Question on a rods weight to fish size in your area...

[Nattyboh74]

So Im located in Md, and generally just got serious into bass fishing here in MD. I used to fish before, but never serious. I did my research on here and it led me to get St.Croix's Avid-X line up in M and MH and both in Fast. Now, from what Ive learned here, the rods weight ( in this case, M and MH ) doesnt matter really what fish your fishing for, its based on the weight of the lures I would throw... right? I know the M isnt a finesse rod, but I could still throw power worms, senkos, Kreatures etc etc as long as its within the rod's "lure weight" range right? Then use the MH for the heavier lures like cranks, spinners etc.

 

Now where Im going with this is, I met a guy today that stated I cant use those rods for MD's bass as they are too small... Thats not true now is it?

 

Im hoping that I didnt make an expensive mistake here lol. I used them this year, did okay, but now it had me thinking, am I setup wrong?

[Angry John]

Fear not.  You have the two most common rods as long as they ar 7+ footers.  The medium will be your better choice for cranks IMO and the mh will be your jig swim jig super fluke and spinnerbait rod.  Depending on your line choice you could also frog with the Mhf.  I would set the mhf up with 40 or 50 lb braid and run a leader if you feel the need.  The Mf I would run a 10 or 12 lb copoly like YHB or p-line cx.  Add a mlxf spinning rod and your dialed into almost everything

[Nattyboh74]

Thanks. thats what I was thinking... I do want to get another rod, but right now I can get by with what I have, thats based on what I learned earlier in the year. Sure as you said I can dial it in more, but I can still get my feet wet now!

 

Thanks!

[Stephen B]

For someone who just got in bass fishing, I think you have 2 great rods that can cover a lot of techniques and backed with a solid warranty. Although the lure ratings are recommendations, they provide a general guideline for lure weights that the blank is designed to handle. One thing you will find with fishing is there is no such thing as correct rather preferences. It's all a learning process that everyone, even myself, went through. You made great purchases, so don't worry. Merry Christmas!

 

[Nattyboh74]

Thanks for the kind words. I kinda wanted to do a buy once, cry once with these rods. Are they the best? No. But better than medium grade, from what Ive gathered. I know each like their own brands etc and all but this is what I ended up with.

 

 

[Angry John]

For sure.  If you don't have y he setups complete I would get the medium together and dialed in.  The winter means they will not fight near as hard and the weeds are a lot less thick right now.  Might need to hurry to beat the hard water.  

[Nattyboh74]

hahah Went out today... Everything is frozen. Sad day... We drove around for a while from here to there back to over there and ended up here. lol. No go.

 

Now let me ask you this, can I use the Avids in saltwater and then just change out the reel?

 

We have brackish water here but Im still thinking its going to be too cold here for that as well.

[tkunk]

9 hours ago, Nattyboh74 said:

Now let me ask you this, can I use the Avids in saltwater and then just change out the reel?

Non-titanium guides can rust (I don't think Avid freshwater rods have titanium guides), so I wouldn't take the chance with a rod I cared about.

[WRB]

First the rods weight isn't the rods power rating, medium and medium heavy refer to the rods power. How the rod bends under light pressure is called action! The top 1/3rd bends faster then the bottom 2/3rds the action is fast. Most bass rods are fast action, some are faster or slower depending on the rod maker, no specific standards exist.

The rods power has more to do with line pound test or diameter, lure weight and hook type then the size of bass being caught. Any adult size bass is strong enough to tangle your line in heavy cover, you need a higher power rod to control the bass in cover. The sme size bass in water with little cover is easy to control with less power rods, you are just fighting the fish, not trying to prevent it form tangling your line around something.

Tom

[Angry John]

9 hours ago, portiabrat said:

Non-titanium guides can rust (I don't think Avid freshwater rods have titanium guides), so I wouldn't take the chance with a rod I cared about.

I also would not go full salt but if you have a delta area if your mostly fresh you should be ok as long as you do a good washing after use.  I chased striper in the Thames river in CT and in the CT river and washed everything down and had no issues.  Reels on the other hand are a lot more work to get clean and i have seen some nice stuff be neglected a few times and start looking trashed...

[new2BC4bass]

On 12/17/2017 at 11:33 PM, Nattyboh74 said:

So Im located in Md, and generally just got serious into bass fishing here in MD. I used to fish before, but never serious. I did my research on here and it led me to get St.Croix's Avid-X line up in M and MH and both in Fast. Now, from what Ive learned here, the rods weight ( in this case, M and MH ) doesnt matter really what fish your fishing for, its based on the weight of the lures I would throw... right? I know the M isnt a finesse rod, but I could still throw power worms, senkos, Kreatures etc etc as long as its within the rod's "lure weight" range right? Then use the MH for the heavier lures like cranks, spinners etc.

 

Now where Im going with this is, I met a guy today that stated I cant use those rods for MD's bass as they are too small... Thats not true now is it?

 

Im hoping that I didnt make an expensive mistake here lol. I used them this year, did okay, but now it had me thinking, am I setup wrong?

 

Did he also offer to take the rods off your hands at a much discounted price?  You are at the right place to find out the truth.  This guy obviously doesn't know what he is talking about.  Wait!  Maybe he meant the rods were too much for the small bass in MD.    If you agree, ship them to me.  I will pay shipping costs. 

