Medium heavy / fast action rod for (almost) everything?

[AJ in PA]

Am I the only one who uses med. heavy / fast action rods (mine are 7'1") for all of my bass fishing?  I use them for everything from a Texas rigged 3" YUM minnow, up to a Whopper Plopper 130, and everything in between.  I really like the sensitivity, and I only see a nominal difference in casting distance compared to a 6'6" medium action that I borrowed for a bit.  Also I've caught some of my biggest fish on my smallest baits, and I just don't feel comfortable about hooking a 5 lb. bass with potentially an extra 5 lb. of weeds on anything lighter than a med. heavy - the rod bends way too much for my taste.  I also have accidentally hooked into muskies while fishing for largemouth & smallmouth, and my med. heavy rods held up fine but I doubt that lighter rods would take that.

 

I have 2 med. heavy setups - one with a spinning reel (for 3-6" senkos and lighter lures, like a Mepps spinner that weighs 0.23 oz), and the other with a casting reel for beefier lures (up to the WP130).

 

The only other rod I have is a heavy / fast rod that takes 2-10 oz lures for when I target muskies with "massive" lures, like a Savage Gear 3D duck that weighs 2.5 oz. or an 8" swimbait, etc.  It's definitely nice only needing to own 3 rods, and to only have max 2 in the boat at any given time.

 

Just curious if anyone else sees it this way - or am I totally nuts?  😄🙃

 

(BTW sorry if this isn't posted in the right place, I'm still figuring this out lol)

[Eric 26]

I’ll start this off by saying different situations  mean different set ups. For instance I fish small and I emphasize “small” retention ponds that I could probably get by with nothing more than light to medium spinning gear but I  really enjoy throwing bait casting gear so therefore I use bait casting gear that’s appropriate for my situation. As for the bait casting gear I use  I use everything from medium light to heavy depending on what lures im throwing and I’ve caught them on all my  gear so I guess I’m of no help.

[Mike L]

I use MH/F or XF rods for everything also except the big stick. 
The action of almost all of them is just a little different depending on the manufacturer and length. 
I specifically buy them that way. 
(All casting, don’t use spinning)
 

Just because they say what they are doesn’t mean they’re all the same. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[A-Jay]

5 hours ago, AJ in PA said:

Am I the only one who uses med. heavy / fast action rods (mine are 7'1") for all of my bass fishing?  

Not exactly sure because I don't what everyone else fishes.

I do know I do not fish MH/F rods for everything.

Seems like having only a BF hammer in my tools box and that's it.

Might be fun but some chits getting busted up too.

🤓

A-Jay

 

[Backroad Angler]

At the end of the day, it’s personal preference in regards to what actions/powers you use for your rods. With that said, most of my rods are medium heavy/fast as well. 
if I was a professional fisherman I would probably be more picky, but for what I do it works for me.

[AJ in PA]

1 minute ago, A-Jay said:

No exactly sure because I don't what everyone else fishes.

I do know I do not fish MH/F rods for everything.

Seems like having only a BF hammer in my tools box and that's it.

Might be fun but some chits getting busted up too.

🤓

A-Jay

 

I definitely understand your logic.  But I'm never sure what I'm going to hook into - in fact I get surprised a lot!  I'll target smallies & catch a musky.  Or target musky and catch largemouth.  Or target largemouth & get crappies or walleyes. 

 

That, and it just seems less expensive and cumbersome to only have a few rods on my measly budget 😂

[Mike L]

11 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

No exactly sure because I don't what everyone else fishes.

I do know I do not fish MH/F rods for everything.

Seems like having only a BF hammer in my tools box and that's it.

Might be fun but some chits getting busted up too.

🤓

A-Jay

 

I see your point, but you’re a more versatile angler than I am.
The waters we fish for the most part couldn’t be more different. 
 

It’s not broke so we both don’t need to fix it 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[AJ in PA]

I will mention that I have a fairly light touch when I'm fishing - I don't swing for the moon when I'm setting hooks...unless it's a hollow body frog.  With those I swing away   😆

[A-Jay]

22 minutes ago, AJ in PA said:

I definitely understand your logic.  But I'm never sure what I'm going to hook into - in fact I get surprised a lot!  I'll target smallies & catch a musky.  Or target musky and catch largemouth.  Or target largemouth & get crappies or walleyes. 

 

That, and it just seems less expensive and cumbersome to only have a few rods on my measly budget 😂

Me too !

A-Jay

[AJ in PA]

Nice catches, AJ!  Unfortunately I mostly solo fish, and my pics of larger fish come out terrible (my arms aren't long enough to get the phone far enough away lol) so I basically gave up trying to photograph them.  I figure less time out of the water is better anyway  👍

[Eric 26]

15 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Me too !

A-Jay

I will say as far as I’m concerned this guy is one of the most versatile anglers I’ve seen post on here. It’s not to say there aren’t others but good gravy @A-Jay has posted some killer pics of multiple species over my time being on here so I would definitely listen to and heed his advice.

Edited November 24, 2024 by Eric 26
Wording

[softwateronly]

2 minutes ago, Eric 26 said:

I will say as far as I’m concerned this guy is one of the most prolific anglers I’ve seen post on here. It’s not to say there aren’t others but good gravy @A-Jay has posted some killer pics over my time being on here so I would definitely listen and heed his advice.

Nah.....he's long arming all of em.  Especially that musky, it's like he doesn't even have arms.  

