Dedicated Rods?

[Jeffrey Walker]

Please list any Rod/Reel combos that you mainly use or exclusively use for one specific technique or lure or application.

 

For example i have a MH St Croix Legend X, it’s a pretty stouts rod, so i knky use it for frogging.  

 

i also have a megabass P5 Blade, that is my spinner bait rod and that’s the only thing or the main thing in use it for. 

 

do you have any preferences or rods that you keep one life or technique specific? if so please advise as i’m curious to learn more/ 

 

thanks!

[LrgmouthShad]

The closest that I have to technique specific is my spinnerbait rod, Falcon Expert Head Turner. Even though it’s such a versatile rod, I don’t plan on using it for anything but spinnerbaits as far as I can see and I really love it

[Wprich]

I have a few

Conquest 843C that I use stricky for 5/16 and 3/8 finesse jigs

NRX 872S Shaky Heads

St. Croix Legend Elite MLXF Drop Shot and Ned Rigs

 

 

 

 

 

[new2BC4bass]

Bought a 6' MHF Lightning and Daiwa Procaster 100HN as a combo for my oldest grandson to learn on.  He had no desire to try it.  It is now my short range spinnerbait combo.

 

Sent a 7'4" Tatula HF to Florida for a dedicated frog rod.  Use a Curado 201E7 on it.  I keep a 7' MLF Redbone there for treble lures.  Usually has an Alphas on it.

 

PXL Type R on an Aetos 6'6" MLM makes for a beautiful combo.  Trebles.

 

7'2" Custom Lamiglas Infinity 864 with TD-X 103H Airmetal that I bought from Tim as a combo and am keeping them paired for bottom contact lures.

 

Old Berkley Lightning/Penn 430SS and 7'2" Light River Runner/1500C Daiwa for panfish.

 

Crankin' Stick 7' MLF/Carbonlite small trebles.

 

Purchased a 6'7" LF Benkei which I paired with a BG1500 for Ned Rigs.  Only had out once so I can't say yet if Neds are its thing.

 

I've been wanting to start using chatterbaits and would like one or two dedicated combos.  I'm thinking the Tatula 7'2" MHR and Diablo Spec R are two good rods to start with.  Maybe pair with a Tour S3 and Gen 1 STX to start.

 

Mostly I don't dedicate a combo for a specific technique.  I prefer versatility.

[Jeffrey Walker]

I’d love to hear more thoughts on any rods (not the specific brand or model) certainly ok to list that but rods that you have dedicated for specific techniques or have earmarked for applications.

 

[PressuredFishing]

It's heavily overthought, medium heavy baitcaster for pretty much everything and medium/medium light for lighter lures. Line is cheap and can change the action of those rods, if you want a heavy rod and 60lb braid for cover be my guess, though I think it's overkill, 15lb-20 is more than enough to horse a 6+ out of nasty cover. Takes the sport out of fishing. You will find niches and fill them as you wish.

[Jeffrey Walker]

I appreciate that and understand the overthinking part but would still love to hear how other people approach it.  there are always things to learn and i’m just a curious person - that’s why we have 2 ears and 1 mouth.  

[WRB]

When I was using big swimbaits the XH 8’ rod and Calcutta reel was dedicated to specific big lures.

My jig and worm rods do dual duty.

My crankbait rods are used for several lures.

Top water rod was my jerk bait rod.

Spinning finesse rods for various presentations.

Spoon rod for smaller crank baits and lipless.

Frog rod for several lures including big deep crankbaits to medium size swimbaits.

When I had 15 combo’s in the boat most were duplicates for back up.

Now I have 5 rods that all do a variety of lures and presentations.

Tom

[FrogInTheWell]

Mostly it's a product of the pimps and their fishing shows pushing this stuff.

[Cbump]

My technique specific rods:

 

Tatula Elite Seth Feider 6’9” ML - jerkbaits 

 

St Croix Mojo Bass MH Mod Fast - chatterbaits

 

Falcon Bucoo “Herm” 6’6” MH moderate fast - Light topwater (poppers) 

 

Dobyns Maverick 734c - heavier topwaters (spooks, buzzbaits)

 

Daiwa Tatula 7’ glass cranking M - shallow cranking

 

Daiwa kage 7’6” deep crank - deep cranking

 

Dobyns Fury 795SB - swimbaits/a-rig

 

Dobyns Champion c-rig special 804c - Carolina rig

 

These rods I use for only what’s listed. I have 9 other setups that I use for 2 or 3 things each. 

[r83srock]

I don’t have any rods that are 100% technique specific, but close. I have two 7’4” Heavy Fast St. Croix casting rods. One is set up with 50lb braid and the other has 65lb. Oftentimes, these setups are overkill for bass fishing, but when the need arises (heavy reeds, pad fields, thick milfoil mats) I have the horsepower to turn the head of a big bass and get them moving, along with a big ball of grass. For heavy frogging and punching, these setups are necessary for me. I never really felt the need for 65 lb braid, or even 50 for that matter (I’d rather use 20 or 30) until I started seriously fishing the upper Mississippi River (wild rice). That place changed my mind. The wild rice is so woody and abrasive it will chew up even 65lb braid by the end of a day. It’s the diameter of the line that’s needed, not the listed breaking strength. 
 