 

Lure ratings on a rod aren't always accurate.  I've got at least one rod that won't handle the low lure rating worth a darn.  Some rods handle weights quite a bit over their rating.  The only way to know for sure about yours is to experiment.  You have purchased a couple fine rods.  Enjoy them.

[Deleted account]

On December 17, 2017 at 11:33 PM, Nattyboh74 said:

So Im located in Md, and generally just got serious into bass fishing here in MD. I used to fish before, but never serious. I did my research on here and it led me to get St.Croix's Avid-X line up in M and MH and both in Fast. Now, from what Ive learned here, the rods weight ( in this case, M and MH ) doesnt matter really what fish your fishing for, its based on the weight of the lures I would throw... right? I know the M isnt a finesse rod, but I could still throw power worms, senkos, Kreatures etc etc as long as its within the rod's "lure weight" range right? Then use the MH for the heavier lures like cranks, spinners etc.

 

Now where Im going with this is, I met a guy today that stated I cant use those rods for MD's bass as they are too small... Thats not true now is it?

 

Im hoping that I didnt make an expensive mistake here lol. I used them this year, did okay, but now it had me thinking, am I setup wrong?

First, never ever listen to a guy from MD about anything fishing. 

To your question, there will be a use for a med and MH rod pretty much everywhere bass swim. Ask your guy if he needs help with size in MD.

[fishwizzard]

 I beat my head against the wall for a year or so trying to use L and ML rods for everything around here until I finally saw reason and got some heavier gear. Even if the bass are small, the cover can still call for heavier tackle.  

[fishnkamp]

Welcome to BR. You will get plenty of good advice here, and you already have.

I sent you a pm with some in detail info about fishing here in MD.

I fish tidal bass, freshwater reservoirs and streams/rivers here in MD. During my tidal fishing I fish all of my rods and reels and just flush them occasionally. The Potomac, Upper Bay and rivers like Back River, Middle River, the Choptank, etc are not really full salty like an ocean.  I use a lot of Diawa & Bass Pro baitcasters, and Pflueger spinning reels without any issues.  I target bass and stripers, but often catch a lot of big blue cats and perch.
If you are interested in talking MD fishing opportunities you are welcome to contact me and we can spend some time on the phone or in person.

[MDbassin]

On 12/19/2017 at 10:28 AM, reason said:

First, never ever listen to a guy from MD about anything fishing. 

To your question, there will be a use for a med and MH rod pretty much everywhere bass swim. Ask your guy if he needs help with size in MD.

I wouldn't go that far MD is known for there watermen mostly crabbers and it's trophy rockfishing 

 

That being said tho @Nattyboh74 I am also in MD on the eastern shore, the majority of fishermen in MD are saltwater or brackish water guys us freshwater guys are outnumbered and not a whole lot is known about the bass here.

 

I use a Dobyns Fury 703 (medium power)mostly for weightless senkos but it pulls double duty as a drop shot rod rather well all the way up to once again a Dobyns Fury 735 which is a Mag Heavy for frogs.

 

My point is don't ever base the rod power on the size of the fish base it off the application and lure weight. If you were to follow that guys (who I'll just say it is a knucklehead) advice then you would be losing a lot of fish cause if you tried to frog fish with a medium power rod and you try to set those 2 thick beefy hooks in that fishes mouth along with whatever other slop he is dragging behind him it won't work you need that power to horse that fish out of there and into open water and also be able to hook him it takes a lot of force to drive those thick hooks into that hard upper mouth.

 

Also secondly never underestimate the fighting power of a bass in panic mode after getting hooked.... even if it is a dink. Hope this helps good luck

 

Next time he tells you our fish are to small show him these. We might not have Florida, Texas, or California sizes but we do have good sizes.... Aaron Martens won't the Chesapeke event  a few years ago with a 9+ pounder we have no stars just not in huge numbers

Next time he tells you are fish are to small show him these. We might not have Florida, Texas, or California sizes but we do have good sizes.... Aaron Martens won't the Chesapeke event  a few years ago with a 9+ pounder we have no stars just not in huge numbers

[Boomstick]

Worry not, both of your rods are very valuable assets for bass fishering. The only thing you need now is a rod for crankbaits and other treble hooked baits -- with a moderate tip or at least moderate fast, so it doesn't pull the hooks from the fish's mouthes, and maybe a heavy rod for heavier applications (swimbaits, punching). I make do with a MH/F and a MH/R glass cranking rod, but the next casting rod I would add would be a M/F or even M/XF for soft plastics, as I don't have the need for a heavy rod as much around here.

 

The medium is a good choice for soft plastic worms, spinnerbaits 3/8oz and under, and would be better for cranks as it would have a little more play (although a moderate or even moderate fast tip would be better). I might consider mono for extra play on the M/F rod especially if you ever fish baits with treble hooks. The MH can do spinnerbaits 3/8oz and up, jigs, frogs, etc. and other soft plastics besides worms that want a bit more backbone. You can run heavier fluorocarbon or 30# or 40# braid on this one.

 

That guy who told you these rods wont work has no idea what he's talking about. You buy the rod based on the lures you want to throw, not the size of the fish! Sure, larger lures will target larger fish but I've caught plenty of small bass on a 3/8oz spinnerbait or a t-rigged senko.