"high end" spinning rod for river smallmouth... and walleye?

[Musky.Chaser]

Anyone have any suggestions for a general purpose spinning rod for river smallmouth and river walleye? I fish a lot with ned rigs and the finesse style jigs plus small rapalas, just run of the mill stuff. In terms of fishing for walleye I'd like to try the traditional thing and cast cast jigs and plastics, so if anyone has tips for that I'd love to hear them cause I have no experience. I fish from the bank, by the way. The majorcraft corzza spinning (czs-69ML model) and diawa tatula spinning (6'10 Medium model) are two rods that particularly caught my eye. I don't really want to spend over 200 rod wise. 

[PaulVE64]

River bass require atleast one spinning setup.

I prefer a StC avid 6' mlf (which is closer to a mf) or a fenwick hmg 6' mlf (which is closer to a med fast tip)

 

The fenwick covers more techniques but i use the avid more often.

[Mat_ski]

I had the 69 corzza. It was alright, but it felt more like L rather Than ML to me.
I think tatula will be more universal. I have 7MF tatula and it should do fine with all you listed. I imagine 610 is very similar.

[Musky.Chaser]

16 minutes ago, PaulVE64 said:

River bass require atleast one spinning setup.

I prefer a StC avid 6' mlf (which is closer to a mf) or a fenwick hmg 6' mlf (which is closer to a med fast tip)

 

The fenwick covers more techniques but i use the avid more often.

Eventually I wanna pick up a BFS setup but that's a real money pit so not anytime soon lol

[NHBull]

If you want high end with a limit of 200 you should look at the classifieds.

 

You can get lucky if your patient.

 

Megabass adermine  and G Loomis  NRX are top shelf.

 

If you can stretch you budget a little the MB whipsnake is a lot of rod for the $$$$

[Dwight Hottle]

If your not restricted by length take a look at St Croix Premier PS76MLF in 7'6" for $165 or step up to a St Croix Avid AVS76MLXF 7'6" for $225. 

[Musky.Chaser]

2 minutes ago, NHBull said:

If you want high end with a limit of 200 you should look at the classifieds.

 

You can get lucky if your patient.

 

Megabass adermine  and G Loomis  NRX are top shelf.

 

If you can stretch you budget a little the MB whipsnake is a lot of rod for the $$$$

200 really isn't the top end, I'd probably max out at 300-350 for rod and the same amount for reel. However, I wanna keep it at a somewhat budget cause I musky fish the large majority of the time.

[NorthernBasser]

ML Daiwa Rebellion and Shimano Zodias are some really nice rods for around $200. 

[NHBull]

.....also, Alpha make some great multi-purpose rods

 

https://www.alphaangler.com/collections/spinning-rods/products/wrench-7-medium-spinning-rod

 

[Musky.Chaser]

1 minute ago, NHBull said:

.....also, Alpha make some great multi-purpose rods

 

https://www.alphaangler.com/collections/spinning-rods/products/wrench-7-medium-spinning-rod

 

I prefer cork or composite/rubber type grips. I have a weird thing against EVA.

[Cgolf]

Honestly depending on the type of river you are fishing and  bank or shore, I have been using a trustty 6’6” medium ugly stick and have caught tons of river smallies with that stick. I fish a rocky shallow stretch that I wouldn’t bring my pricier sticks too.

[Musky.Chaser]

3 minutes ago, Cgolf said:

Honestly depending on the type of river you are fishing and  bank or shore, I have been using a trustty 6’6” medium ugly stick and have caught tons of river smallies with that stick. I fish a rocky shallow stretch that I wouldn’t bring my pricier sticks too.

I fish a *typically* shallow (3-5'), small river and it is predominantly gravel bottom. 

[gim]

8 minutes ago, Musky.Chaser said:

I fish a *typically* shallow (3-5'), small river and it is predominantly gravel bottom. 

I fish a river in midsummer that is very much like this for smallmouth. Most of it is rock and gravel under 4 feet deep with a few scattered holes. I primarily toss a topwater or wakebait to shoreline structure and eddys. However, they sometimes miss the first lure so when this happens, I toss right back in there with a tube, Ned, or wacky rig. The same fish almost always hits the plastic that just missed the topwater, as long as the cast is accurate.

 

My follow up is with a 6.5 to 7 foot medium action rod. I like the St Croix Premier series because of the warranty. The mojo series is also a good one and costs a little more than the premier.

[cyclops2]

The walleye is no problem. Anything works from shore.

The SMB can be frustrating to keep hooked standing still on land.  They are very erratic as they get BIG.  Some of  my repeat C & R every summer for decades are smart. They have very strong jaw muscles.  So they CLAMP DOWN very hard on the bite.  You are reeling in nicely. Then the line goes limp.  Why ?

The bass turns to you.  For a second it is going way faster than you can ever crank.  It that slack line second she opens her mouth & tosses the lure. 

 

Buy the long rod.  I have run sideways & backwards,  away to keep my success rate higher as the fish senses shallower water.

 

 AWWW SHUCKS            OLd fish wins again.   Those SMB are intelligent.      

[Cgolf]

14 minutes ago, Musky.Chaser said:

I fish a *typically* shallow (3-5'), small river and it is predominantly gravel bottom. 

On your budget I have a Dobyns Sierra 6’9” medium light and a medium that I really like. I generally like a medium chasing river  smallies because hooking a big girl or a big walleye on a medium light is a challenge in tight quarters. You may loose some distance casting lighter stuff though. I had a st croix medium light I liked for a while but it always felt the blank was flexing in the handle and would break orpop out, it was weird and that is the best I can explain it. 