The 7’4” Heavy is not a broom stick, it’s got some flex to it. I will also throw a 6” weightless senko with ease, in heavy cover of course. I will also use these rods for a heavy Carolina rig and a mono leader.  
 

I use a 7’ medium mod fast lighting rod for traps and medium cranks and a 6’10” medium fast Lews Hank Parker for most treble hook top water/jerkbaits/shallow cranks, both casting rods and spooled with 12lb big game. 
 

Im a happy camper most of the time with a 7’mh fast casting rod with 15lb big game, and a 7’m fast spinning rod with 8# Trilene xl, can do most things with those. 

[Cbump]

2 minutes ago, Joe Henry said:

Mostly it's a product of the pimps and their fishing shows pushing this stuff.

I’d say it’s more a product of forums. 

[Columbia Craw]

Dedicated or technique specific combos:

 

Frog

Deep Cranking

Punching

Jerk baits 

 

 

[NavyToad]

Dobyns xp704cb for jerkbaits is about it. I have 3 or 4 M/H 7’+/- rods that all do spinnerbait/chatterbait/swim jig/fluke duty. A couple old BPS Crankin’ Sticks (m/h & m) for crankbaits and spooks etc… Dobyns xp735 for frogs and pitchin’ jigs. Without gettin’ up to go look I think that’s about it. 3 spinning rods for spinning rod stuff. Not much “technique specific” stuff in my line-up, it all does double and triple duty.

[FrogInTheWell]

1 hour ago, Cbump said:

I’d say it’s more a product of forums. 

No question they contribute to it.

 

[casts_by_fly]

3 hours ago, Jeffrey Walker said:

I’d love to hear more thoughts on any rods (not the specific brand or model) certainly ok to list that but rods that you have dedicated for specific techniques or have earmarked for applications.

 

some lures and presentations will require certain gear.  Throwing big swim baits you need a big rod that can handle multiple ounces and a reel that can handle all of the heavy line required. That rod probably won’t have another use in your lineup. A BFS rod is going to throw tiny finesse lures and that’s about all you’re going to use it for. Everything in between is a free for all.  Having a lure specific rod is great if you always have one of those lures tied on. Then you can fine tune what you like in a rod for that lure and get exactly what you like.  Otherwise, a 1/4-3/4 MF and a 3/8-1 MF will cover just about anything you want to do.  

[Jeffrey Walker]

I understand all that.  I’m just curious how people approach it and looking for some patterns or generalizations.  deep crank is one i never would think of as well as chatterbait rod as an example 

[txchaser]

2 hours ago, Jeffrey Walker said:

patterns or generalizations

Is the bait:

light or heavy -match weight of lure with trailer to the midpoint of the rod range

moving or still - moving baits I want more bend during the retrieve

hook diameter/thickness - more give deeper into the blank, example - crankbait hooks

A floppy noodle won't let me set a big hook, a broomstick is less likely to keep the fish pinned, and more likely for me to yank too hard and rip a hook out. 

 

A few examples:

Irod freds magic stick, zillion HD - long heavy rod for frogs. I want longer casts, and I'm grinding a bass out of deep junk so the reel and handle matter to me. Tip has a wee bit of softness so it seems to cast really well/

 

Kistler FNR Crankbait rod - zillion - reel doesn't matter much here, rod matters a lot. Gets down deep into the blank pretty quickly. It has effectively been an all-purpose cranking rod for me... but as I get more time with it there's two places I prefer other rod actions 1) deep crank - I need a heavier rod as they tend to be heavy baits. Daiwa's MH/R has been really good for mid-depth 2) squarebills - I've moved to a classic MH/F as I feel I have more control and more feel as I work it through cover

 

Tatula Elite MH/R - zillion - turns out this rod is perfect for bigger mid-depth cranks.

Squarebill is fine on it, but not as good as a MH/F. 

 

Poison Adrena H/Reg - zillion - Chatterbaits, particularly the 1/2-3/4 oz, and swimjigs. Open hook moving baits. I don't need the fast tip as I'm really connecte to it already, and loading up the tip allegedly lets it dart out of grass better. I tend to be on the heavier side for these presentations as I'm often fishing in the gunk. I'm also trying a Kistler HMH for this application, and it may be a better fit. MH is definitely too light for me, but the PA rod is more stout in the tip than I would prefer. Personally I want a little more than 45 degrees of bend on the tip during the retrieve. 

 

Kistler Helium LMH/F - zillion (although the Tat SV may be a better fit here) - 3/8 Keitechs on 3/0 owner flashy swimmers are a little light for a true MH/F, and the crankbait rod works in a pinch but hooksets are weak. But it's an open hook swimmer so mostly I'm trying to replicate a downsized version of how I fish a swimjig. 

