Phoenix Feather 6’9??

[Josh Schiller]

Does anybody own a phoenix feather bait casting rod? I’m looking for a finesse baitcaster  to throw my smaller cranks, jerks, and Texas rigs. 
 

Is the phoenix feather light? Compared to Slx rod, which is lighter? Want to also use it for jerking and top water. 
 

What are your experiences with this rod and do you recommend? Specifically the 6’9 MH rod. 
 

Thanks!
 

 

[BC VC basser]

I do. I use it for to my topwater/jerkbait 
Mostly throw 1/2 -3/4 oz lures
Been very happy with it. Has a nice light feel and balance. 

Leans more to a medium power than m/h

My opinion:  6’9"m/h wouldn’t give enough for anything 1/4oz and below, although I haven’t thrown that light of stuff on it

 

Just starting to research light tackle bait cast ( bfs gear ) myself

Wanting to move my finesse presentations away from spinning rod to a bait caster 

 

 

[new2BC4bass]

While I've no experience with either rod, I feel quite sure that I can say the Feather is lighter.  The 7'1" MH-EF Feather weighs 3.3 oz. per TT's review.  That's light!

 

Personally I wouldn't use the same rod for small cranks and T-rigs unless I absolutely had to.  Every post or review I've read on Phenix rods suggests they fish light.  Something to keep in mind.

 

BTW, it's Phenix.  You can't always depend on spellcheck to give you the correct spellings. 

[FryDog62]

Very light rods. I have the 7’1” model of the Light, Medium-Light and Medium-Heavy. I use the Light version with a BFS reel, works great. I’d be willing to bet the 7’1” Feather weigh less than a 6’10” SLX. 

[new2BC4bass]

6 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

Very light rods. I have the 7’1” model of the Light, Medium-Light and Medium-Heavy. I use the Light version with a BFS reel, works great. I’d be willing to bet the 7’1” Feather weigh less than a 6’10” SLX. 

Couldn't find weights on the SLX rods, but I'd be willing to bet they weigh 4 oz. or more.

[Big Hands]

Disclaimer: I am nowhere near being a good jerkbait angler. I fish with them, I have caught some fish with them, but they are not my forte by any stretch of anyone's imagination.

 

I have four Phenix Feather casting rods: 7'1" H, 7'7" MH, 7'1" ML, and 7'1" L. They don't make a medium power, or I would probably have one of those too. Personally I think they all fish a little lighter than what other brand rods do. . . but just a little lighter. 

 

I also have a SLX 6'10" M/XF (SLXCX610M), which is one of the rods the TB guys recommend for a budget jerkbait rod. I also think it's a great jerkbait rod for the price you pay for one. The 8.5 pounder I caught with it using a Vision 110 makes it hard to say anything negative. It has an XF action which makes it easier to kill the forward momentum if that's the way you like to fish jerkbaits. I also fish jerkbaits with a couple of the Phenix Composite-X rods (X-13 and X-12) that have a mod fast action.

 

I think the different rods could make it easier to do one thing easier than another, but a skilled angler could probably also use a single rod, and impart different actions to the baits to make them do different things. 

 

I will say that it never occurred to me to use the 7'7" MH with a jerkbait because I figured that the fast action combined with a MH power may not be the best way to keep a fish pinned on a treble hook. And the 6'9" Feather is an XF action so it might (in my mind anyway) have a little too much backbone for that type of fishing.

 

I don't have the SLX MH, but have checked them out for general use, and wasn't particularly impressed. The balance seemed a bit bulky and tip heavy and I have read of others having the same opinion. If I was going to use a MH rod for any treble baits for jerkbait fishing, I would probably want it to have no more than a mod-fast action.

 

You can certainly fish Texas rig plastics and crankbaits with the same MH rod, but that rod IMHO is not going to excel at both techniques. Maybe in a lighter action like a ML, but in my neck of the woods, a MH/F or MH/XF is not a choice small crankbait rod, nor is it a finesse texas rig rod. 

 

I have two of what I consider finesse casting combos, but neither is true BFS, more like BFS-adjacent. To me, what I call 'finesse' is not what I would call true BFS. I don't currently fish true BFS stuff.When I say 'finesse', I am referring to 12 to 15 lb braid with 6 to 8 lb fluoro leaders. TO ME, BFS is lighter than that, say 8 to 10 lb braid with 3 to 6 lb leaders. Two different animals. 

 

Both of my fineese rigs have Curado BFS reels with 15 lb braid and I use 6 to 8 lb leaders. They are both Feather casting rods (a L and a ML). I would throw smaller crankbaits with either, and I do throw finesse texas rig plastics with both. When I bought the L, I was looking to get a small crankbait rod, and was originally looking at the X-9 Composite-X, but side-by-side, they had nearly the same action and the Feather was noticeably lighter in weight. No brainer for me as I can use it for both techniques and the Feather is lighter. Texas rig plastics with 1/4 oz or less sinkers with either combo. I will say that the drag on the Curado BFS is not like your dad's baitcaster. They are excellent with 6 to 8 lb leaders, but I think 10 lb could put the hurt on the drag washers and you'd have to crank it down pretty firmly to break off 10 lb line.

 

For night fishing this past summer I really liked the Feather ML with texas rig 7" Power Worms (with the first three 'bulbs' cut off) with 1/8 to 1/4 oz tungsten weights on 8 lb leader.

 

I know I am kinda ramblin'. Verbosity is my super power, LOL. Bottom line is that I don't think a MH/F or MH/XF is going to be a good rod for finesse t-rigs, small crankbaits, or jerkbait fishing. But, I think that the SLXCX610M could be decent for all of those activities, as could the Feather FTX-71ML or even the FTX-71L. JMHO. Good luck with your search.

[WRB]

I Have Major Craft Iovino Splash-It MF casting rod and find it perfect for the applications you are looking for.

Tom

[Josh Schiller]

Thanks for all the feedback. So it seems for finesse t rigs, I should probably go with a longer rod. 
 

So for jerkbaits, it seems the medium, fast action rods are the way to go?

 

For top water, will the same jerk bait rod suffice? Essentially, I can use the same rod for jerkbaits and top waters?

 

I think I’m going to go with Phenix ML 7’1 rod for my finesse t rigs and possibly go with the Slx 6’10 medium for jerks and top water. 
 

 

[Big Rick]

44 minutes ago, Josh Schiller said:

For top water, will the same jerk bait rod suffice? Essentially, I can use the same rod for jerkbaits and top waters?

You'll get many opinions here. And that's the beauty of it. 

 

In my experience it all comes down to hooks. Treble hook baits require a softer tip with a more moderate action to prevent the fish from throwing the bait or bending the hooks out. The power of that rod is determined by the weight baits being thrown. 

 

Single hook baits can utilize a faster tip and stouter backbone. Again, weight of the bait determines rod power along with the desired hook set. Buzz baits, spinner baits, vibrating jigs, and paddle tail swim baits can usually all be fished on the same equipment with success.