Medium rated rods?

[new2BC4bass]

I'm not going to multi quote.  My largest smallmouth (approximately 3 pounds) was caught on a 6' Lightning spinning rod.  If I remember correctly, lure rating is 1/8-3/8 oz.  making it a ML power rod.

 

I forgot to bring a casting reel with braid on the next to last vacation trip I took to Florida .  Used on old HMG Elite Tech Jig and Worm 7' MF spinning rod with 30# braid to fish the lily pads.  All fish on this trip were caught on that rod.

 

I have more MH than any other power rod.  I try to cast weights that are somewhere in the middle of a rod's rating.  (That should give you an idea of my most used weights.)  However, if I were going to cast a true 1/4 oz. lure, I would much rather use a Medium power rod rated 1/4-5/8 oz. than a MH rated 1/4-1 oz.  Personally feel this would give me a better chance to get some distance with that weight.

 

Also I am not the type that likes to turn bass into skiers. 

 

 

[PaulVE64]

21 hours ago, gimruis said:

The only fish I specifically target with a medium power spinning rod is a walleye.

 

Not enough back bone for bass. Unless it’s a rock bass. 🫣

If I remember correctly you've been having trouble with losing fish after the hookset.

Could be you're horsing them in.

 

[FrnkNsteen]

5 hours ago, gimruis said:

 

I assume this was directed at me since I'm the one who stated there wasn't enough back bone on a medium action rod.

 

For starters, I assumed the OP was referring to a spinning rod.  Apparently some others think he's referring to a bait caster.  That's why responses vary here.

 

Next time just quote me instead of being passive aggressive about it.  Disagreement isn't necessarily a bad thing.  Quite often we can learn from other responses when we disagree.

 

Carry on

Who was being passive aggressive? All I said was that I disagreed that a M or ML didn't have enough backbone for Bass , and I said that in regards to spinning rods too. I just didn't take the time to look back up to see who said it. No reason to get upset!

[gim]

1 hour ago, PaulVE64 said:

If I remember correctly you've been having trouble with losing fish after the hookset.

Could be you're horsing them in.

 

Most of the advice from that thread was to do exactly that. No slack, drop the rod, and give them nothing.

 

A medium power spinning rod is clearly not up to that job.

 

Think I’m done here.

[PaulVE64]

Best of luck then.

[Rockhopper]

👀🍿

[DaveT63]

Two of my favorite rods are 7' MF.  St Croix Legend Xtreme casting rod and G Loomis MBR842C GLX.  My other is a 6'8" MXF St Croix spinning rod.  These 3 have accounted for hundreds of bass for me, and nearly all I have caught over 6 lbs.  I love throwing light T-rigs on MF casting gear.

[Bankbeater]

I use a M/F for moving baits between 3/16 and 3/8 oz.  Heavier baits go on a MH/F rod.

[Rockhopper]

8 hours ago, DaveT63 said:

and nearly all I have caught over 6 lbs

🧐

[softwateronly]

15 minutes ago, Rockhopper said:

🧐

Are you saying @DaveT63 hasn't caught a 6lb bass?  on spinning gear?  Or a misinterpretation of he caught hundreds of bass on M spinning gear, and most of his 6lb+ fish have come on M spinning gear?  

 

scott
 

[Aaron_H]

17 hours ago, gimruis said:

Most of the advice from that thread was to do exactly that. No slack, drop the rod, and give them nothing.

 

A medium power spinning rod is clearly not up to that job.

 

Think I’m done here.

 

Not trying to bombard you with a notification for this thread, but I promise this post isn't antagonistic (or rather, not at all intended as such).

 

I didn't see anything in the OP about spinning vs casting and I missed your other post about it before I posted mine, but one of my biggest wacky rig fish (just over 7lb) was on a 7' medium spinning. I never felt undergunned or that the fish was overpowering the rod. Both that rod and the 6'10" medium casting rod I mentioned in my previous post are from the same manufacturer/rod line, and neither one feels lighter power than the other. But of course, with no industry standard, "medium" can mean very different things to different makers.

 

As for the advice in the above quote, I really feel like that is technique/environment specific, no? On a big single hook, in slop/cover/structure, with heavy line? I'm throwing a MH or H and I'm pouring the coals to them for sure. But lighter line with smaller hooks, especially treble hooks, this seems like a recipe for lost fish, and a medium power rod really excels there IMO.

 

Again, apologies if this is not a welcome reply.

[Rockhopper]

2 hours ago, softwateronly said:

Are you saying @DaveT63 hasn't caught a 6lb bass?  on spinning gear?  Or a misinterpretation of he caught hundreds of bass on M spinning gear, and most of his 6lb+ fish have come on M spinning gear?  

 

scott
 

I read that as he has caught hundreds of bass and most of his catches are 6lb+ fish.  But I knew what he meant. 😅

 

I think bass heads get way too caught up on rod power in general (I know I do).  Unless yarding a gigundo out of the slop with 20 extra pounds of weeds, it really does not matter.  I constantly catch salmon and steelhead 5x - 10x bigger than any local bass on rods that are MUCH lighter power than my bass gear.  Granted the rods are 9 feet in length, but definitely much lighter power.  All while fighting strong currents and fish dancing on the surface like crazy.  Heck, even large trout can fight harder than bass, can weigh just as much as average bass, and I catch them frequently on ML rods and 3 wt fly rods.  It really boils down to whether you like to play the fish, or winch them in like a yarder thats behind schedule.

