How do I choose rod tip action??

[The Rooster]

With a medium or medium heavy powered rod, how do I know which tip speed I want......fast or extra fast??  

[KevO]

It would depend on what application you are using the rod for....

[Pigsticker]

fast is a pretty general action

Extra fast is great for soft plastics

[Chad.]

With a medium or medium heavy powered rod, how do I know which tip speed I want......fast or extra fast??  

What do you perfer for that presentation, may seem odd but for spinnerbaits i love the 6' 10'' mh extra fast cruical i have. Where as lots of people have a softer rod and a shorter one. for plastics you want that stiff hook set maybe a fast actions right for you or for crankbaits a slow sweep a parobolic may suit your needs.

[The Rooster]

Alright, here's what I planned to use them for.  The medium heavy is mostly for jigs and T-rigs, but also might be used to throw spinnerbaits and buzzbaits too.  It's lure weight is 3/8-1 oz.  

I want a medium for any of those same baits that weigh less than 3/8.  1/4 oz. spinnerbaits for example.  And also light weight crankbaits, the Bandit 100 and 200 series, 1/4 oz.  

Both the medium heavy and medium are available in fast and extra fast tips.  I am going to get the Shimano Compre rods and they make them both ways.  I sort of thought that the extra fast tip would make for an exceptionally stiff feeling rod and I might like it for the medium heavy with jigs.  But the medium I was thinking I wouldn't want it to feel quite as stiff for throwing those lighter lures.

But how do I know before I buy it if it's going to feel the way I imagine it to when fishing it??

[adclem]

All these rod selections can be very confusing that is for sure.

Later,

[Grey Wolf]

Alright, here's what I planned to use them for. The medium heavy is mostly for jigs and T-rigs, but also might be used to throw spinnerbaits and buzzbaits too. It's lure weight is 3/8-1 oz.

I want a medium for any of those same baits that weigh less than 3/8. 1/4 oz. spinnerbaits for example. And also light weight crankbaits, the Bandit 100 and 200 series, 1/4 oz.

Both the medium heavy and medium are available in fast and extra fast tips. I am going to get the Shimano Compre rods and they make them both ways. I sort of thought that the extra fast tip would make for an exceptionally stiff feeling rod and I might like it for the medium heavy with jigs. But the medium I was thinking I wouldn't want it to feel quite as stiff for throwing those lighter lures.

But how do I know before I buy it if it's going to feel the way I imagine it to when fishing it??

You won't know until you buy one of each and use them , then you can make an intelligant decision based on your experience with the rods.

There usually are no short-cuts on anything in this life.

[flechero]

Maybe you should only buy 1 of them now and see how you like the x-fast.  If you don't, you can sell it fast enough in the flea market, x-fast has gotten real popular in the last 2 years.

[Bassboss]

I like a slow tip for when I'm fishing cover, it's got a lot of back bone so you can horse the fish in.

I like a fast tip when I'm casting light lures, and not heavy cover (rocks for example).

[J Francho]

I like a slow tip for when I'm fishing cover, it's got a lot of back bone so you can horse the fish in.

I like a fast tip when I'm casting light lures, and not heavy cover (rocks for example).

Some is conventional wisdom, but a lot is preference, and what you're used to.  For me its exactly the opposite.  Don't confuse power with action.  I want a fast tip and tons of backbone for cover.  Rocks are not cover, but structure, BTW. For lighter stuff, I like a slower, lighter power rod.  The exception being my DS rod - for that I prefer an X-fast, ML power rod.  I also prefer a slower action for treble hook baits.

[Bassyak]

I have a brand new with tags Shimano Compre 6'6" Med/Extra-fast casting rod and 7' Med-Hvy/Fast spinning rod that I'm willing to sell if you're interested Rooster.

[The Rooster]

What I really need to know is does an extra fast tip make the rod seem really stiff?? I had a rod like that before. It didn't say if it was fast or extra fast, it was a mid 90's Quantum Renegade that costed me $30 back then. It was a medium heavy "action" (I know that's really power), rated 1/4 - 1 1/2 lure weight (very big range), and it was very hard to cast with cause of how stiff it was. Didn't load well at all. I had constant backlashes with lighter lures even though they were well within the range of the rod.

Granted that's when I was new to baitcasting and the reel wasn't that good, but once I switched the reel to a medium action rod I had no more trouble using it. Rod loaded up good and I casted any lure I wanted in the 1/4 oz. range using the same reel on a different rod. I had the rod laying around for nearly 10 years unused anymore and I finally gave it away to get rid of it. I think I only ever caught 2 fish on it. Might have only been one.

I don't want to repeat that again. It's kinda hard for me money wise to buy rods that are as expensive as the Compre is gonna be and not be satisfied and then have to sell them for most of my money back and start over. Plus my wife gets aggravated at me when I do stuff like that. :

I "think" what I'm used to is a fast tip. But all of my rods are just rated the generic way of calling them medium action, which is actually power, and no mention of what the tip will be like so I'm only guessing. I looked at both tip actions of the Compre in the store and without fishing them I can't tell much difference. I gave them a whip and watched how fast the tip recovered as best I could. Seemed the extra fast tip hardly moved while the fast tip moved a pretty good bit.

By the way Bassyak, what would you want for that Compre casting rod?? Shipping and all. And if you don't mind me asking, why do you want to sell it?? The medium with the extra fast isn't really one I was considering.  I was mostly thinking of the extra fast for a medium heavy rod.  In my head it seems that would make for a pretty stiff rod that might be nice for jigging.  But I don't really know much about this which is why I'm asking.

[J Francho]

A fast taper doesn't make it feel stiffer, but a heavier power rod does.

[MickD]

For your T rig/jig rod, I don't know what to recommend, but for your medium that you will use for cranks 1/4 oz and up, you want to get an action that will load properly when casting the light lures.  

Fast means that most of the flex will be in the upper 1/4 or so of rod length, extra fast means most of the flex will be in the upper 1/5 or so.  It is possible to get a rod in extra fast action to cast 1/4 oz lures well, but it will not be a medium heavy action, and it may not even be a medium (power).  My best crank rod for light lures is a Loomis Crankbait rod #CBR843C (8-14 line, 1/4-5/8 lures) and it is probably a medium light power with a moderate/fast tip.  It loads beautifully with light cranks, is very light, casts like a dream.  I'm not familiar with the Shimano rods, but would expect that the fast tip would be better for cranks than the extra fast.  

Your initial comments on the rod with the 1/4-1 1/2 oz lure rating is interesting.  I'd bet lots of money it was not really a 1/4 rated rod, but was marked incorrectly by the manufacturer to appeal to more people.  Your comments on it not loading are right on, and you need a much lighter power rod to load properly with the light lures.  I expect Shimano rates their rods more accurately, just be sure they rate it down to 1/4 or at worst 3/8.

[The Rooster]

They do.  The medium covers down to 1/4 (can't remember it's top end though, 5/8, 3/4??) and the medium heavy covers from 3/8 to 1 oz.