[Musky.Chaser]

3 minutes ago, Cgolf said:

On your budget I have a Dobyns Sierra 6’9” medium light and a medium that I really like. I generally like a medium chasing river  smallies because hooking a big girl or a big walleye on a medium light is a challenge in tight quarters. You may loose some distance casting lighter stuff though. I had a st croix medium light I liked for a while but it always felt the blank was flexing in the handle and would break orpop out, it was weird and that is the best I can explain it. 

I'll definitely give it a look, I don't use anything super small. the smallest I really use is like a 1/8th oz finesse jig.

[Cgolf]

5 minutes ago, cyclops2 said:

The walleye is no problem. Anything works from shore.

The SMB can be frustrating to keep hooked standing still on land.  They are very erratic as they get BIG.  Some of  my repeat C & R every summer for decades are smart. They have very strong jaw muscles.  So they CLAMP DOWN very hard on the bite.  You are reeling in nicely. Then the line goes limp.  Why ?

The bass turns to you.  For a second it is going way faster than you can ever crank.  It that slack line second she opens her mouth & tosses the lure. 

 

Buy the long rod.  I have run sideways & backwards,  away to keep my success rate higher as the fish senses shallower water.

 

 AWWW SHUCKS            OLd fish wins again.   Those SMB are intelligent.      

I think this is why the darn ugly keeps em pinned, while not super sensitive it has a lot of backbone but has a lot give before it gets to the backbone. They are kind of crazy and smart too, as I have watched big girls rub their mouths on rocks trying to dislodge the bait. My river 20s have all come on Ned rigs, which I think are harder for them to toss or rub off. 

2 minutes ago, Musky.Chaser said:

I'll definitely give it a look, I don't use anything super small. the smallest I really use is like a 1/8th oz finesse jig.

When you factor in the weight of the lure don’t forget that even Ned plastics add a fair amount of weight. I use a 1/16 oz head that I can toss a good ways on the ugly. Take that same jig tied as a wooly bugger jig fly I am lucky if I get 15 feet lol. 
 

If you are patient too with Memorial Day and the 4th coming up you may be able to get a rod listed over 200 for well under. 

[SproDD79]

2 hours ago, NorthernBasser said:

ML Daiwa Rebellion and Shimano Zodias are some really nice rods for around $200. 

Exactly what he said.

[walleyecrazy]

Take a look at the Daiwa Tatula 7’6” ML/M. It should do everything you want, and is long enough to sling baits a long distance from the bank. 

[Musky.Chaser]

58 minutes ago, walleyecrazy said:

Take a look at the Daiwa Tatula 7’6” ML/M. It should do everything you want, and is long enough to sling baits a long distance from the bank. 

Will do, any reel suggestions? Also, I'm assuming 12lb braid with a fluoro leader would be the preferred since I'll be targeting smallmouth and 'eyes.

 

Also, with a name like Walleyecrazy, I figure you'd be a good person for me to ask: Any tips for shallow river walleye fishing?

[walleyecrazy]

14 hours ago, Musky.Chaser said:

Will do, any reel suggestions? Also, I'm assuming 12lb braid with a fluoro leader would be the preferred since I'll be targeting smallmouth and 'eyes.

 

Also, with a name like Walleyecrazy, I figure you'd be a good person for me to ask: Any tips for shallow river walleye fishing?

 

I pair my Daiwa 7'6" rods(both Tatula and Taula Elite) with either the Tatula LT, or Procyon AL reels. The Procyon AL is actually a little nicer to fish with these longer rods due to the slightly heavier weight helping to better balance the rods. As far as line goes I think you are on the right track with the light braid to leader. If you are targeting walleye I would likely go with a 8lb leader where as I generally use a 6lb leader for bass, but the 8lb will be fine for them too. As far as shallow river walleye I don't think you can go wrong with slow rolling 3-4" swimbaits on or just above the bottom, or throwing jerkbaits. Those are my two most productive lures for river walleye. 

[Musky.Chaser]

15 minutes ago, walleyecrazy said:

 

I pair my Daiwa 7'6" rods(both Tatula and Taula Elite) with either the Tatula LT, or Procyon AL reels. The Procyon AL is actually a little nicer to fish with these longer rods due to the slightly heavier weight helping to better balance the rods. As far as line goes I think you are on the right track with the light braid to leader. If you are targeting walleye I would likely go with a 8lb leader where as I generally use a 6lb leader for bass, but the 8lb will be fine for them too. As far as shallow river walleye I don't think you can go wrong with slow rolling 3-4" swimbaits on or just above the bottom, or throwing jerkbaits. Those are my two most productive lures for river walleye. 

Do you snap jig in the rivers or just stick to the whole swimbait and curly tail thing for jigs?

[Vilas15]

St Croix Avid 6'9" ML/XF

21 hours ago, Musky.Chaser said:

In terms of fishing for walleye I'd like to try the traditional thing and cast cast jigs and plastics, so if anyone has tips for that I'd love to hear them cause I have no experience.

I saw you said relatively shallow water so Id go with 1/8 oz jig, maybe 1/4 if the current is good and not too snaggy.  BfishN pulsar paddle tail in bright colors in stained water, or keitech easy shiner if you want a more realistic option in clear water. You can just swim them or hop them along. like a lift and let them swing, then crank up slack and lift again hitting bottom every time.

[walleyecrazy]

6 hours ago, Musky.Chaser said:

Do you snap jig in the rivers or just stick to the whole swimbait and curly tail thing for jigs?

The areas I fish have a ton of rock on the bottom anything that makes too much bottom contact is most likely going to be gone pretty quick. Ticking the rocks with the swimbaits is generally as much bottom contact as I get. 

[TnRiver46]

My river smallie fishing usually involves switching to a smaller boat, maybe some wading, getting caught in hellacious thunderstorms far from shelter, lots of sand and mud, just general abuse. I wouldn’t take a high end rod/reel with me