[MontclairDave]

Mini max chatterbait on G. Loomis 783, which to me is a Medium powered rod, is a match made in heaven (braid to leader yields slightly better hookup ratio than straight fluoro but not a huge diff)

[DaveT63]

14 hours ago, Rockhopper said:

I read that as he has caught hundreds of bass and most of his catches are 6lb+ fish.  But I knew what he meant. 😅

 

I think bass heads get way too caught up on rod power in general (I know I do).  Unless yarding a gigundo out of the slop with 20 extra pounds of weeds, it really does not matter.  I constantly catch salmon and steelhead 5x - 10x bigger than any local bass on rods that are MUCH lighter power than my bass gear.  Granted the rods are 9 feet in length, but definitely much lighter power.  All while fighting strong currents and fish dancing on the surface like crazy.  Heck, even large trout can fight harder than bass, can weigh just as much as average bass, and I catch them frequently on ML rods and 3 wt fly rods.  It really boils down to whether you like to play the fish, or winch them in like a yarder thats behind schedule.

Just to clarify, the vast majority of fish I have caught, which is hundreds, were caught on those three rods.  I wish most of them were 6 pounds or more, but realistically it's only been about a half dozen over 6.  But all of those came on one of these three rods.

 

I agree with the you on the the rest.  Most of the rods I use for striper fishing in the Chesapeake are 7' ML rods.

[Bigbox99]

I consulted the council and no one knows why medium power rods exist.  The mystery remains.

[blackrain]

Why? If you cannot effectively cast lighter/smaller lures with your MH. If you fish very clear waters or deep water and need to drop down in line size/lb test. If you find it is difficult to work and place certain lures with the MH. 

 

If I were to do it all over again putting together a bass arsenal with baitcasters, I'd start with a 7' M, MH, and H (fast action of course) and then branch out from there. You can throw probably 95% of all bass lures with those three powers. A lot depends on what cover you usually fish and the size of the bass, of course.

On 8/23/2024 at 3:57 PM, Rockhopper said:

I read that as he has caught hundreds of bass and most of his catches are 6lb+ fish.  But I knew what he meant. 😅

 

I think bass heads get way too caught up on rod power in general (I know I do).  Unless yarding a gigundo out of the slop with 20 extra pounds of weeds, it really does not matter.  I constantly catch salmon and steelhead 5x - 10x bigger than any local bass on rods that are MUCH lighter power than my bass gear.  Granted the rods are 9 feet in length, but definitely much lighter power.  All while fighting strong currents and fish dancing on the surface like crazy.  Heck, even large trout can fight harder than bass, can weigh just as much as average bass, and I catch them frequently on ML rods and 3 wt fly rods.  It really boils down to whether you like to play the fish, or winch them in like a yarder thats behind schedule.

Get out of here with the salmonid and fly talk! I'm kidding of course, I lived in the Pacific NW (Seattle) for 10 years and miss those waters, and fish, dearly.

[FrnkNsteen]

On 8/23/2024 at 7:46 PM, MontclairDave said:

Mini max chatterbait on G. Loomis 783, which to me is a Medium powered rod, is a match made in heaven (braid to leader yields slightly better hookup ratio than straight fluoro but not a huge diff)

I need to try that! I recently bought that same rod in GLX when ALF was clearing them out for the new models. So far I have only had a small Sieberts Mini Swimjig on it.

 

I have been throwing MiniMax on a pair of older Fenwick Techna AV 7' Medium rods that have a little slower action than their "Fast" rating.

 

Bottom line is you can use a Medium power rod for LOTS of things! And a "Medium" rating means different things for different manufacturers. For instance, an Abu Garcia Medium  are typically a little heavier in my opinion, while a Dobyns tends to run a little lighter. Others are somewhere in between.

 

It's kind of like Goldilocks and the Three Bears! 😁 Look at a bunch and find what you think is Just Right!! 😁

[softwateronly]

On 8/23/2024 at 2:57 PM, Rockhopper said:

I read that as he has caught hundreds of bass and most of his catches are 6lb+ fish.  But I knew what he meant. 😅

 

I think bass heads get way too caught up on rod power in general (I know I do).  Unless yarding a gigundo out of the slop with 20 extra pounds of weeds, it really does not matter.  I constantly catch salmon and steelhead 5x - 10x bigger than any local bass on rods that are MUCH lighter power than my bass gear.  Granted the rods are 9 feet in length, but definitely much lighter power.  All while fighting strong currents and fish dancing on the surface like crazy.  Heck, even large trout can fight harder than bass, can weigh just as much as average bass, and I catch them frequently on ML rods and 3 wt fly rods.  It really boils down to whether you like to play the fish, or winch them in like a yarder thats behind schedule.

 

I should have phrased all of that better, appreciate you taking the generous intepretation.  Definitely agree with you on rod power, out of my biggest northern pike and brown trout, more than half were on a 7' ML avid and some screamin drag.  For catch and release, I prefer not to spend more than a couple minutes before landing them if I have the choice, so I tend to stop around the ML designation even with BFS.

 

scott