the bass something different. I've been trying to find new baits to use on a wacky rig because that rig just flat out catches fish no matter what you use with it. 

[fishnkamp]

Many times an angler will come in looking for the "perfect" next rig that they will magically catch all of the fish with.
 

My advice to most of the posters is to explore what they have and what it can do first. Building a well rounded rod arsenal could include just a few rod combos or be as advanced as mine, and I do not hold a candle to many others on here!  In my rod box is 15 rods 3 of which are spinning the rest are baitcasters.

 

Take any technique and explore how it can be used better.  Many times I look for baits I can use in many different ways. 

 

If you look at the drop shot technique. It is a pretty simple setup, you either tie on a hook and leave the drop tag line for the weight or you tie on one of the drop shot spin rigs like many manufacturer makes. The fish will not care.

Then most anglers will put on a short finesse worm.  If it does not get bit they are done with it.  If it catches fish they never experiment beyond it.

 

Instead, if you catch a fish here and there, try the same rig and test a Hammer Shad, a leach pattern, maybe a thin worm, maybe a Roboworm Ripper worm.  Try a longer drop or a shorter drop to the weight. That is what it takes sometimes.

 

 

Picture the Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper,  Remember they come in 3 sizes and each offers a different profile and options when rigging.  I prefer the smaller size if I am covering really shallow water and it will be thrown on a spinning rod most times weightless. If I am fishing 1 to 8 feet of water, then it is most times a Skinny Dipper instead of a Little Dipper that will be tied on.  If we are on Dale Hollow lake, a huge gin clear lake in Tennessee, and we are chasing BIG smallies that are suspended under big schools of shad, then we use a 3/8 to 1/2 ounce Picasso swimbait jighead and we will be throwing either Skinny Dippers or Big Dippers.  Just look how 1 bait in 3 sizes rigged 3 different ways can potentially be the answer to catching fish in so many different situations.  I have confidence with each one, regardless of how it is rigged, because i have caught so many fish using essentially the same technique.

 

By the way, I am not suggesting you fill up your boat full of tackle.  Instead, I am suggesting purchasing a few packs of different baits in a couple of colors and using them with techniques you already have or will gain confidence in. By being able to use the same baits multiple ways you make it easy to switch up what you are offering the fish. I own and fish some crankbaits for the 1970s-80s and 92s and I believe they are fish catchers because they act different than today's  KVD 1.5s that everyone else is throwing. Mix it up and see what happens.

Here are a few pics of the swimbait equipment that works for me. 

 

[NateCatchesFish]

3 hours ago, fishnkamp said:

Many times an angler will come in looking for the "perfect" next rig that they will magically catch all of the fish with.
 

My advice to most of the posters is to explore what they have and what it can do first. Building a well rounded rod arsenal could include just a few rod combos or be as advanced as mine, and I do not hold a candle to many others on here!  In my rod box is 15 rods 3 of which are spinning the rest are baitcasters.

 

Take any technique and explore how it can be used better.  Many times I look for baits I can use in many different ways. 

 

If you look at the drop shot technique. It is a pretty simple setup, you either tie on a hook and leave the drop tag line for the weight or you tie on one of the drop shot spin rigs like many manufacturer makes. The fish will not care.

Then most anglers will put on a short finesse worm.  If it does not get bit they are done with it.  If it catches fish they never experiment beyond it.

 

Instead, if you catch a fish here and there, try the same rig and test a Hammer Shad, a leach pattern, maybe a thin worm, maybe a Roboworm Ripper worm.  Try a longer drop or a shorter drop to the weight. That is what it takes sometimes.

 

 

Picture the Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper,  Remember they come in 3 sizes and each offers a different profile and options when rigging.  I prefer the smaller size if I am covering really shallow water and it will be thrown on a spinning rod most times weightless. If I am fishing 1 to 8 feet of water, then it is most times a Skinny Dipper instead of a Little Dipper that will be tied on.  If we are on Dale Hollow lake, a huge gin clear lake in Tennessee, and we are chasing BIG smallies that are suspended under big schools of shad, then we use a 3/8 to 1/2 ounce Picasso swimbait jighead and we will be throwing either Skinny Dippers or Big Dippers.  Just look how 1 bait in 3 sizes rigged 3 different ways can potentially be the answer to catching fish in so many different situations.  I have confidence with each one, regardless of how it is rigged, because i have caught so many fish using essentially the same technique.

 

By the way, I am not suggesting you fill up your boat full of tackle.  Instead, I am suggesting purchasing a few packs of different baits in a couple of colors and using them with techniques you already have or will gain confidence in. By being able to use the same baits multiple ways you make it easy to switch up what you are offering the fish. I own and fish some crankbaits for the 1970s-80s and 92s and I believe they are fish catchers because they act different than today's  KVD 1.5s that everyone else is throwing. Mix it up and see what happens.

Here are a few pics of the swimbait equipment that works for me. 

 

Thanks for the advice! I also just went and picked up my Medium spinning rod. It's a pretty solid rod. I'm excited to try it out tomorrow. And that's kinda what I've been doing. This is the first year I've been this heavy into bass fishing. Before it was just something I did for fun but now I've started taking it serious and one day I would love the opportunity to go pro so I need to learn now. I don't have that much tackle. But to me it's a lot. I have tons and tons of stick baits, tons of crankbaits which I'm still learning how to use and which different situations I should be using them in and things like that, and also a decent amount of jigs me some odds and end stuff. Lately what I've been doing is picking up a certain bait and not putting it down for the whole day unless it's so slow that the fish only want one thing. I'm trying to put time into learning many different baits and expand from there. I'm a big cranking and wacky rig fan I consider both of those my strong suits and in reality the things I can fish the best. I'm not saying I can't fish other baits but for instance a shaky head is a technique I've yet to catch a fish on. So I'm trying to just go one by one and expand and build.