What are your heaviest powered rods?

[Columbia Craw]

I recently spent some time checking the rod combos on the decks of tournament boats at an event.  This was a largemouth lake with relatively heavy cover types.  What I found was very few heavy or mag/heavy rods. I was surprised at the abundance of medium, mediumjp heavy rods. Even those with jigs and frogs seemed under powered in my opinion. 
 

What rods in your arsenal are your heaviest rods and how do you apply them?

 

For the last 20 years I find I fish about a power above the norm. Thanks for sharing all! 
 

Doug

[DaubsNU1]

All but one of my rods are Cabela's branded, purchased between 1991 and 2005.

 

The lone outlier is my heaviest rod.

 

Berkeley Series One IM7, 7' Medium Heavy, 12-25lb, 3/8-1-1/2 oz. lures. 

 

I have not fished this rod much in the past two years. It's mainly used for big jigs, buzz baits, and Musky lures.  

 

 

[Jar11591]

My heaviest rod is a mag heavy. Use it for froggin mainly but it throws small swimbaits in a pinch. 

[Susky River Rat]

Medium heavy is the heaviest I use. This is for my T rigged stuff.  I prefer mediums. I’ll run medium lights for Ned’s and drop shot.

[Deephaven]

I have a few pool cues for musky but for bass a 4 power Loomis or MH SC cover all I need on the heavy end.

 

....I do not have a big swimbait rod

[padlin]

Fresh water is a MH for the weeds.

[Mike L]

My heaviest is only used for punching.
H/XF Quantum Smoke 80# Power Pro

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Fishin Dad]

I have a few heavy rods.  Of course, this is always subjective since there is no standard in the rod industry.  I use a heavy for football jigs cast a long ways and dragged on fluoro, punching,  and for frogs.  I use a lot of fluoro and the heavy rods work on hook sets from distance. 

[redmeansdistortion]

ML.  I don't typically target fish that warrant anything heavier.

[Catt]

Lew's TP1 Black TP1B74H

7'4" Heavy Fast 

[msgf91]

I had a TFO skeeter H but I feel it was more of a MH. Now I have a St croix LTB H frog and slosh. It has kind of a soft tip for casting frogs but the tip ends fast and goes into a stout backbone. I use it for frogs, big spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and if I don't have my MH with me it works fine as a big t rig rod. I was amazed by the sensitivity for such a big rod. I was casting a sweet beaver one time and got a bad overrun. I could still feel a bite in the middle of pulling out the overrun. 

[keagbassr]

7-2 xh/f- frogs

7-6 h/xf - punch rig

7-5 h/f - 'heavy+1' for when I want a 2nd punch rig or frog, also for 1oz spinnerbaits.

7-3 h/f toads

 

*edit* forgot my toad rod and corrected length of frog rod.

Edited July 1, 2023 by keagbassr
Added and corrected info

[r83srock]

7’4” Heavy Fast St. Croix

 

 -punching

 -flipping

 -big jig on weedlines

 -frog in heavy slop

 -A rig

In a pinch I’ve thrown 6” weightless senkos and 1/8oz bullet t-rigged beavers and it handles that fine too. It’s a must have rod for me. My next heaviest is a St. Croix Victory 7’3” Heavy XF and that like a strong MH. It’s a perfect 3/8-1/2 jig n pig rod.

[MN Fisher]

Fury 765-Flip - MH/F - heavier pitching/punching

7'0" Aird-X H/F - frogs, buzzbaits

[T-Billy]

General pitching duty, 7'4" Mag H F Ark Invoker Pro. I'd call it 6.5 power. 

HEAVY cover, 7'6" XH F Invoker Pro. Call it a 7 power.  It definitely feels a full power stouter than my Sierra 766 Flip. Still has enough tip to pitch 1/2oz very well though. 

I spend a lot of time with these two rods in my hands.

[roadwarrior]

1 hour ago, redmeansdistortion said:

ML.  I don't typically target fish that warrant anything heavier.

      Probably not too helpful.

[Happybeerbuzz]

I have two heavys, a punch rod and one for small swimbaits (1-2 oz).  

[casts_by_fly]

I carry two ‘heavy’ rods by most peoples definitions. Falcon has two levels of heavy (6 and 7 power). I have a pair of 7’s that I carry all the time this time of year. Ones primarily a frog rod and the other is heavy pitching. Both have 50 braid. Both are rated to at least 1.5 oz. My amistad will throw 2.5 oz in an Alabama rig no problems. 

[LrgmouthShad]

Lews 7’3” HF Carbon Fire is what I use for frogging and punching and might be my heaviest powered rod

 

If not, iRod Genesis III Stone Cold Spook and Trap, which is a super interesting rod with a weird label. I use this for c-rigging, swing heads, anytime I want to cast a heavy t rig or jig farther, or ripping lipless out of grass

 

I have 5 “Heavy’s” but none of them are particularly super stout. My iRod Genesis III 704C definitely has some oomph to it, but it takes quite a bit to get there and it is a very forgiving rod that plays fish well
 

[redmeansdistortion]

1 hour ago, roadwarrior said:

      Probably not too helpful.

Why not?  The bass here don't get as big as they do down south and out west.  The vast majority are under 2lb at that.  A ML has handled every single one I've caught without issue, even my PB 7lb 4oz LSC smallmouth back in 2002.  Most would consider a 5lb a wall hanger in these parts.

[Bird]

Only have 1 heavy action rod on the boat and it rarely gets used, 1oz swim baits and magnum flukes.

Medium action covers 90% of what I throw using braid.

Med light for Neds and Drop-shot.

[roadwarrior]

Rod ratings are more about lure weight than fish weight. Casting an ounce or more on  ML

rod will lead to both inaccuracies and possible breakage. Most weights can be lobbed, but

that does not equate to casting.

[redmeansdistortion]

38 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Rod ratings are more about lure weight than fish weight. Casting an ounce or more on  ML

rod will lead to both inaccuracies and possible breakage. Most weights can be lobbed, but

that does not equate to casting.

Exactly, and my heaviest baits tip the scales at 1/2, about the upper limit of many run of the mill ML rods.  The title of the thread is "what are your heaviest powered rods".  It was posted to foster discussion, not "my way is better than your way".  We all like what we like and some setups work better in some geographical areas than others.  I really don't see what the issue is here ?

[Mobasser]

I have one St Croix heavy action 7 foot rod. I rarely use it anymore. It's made for heavy lines and I'm fishing lighter lines most of the time now.

[5by3]

Most of my rods that are rated “heavy” that I use for pitching and flipping have max ratings between 1-1.5 oz.

 

I don’t have any that I’d consider “meat” sticks because (1) I don’t have super heavy cover where I’m at that warrants this type of rod and (2) I’m fishing for fish that are normally 2-4 lb, with a rare 5-6 lber a few times a year. No double digits where I’m at.