Am I Using The Right Rod?

[Tconley]

So I treated myself to an upgraded rod/reel setup this last month and decided to go with a 7' ML/F St. Croix Premier with a Daiwa Fuego LT 2500 spooled with 8lb Yo-Zuri Hybrid. I primarily want to fish 4" senkos and the 2 3/4" Yo-Zuri 3DS Minnows but I'm wondering if I shouldn't have gone with a medium instead? The 4" senkos feel solid and like I could cast them just fine on a medium but the 3DS are pretty lightweight. Even though my goal is just to have a good time and not really trying to trophy hunt, I'm wondering if I'm a little undergunned?

[jbsoonerfan]

You fishing those 4" senkos weightless, on a 1/16 oz Ned, on a 1/4 oz shakey head, 3/32 oz dropshot?

 

That is very important to the power of rod to be used in my opinion.

 

Edit* I would also consider the rods ratings when making my decision. The 3DS is 1/4 oz but a treble hook bait so I wouldn't worry as much about the rods power and I would think a M should cast it well enough (depending on the rods rating)

[jimmyjoe]

   If you're fishing timber or weeds with the Senkos, you might benefit from a M/F rod. Other wise, I use a ML/F Avid-X for what you describe, and I wouldn't say I'm undergunned at all.      jj

[Throwafrog]

In my opinion the power depends on the type of line I'm using if it's braid you can use a lighter rod and if it's mono you might want a little stronger rod. In your case I would use braid to Mono leader, should be perfect for what you plan to do. IMO

[Tconley]

8 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

You fishing those 4" senkos weightless, on a 1/16 oz Ned, on a 1/4 oz shakey head, 3/32 oz dropshot?

 

That is very important to the power of rod to be used in my opinion.

 

Edit* I would also consider the rods ratings when making my decision. The 3DS is 1/4 oz but a treble hook bait so I wouldn't worry as much about the rods power and I would think a M should cast it well enough (depending on the rods rating)

Sorry! Forgot to note I'm throwing them weightless, with either a EWG or wacky hook. I believe they're about 3/8oz even still.

 

8 hours ago, jimmyjoe said:

   If you're fishing timber or weeds with the Senkos, you might benefit from a M/F rod. Other wise, I use a ML/F Avid-X for what you describe, and I wouldn't say I'm undergunned at all.      jj

Good to know. What line do you use?

 

7 hours ago, Throwafrog said:

In my opinion the power depends on the type of line I'm using if it's braid you can use a lighter rod and if it's mono you might want a little stronger rod. In your case I would use braid to Mono leader, should be perfect for what you plan to do. IMO

Interesting point. I use braid with fluoro leader on my inshore setup, but I didn't want to fuss with a leader on this one and wanted a line with a little give, but not as much as traditional mono.

[jimmyjoe]

6 minutes ago, Tconley said:

Good to know. What line do you use?

 

   6 lb. Magnethin.     jj

[Throwafrog]

5 hours ago, Tconley said:

nteresting point. I use braid with fluoro leader on my inshore setup, but I didn't want to fuss with a leader on this one and wanted a line with a little give, but not as much as traditional mono.

I have never tried that line does it have less stretch than normal mono?  normally use stren original

 

A couple years ago I broke one of my spinning reels that I had the same one so I took the spool off and filled it up with braid. So I had one spool braid and one with mono and could just switch the spool back and forth, I was walking a lot, doing a lot of bank fishing down the river so it was nice to just carry 1 rod. And it was a medium light so when i wanted to fish small jigs a texas rigs etc. i would use the braid

[NOC 1]

21 hours ago, Tconley said:

So I treated myself to an upgraded rod/reel setup this last month and decided to go with a 7' ML/F St. Croix Premier with a Daiwa Fuego LT 2500 spooled with 8lb Yo-Zuri Hybrid. I primarily want to fish 4" senkos and the 2 3/4" Yo-Zuri 3DS Minnows but I'm wondering if I shouldn't have gone with a medium instead? The 4" senkos feel solid and like I could cast them just fine on a medium but the 3DS are pretty lightweight. Even though my goal is just to have a good time and not really trying to trophy hunt, I'm wondering if I'm a little undergunned?

Sounds about right to me. I use a Black Label ML/R for the same thing and it seems better than a Med to me.

12 hours ago, Tconley said:

Good to know. What line do you use?

 

I use P-Line Flouroclear Fluorocoated co-poly, 8lb