8' med hvy Rod for general fishing?

[brent245]

Seems tough to find longer rods with MH power, I found a Lew's David Fritts Perfect crank 7'11" MH Moderate-fast for 1/2-3oz baits $80. Would this rod work well for squarebills, chatterbaits, topwater, and maybe some lighter swimbaits? There's also a 7'11" Powell  max3d crankbait MH moderate-fast 1/4-2oz baits for $160. Or should I be looking at heavy power rods? It's confusing looking at rod specs.

[webertime]

http://www.phenixrods.com/products/freshwater/recon-2/

the 8 footer is not a crankbait rod, not a flipping stick either.  It's like a "4.5" Power Dobyns or Powell, just 8' long.  Softer tip with plenty of backbone.

[brent245]

Well as luck would have it the tip broke off my rod last night. So I headed to bass pro and got another mojo bass. They didn't have the same one I had but I ended up getting a 7'6 MH mod-fast. It says its a lite flipping rod, but I hope it is versatile enough for most things.

[wet_dream]

31 minutes ago, Brent Heermans said:

Well as luck would have it the tip broke off my rod last night. So I headed to bass pro and got another mojo bass. They didn't have the same one I had but I ended up getting a 7'6 MH mod-fast. It says its a lite flipping rod, but I hope it is versatile enough for most things.

 

St. Croix has an awesome warranty program and service to match. I broke a saltwater spinning rod last year, due to user error, and was shipped a new one at a discounted price using their Gold Star Service Plan. I'd look into that unless you bought the service plan through BPS.

[CTBassin860]

That's my exact jig setup.Turn the magforce to 0,adjust spool tension so the lure doesn't overrun when it hits the ground.Turn the magforce back to 5-6 and have at it. Don't try to throw the lure across the pond and you'll be fine.

[timsford]

If you really want a long cast I'd try to find a 7'-7'6" med or med heavy spinning rod and a 3000 series reel. I have a lot of combos but the ones I can cast the farthest is a 7'6" med fast spinning rod with a Procyon 3000 or a 7'6" mh fast spinning rod with a Daiwa ss 1300 reel. I use these when bank fishing local tailraces with crankbaits, swimbaits, and underspins for smallmouth and stripers. I can easily cast and land my bait on the opposite shore which is around 90 yards away when I'm using a lipless cranks or any aerodynamic 1/2 oz or so lure. One of the most productive baits I use is a Norman deep little n and both of these combos handle it great. Most guys wouldn't think of using it on spinning gear but it's the only way I can cast far enough to hut my desired spot on the retrieve. Casting reels feel better when retrieving a high resistance bait like a deep crank but the spinning outfit handles it great and has plenty of power to fight double digit stripers in current. I prefer baitcasters for most situations but if I really need to reach out far on a cast I break out the spinning gear. I actually got the idea from watching mark Davis use spinning tackle with swimbaits when he needed a long cast

[brent245]

Well I ended up with a 7'6 MH mod-fast mojo bass. My old rod broke. And bass pro was out of the model I had. Its a lite flippin rod. Definitely stiffer than my old rod which was the 7'1 MH fast jig-bait rod.  I took it out for awhile yesterday it casts ok but feels stiffer in the tip. It may not be appropriate for what I'm doing with it.

[Airman4754]

On 5/17/2017 at 8:25 AM, webertime said:

I started an experiment this season with an 8' MH Phenix Recon2, a Daiwa Zillion HSLA with a 100m spool and 30lb braid for Chatterbaits, Swimjigs, Spinnerbaits. 

I wanted to see if:

The 8' really make a difference in casting distance over a 7'-7'6" rod.  

That using a longer rod, that I would pull the baits away from the fish less often (softer tip).

If using a longer rod would allow me to catch up to the hits from behind the bait that push slack into the line.

 

So far distance wise it's MAYBE 10' longer (not enough to run out and buy a $200 rod). 

Accuracy is the same for me whether it's 7' or 8'. 

Missed fish due to the "pushing" of the bait...  That I can see that there is a difference in that I can catch up to them better.

Pulling the bait away...  seems to help a little.

 

I really like the set up and will keep tweaking it, for now I'd say it's a success.

 

Those Recons are really good for the price. I use the 764 for my mag plastic setup and I love it. 

 

On topic I switched up my Keitech rod from a 7'2" to an 8' and I'm really glad I did. Every rod I have now is 7'6" or longer and I would never go back. The added distance, hook set, and ability to keep fish pinned are great. You really do have a lot less control of the fish though. The days of water skiing a fish in with a 6' to 7' rod and a high ratio reel are over. 

 

It's all preference. I would say try the 8' rod idea and see how it fits you. I tried the 10'+ rod thing for salmon and steelhead and hated it, but love longer rods for bass. It takes all kinds.