Medium light, moderate action rod? Lightweight trebles

[Capriceragtop]

Happy Sunday, folks!

 

I've been building my arsenal over the months. Got my first true cranking rod over the summer, and considering another rod.

 

I've been throwing lighter treble hooks lately: Rapala floating minnow (3/16oz), poppers, jerkbaits, etc. I've been reading moderate action is best, to allow some "give" when setting the hook. I run braid with flouro leader on almost everything.

 

Am I overthinking this, in that I *need* a medium light, moderate action rod for these lighter trebles? I've been throwing them on a 6'6" St Croix Premier, light power, fast action. My concern is the rod is too light for bass, but I can't seem to find a medium light moderate? Looking for something that goes down to 1/8oz.

 

Or is the gear monkey just trying to get his way, and I should just use mono or copoly line on a fast action? Don't have a good medium light fast action rod, but it seems like maybe I could find more uses than a straight light duty cranking rod.

[mrpao]

The rod you have should be fine for light treble hooks. I use fast action light powered rods for bass all the time. I usually use #6 mono or fluro on my rods.

Main thing i find is that make sure your hooks a sharp. Easier to penetrate and keep them pinned.

[fishwizzard]

A lot of the time I throw poppers on a powerful M/XF rod with braid to leader.  I set the drag on the loose side and take a little care in fighting the bass in.  Now, poppers make it easier by virtue of having the bass start the fight on top, so this might not work as well with cranks or jerks with the same diameter hooks.  

 

As for your current rod, my memory of my 6'6" Premier L/F was that it was on the powerful side of Light and a little on the Mod side of Fast, so it might work out perfectly for you.  

[jimmyjoe]

   Evidently you're not fishing in waters that have a lot of cover. Light power is too light to "horse" the fish out of cover.

   As for the L/F premier ....... it's NOT too light for bass in unobstructed waters. I've used lighter, and had very good luck ..... for years.          jj

[Capriceragtop]

JJ,

 

You're correct, basically no cover. Almost exclusively from the bank, and all my usual ponds are clear, save for the occasional hydrilla or algae.

 

Glad to hear the L/F is OK this task. It just seems so flimsy when I whip a lure out there. Fantastic rod for inline spinners, and I used it for some weightless egg hooks on a trout stream

 

May have to save up for the 7'6" ML/F, though. Seems like a solid rod for weightless T-Rig trick worms.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

Most any ML F and even XF are soft enough for trebles.  ML rods for the most part are really versatile as well.  From everything finesse to all but but the heavier weightless plastics.  You can get away with throwing weightless T rigged 5" senkos and tubes if the tip is stout enough but I just prefer a M.  

Keep in mind that once you get over 7'2 with a ML the tip section start to get longer which means there's more flex before you get to the backbone of the rod.  So while a 7'6 would be great for little cranks and anything with an open hook, that slower action isn't ideal for weightless T rigs IMO.   

[Capriceragtop]

@GetFishorDieTryin Thanks for the advice, though now you may have opened up the opportunity for two rods! I have a 7' M/F St. Croix Premier, and it's my light jig rod. I originally got it for weightless T-rig trick worms, but I think they're a bit too light for it. I found a 7' ML/F on sale, so I may snap that up, despite being in the market for a light treble rod.

 

Maybe I can make the 7'6 ML/F a Christmas item. Folks always complaining I don't have a list!

[J Francho]

Saint Croix Avid AVC70MM throws everything from peanut size cranks up to a little over a 1/2 oz.  It's probably one of the best rods in that lineup.

[Capriceragtop]

@J Francho Thanks for the tip! May have to wait on that one, as it looks pretty similar spec-wise to the Dobyns Fury crank rod. 

[new2BC4bass]

I'm probably wrong, but I've always felt that if a rod was capable of loading with a 1/8 oz. or 3/16 oz. lure then the rod was capable of handling treble hook lures.  I used a MF for crankbaits for a long time before buying my first dedicated crankbait rod.  No braid.

 

Notice I didn't just say capable of casting that weight....but loading.  That is putting a nice bend in the rod with a normal cast.  I've seen tomustang cast those weights on MHF St. Croix rods and we all know they fish on the heavy side.  He has a powerful cast.  One that literally makes the rod whistle on his more powerful casts.  But I wouldn't fish treble lures on such a rod if at all given a choice to use something lighter.

[Bass Rutten]

My main stick for the better part of a decade when I first started bass fishing was a St. Croix premiere 7' medium light fast action 2 piece (always used braid). I used it for jerkbaits, small cranks, shaky/slider worm, wacky, soft jerks, finesse jigs, live bait, on and on. Moderate action rod is preference not necessity. 

[WRB]

I use Major Craft Don Iovino Splash-It rod for this application.

6’8” Medium Fast, 1/4-1/2 lure rating. 11lb Armillo line.

Tom

[new2BC4bass]

6 hours ago, WRB said:

I use Major Craft Don Iovino Splash-It rod for this application.

6’8” Medium Fast, 1/4-1/2 lure rating. 11lb Armillo line.

Tom

I admire your fortitude in getting rid of most of your rods and settling on just a few.  I got back into fishing in 2009 and decided I wanted to try a baitcast reel.  Loved it!  Have been purchasing rods and reels since then.  I know that I should be able to sell my OG Tatulas and Fenwick ET Smallmouth rods for what I paid for them.  Maybe even more as I got them at great prices, but don't see myself being able to sell any of them.  Paid less than $100 for several reels because I bought used or closeouts, but it would be even harder for me to sell any of them.

 

My current inventory of both rods and reels far exceed what I can use, yet I find it extremely hard to sell any.  At 73 it behooves me to sell at least 50 rods and more than that number in reels, but deciding which to sell and which to keep is an exercise in frustration.  I've got about 4 reels and 9 rods that I might be willing to sell.  Selling any of the others would nearly break my heart.

 

What prompted you to downsize and how did you force yourself to follow through?  I need a little of that magic.  

[WRB]

It wasn’t  magic moment it was driven by a tragic moment, the death of my only son from cancer.

I grew up fishing sense I could walk and water safe. My son Tommy was my fishing companion sense he could walk and loved fishing with me. He was my charity and night tournament  bass fishing partner for years, since he was 6.

Tommy’s passion was computer science more then bass fishing. His business was Webb site development and fished with his dad because I enjoyed him however he was a great partner, very skilled bass angler. We enjoyed each other’s company and won serval events.

Tommy passed  away at my home from stage 4 renal cancel 5 days after his 38th birthday, 1/22/2020 and our world was changed forever.

Tom

[ryanerb]

17 hours ago, WRB said:

It wasn’t  magic moment it was driven by a tragic moment, the death of my only son from cancer.

I grew up fishing sense I could walk and water safe. My son Tommy was my fishing companion sense he could walk and loved fishing with me. He was my charity and night tournament  bass fishing partner for years, since he was 6.

Tommy’s passion was computer science more then bass fishing. His business was Webb site development and fished with his dad because I enjoyed him however he was a great partner, very skilled bass angler. We enjoyed each other’s company and won serval events.

Tommy passed  away at my home from stage 4 renal cancel 5 days after his 38th birthday, 1/22/2020 and our world was changed forever.

Tom

So sorry Tom.