 

I'm lucky to have the means for too many combos, and have the most options in the medium power(6), followed by heavy(5), then MH(4) and only one of them is fast and that is my 6'6 jig rod.  In general, throwing braid to leader means I gravitate toward RF or MF in terms of action and end up catching with baits and hooks that more often than not fit in the M and H categories better.

 

scott

[new2BC4bass]

I have more MH rods than any other power.  Medium power rods are in second place.  I prefer to throw weights in the middle of a rod's rating.  Since I use 3/8-5/8 oz. lures the most, a MH fits the bill.  Even if total weight approaches 7/8 oz., a MH rated to 1 oz. can still work although at that weight I'd rather go to a Heavy power rod.

 

Retired now and moved to Florida.  Fish from shore.  I plan on putting more of my Heavy power rods into action since I will be casting into heavy cover at times.  However, when I used to visit Florida and fished out of a 14' Gheenoe with my B-I-L, all the rods I kept in Florida were Medium or MH rods.  The MHF with braid worked fine for heavier cover as I could use the boat to get where I was snagged.

 

I started fishing again in 2009.  I'm far from well off, but since then I've managed to collect my fair share of rods and reels.    Closeouts and the used market were my friends.  The Bait Monkey not so much. 

 

 

[hunterPRO1]

Technique specific rods, for most techniques, aren't that much better than the classic 7'MH.

 

The exceptions to this in my experience are frogging, flipping, cranking, large swimbaits, and finesse. For those things your equipment can make or break you.

[MediumMouthBass]

I spent years just fishing 2-3 rods for everything.

Then spent alot of money on technique specific gear, and had 6-8 combos on the kayak.

Im now back to just using 2-3 main rods for everything.

 

Its simple, effective, and a jack of all trades kind of thing. It works for me and it seems its working for you.

[WRB]

Dobyns rods was the 1st to offer application specific bass rods in 2009.

Before that time the MHF 6’6” off the shelf bait casting bass rod was standard for the majority of bass anglers for decades.

MHF worked back in the day and does today.

Tom

[r83srock]

All Star had technique specific rods as did Kistler. It seemed Kistler really made the term popular and I’m pretty sure St. Croix responded to the helium in 04-05 with the LTB technique specific rods. The 7’ rods gained popularity in the early 2000s beyond using them for flipping or Carolina rigs. I resisted a long and finally started using 7’ rods in about 2012. Now I use a lot of 7’3” rods and often feel they are too long at times. 7’ mh fast action is pretty much the Swiss Army knife of bass rods. Not perfect at anything but serviceable for most techniques.

[Team9nine]

2009? Is that a typo? Maybe I’m misunderstanding your point. Perhaps you mean as a company, their entire lineup of all rods offered are technique specific? Dobyn’s started in 2009, but technique specific rods had been around long before then. Anybody remember this 1990 lineup of application specific rod lines?

 

[r83srock]

14 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

2009? Is that a typo? Maybe I’m misunderstanding your point. Dobyn’s started in 2009, but technique specific rods had been around long before then. Anybody remember this 1990 lineup of application specific rod lines?

 

Cool! I’m sure my dad remembers, I was 3 then! 6 technique specific rods. If you had 6 rods back then you were “ballin’”. I’m sure anglers had more but I remember dad saying 3 or 4 was about all you needed back then, I believe it. 

[Mike L]

19 minutes ago, r83srock said:

I remember dad saying 3 or 4 was about all you needed back then, I believe it. 

Depending on how you fish, today too

 

 

 

 

Mike

[crypt]

mostly yes.....have 4 mediums for certain applications...but yeah med heavy works for me..

[BrianMDTX]

I’ll say that if I could only fish one power/action in a casting rod, it would be MH/F. Hands down. 
 

But as I am not limited, I’d much rather throw crankbaits on a MHMF or a MF, and frogs on a HF. But as I fish Texas rigs and jigs a lot, I use a MHF quite a bit. 

[WRB]

Signature rods date way back ie; Dee Thomas Fenwick “Flipping rod” but Fenwick didn’t set up a full line of application specific rods.

G. Loomis offered JWR and MBR rods in a few different actions and power still not a full line up of application rods.

Daiwa referred were Signature rods based on the “Pro” known presentation of the day, not full line of application specific rods.

When I wanted a deep diving “Crank bait” rod I had to make it using Fenwick salt water Popping rod blank w/trigger stick handle in the 70’s.

In the 80’s if I wanted a specific action/power, length bass I had Lamiglas build it because they had a wide range of rod blanks.

Phenix rods offered a few signature like Don Iovino’s Doddling rod.

Today we have several rod mfr’s offering a full line of application specific rods ranging from BSF Ultra Lite to A-rig and big swim baits, it wasn’t always that way.

Tom

[AJ in PA]

17 hours ago, hunterPRO1 said:

Technique specific rods, for most techniques, aren't that much better than the classic 7'MH.

 

The exceptions to this in my experience are frogging, flipping, cranking, large swimbaits, and finesse. For those things your equipment can make or break you.

I'm curious what you use for frogging - I could definitely stand to increase my hookup ratio in that department.

[F14A-B]

6 hours ago, Team9nine said:

2009? Is that a typo? Maybe I’m misunderstanding your point. Perhaps you mean as a company, their entire lineup of all rods offered are technique specific? Dobyn’s started in 2009, but technique specific rods had been around long before then. Anybody remember this 1990 lineup of application specific rod lines?

 

Yup, had more than a few of those, my gracious time flies! Had a Guido spinning rod, he used a 4000 sized daiwa reel and a 7’ MH rod, but that rod was a fast/heavy all day long. Powermesh construction 🤣it was a real thing I think 😆