 

Mostly I notice there are three things that get me to get a dedicated rod

1) the presentation really needs it (a-rig, big swimbaits)

2) the rod I have that would throw this bait is also used for something else that I'd throw in the same areas (example - punch rod and frog can't really be a single rod, punching around frog blowups has been a winner for me this year) 

3) I fish a presentation a lot, and time with it gives me clues about things I wish were different. Some examples - C-rig - longer rod really matters, good loading with an awkward bait really matters. If I fished it a lot I'd probably use a 7'6" for it. Punching - I don't like my frog rod for punching, feels a little noodly because of the great tip it has for walking. 

 

One note - the type of line I'm using can dramatically change what rod I like for a given use, particularly heavy vs light flouro or braid/leader vs flouro. 

 

With all that said, I recently went on a trip where I couldn't take my rods, and I picked up a MH/F and a H/F and that got it all done fine. 

 

 

[Manifestgtr]

Wow, you frog with a MH Legend X? You’re a braver man than I. I have two combos that see nothing but one bait type…

 

844c conquest/met for jigs 1/4oz and up (I never really throw anything heavier than 1/2oz)

 

68MXF Legend X/alde for weightless flukes

 

A lot of my other stuff tends to stick with one or two baits but those are the combos I’ve found to excel at one, specific confidence bait…so they never see anything else. 

[Jeffrey Walker]

29 minutes ago, Manifestgtr said:

Wow, you frog with a MH Legend X? You’re a braver man than I. I have two combos that see nothing but one bait type…

 

844c conquest/met for jigs 1/4oz and up (I never really throw anything heavier than 1/2oz)

 

68MXF Legend X/alde for weightless flukes

 

A lot of my other stuff tends to stick with one or two baits but those are the combos I’ve found to excel at one, specific confidence bait…so they never see anything else. 

what’s wrong with the legend X as a frog?

[Functional]

Dobyns sierra micro 704c w/ Diawa fuego CT - Dedicated spinnerbait

 

Quantum Smoke (1st gen) ML and Smoke reel - Dedicated Ned Rig

 

Everything else will depend on the season/day. 

[Spankey]

Specific as far as these set ups have thrown nothing but crankbaits. A lot of different crankbaits styles. 
 

(2) St. Croix Premiere Series Crankbait rods (6’6” - 7’) paired with Shimano Curado 100’s. These setups are 20+ years old. Long discontinued. In my opinion they have the best moderate tip or at least to my liking. 
 

(2) Abu Garcia Crankbait setups w/ Veritas 7 ft. Winch Crankbait Rods (Med & MH) paired with Abu Winch reels. I’m 110% happy with my results and a pleasure to fish with these setup. I believe I’m using it as it is intend. I don’t have much experience with Abu Garcia products other than these. 

[the reel ess]

Lew's LFS Tournament MB/7'3" Cabela's XT XH-XF Frog-specific rod, 50# braid.

Lew's LFS/Falcon 6'10" Bucoo H-F pitching stick, 30# braid.

Everything else is versatile. I'll also use the pitching stick for plain ol' T-rigs sometimes.

[ErieCan]

Most of mine are fairly specific.  I primarily fish offshore submerged grass edges and clumps, 7'-12' deep.

 

T-rigs and jigs - Daiwa Steez AGS BC2 w/ Shimano Metanium -- the rod is super sensitive (slack line fluorocarbon) and great for dragging baits through grass. 

 

Worms (ribbon tails, senkos) - St. Croix LTB 73HXF w/ Daiwa Zillion SV - - the XF tip on this rod is soft enough it casts amazing and crawls/hops/swims a weighted or weightless worm through grass very well. The heavy power will get the fish out of any grass in a hurry. 

 

Soft swimbaits/under spins - St. Croix LTB 73MHF w/ Shimano Bantam -- all around rod but stout enough to set heavier hooks with a  T-rigged bait. 

 

Chatterbaits - Daiwa Tatula 7'6" MHF w/ Daiwa Tatula 100 -- This rod has a great bend to it. With 16lb fluorocarbon, I'm getting really good hookups with chatterbaits. Mostly 3/8 oz. 

 

Flukes and weighted wacky rigs - 6'10" Shimano Curado MF rod w/ Curado 70 MGL.  20lb yellow braid to 10lb fluorocarbon leader.  -- For fluke syle baits (soft jerk baits) its been great so far. We don't get huge bass up here but I've landed a lot of bass over 4lbs on this combo with no trouble. Although the drag on the Curado reel has been a bit problematic. I'm going to strip it down and see what's up with that. 

 

Shallow squarebills - St. Croix Victory 72MHMF w/ Daiwa Alphas SV TW and 12lb Yozuri Hybrid. -- great for running over grass or along edges. Too soft for ripping through grass. Might be better with braid to leader.

 

My frog and flipping combos collect dust so I won't list those. Same with spinning combos. They're boring anyways ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jeffrey Walker]

Thanks for the responses so far.

 

Still interested in hearing more on this subject.  I’m really trying to figure out what deserves to be dedicated rod and what can be more versatile.  if anyone has anymore to share on dedicated setups that’s great

 

Let me ask it the other way as well.  Is there anything application or technique that doesn’t require or deserve or need a specific rod?

 

for example i saw someone reference reaction rod, meaning its fine for any applications that you’re requiring a fish to react like spinnerbait, swimjig, even topwater so no need for a specific rod then.

 

just trusting to learn more about how people approach things.