Hey Guys,

Can someone tell me what type of action / tip, including the length of the rod that you use for each technique used while bass fishing. Example: I use a 7'6" med. hvy. shimano for carolina rigging, but it doesnt work well for casting / pitching texas rigged worms. Help me out on this one.

Try a search of this site

Bill - willierods.com

Some of us are not that specialized. We use the same type action or rod for many different techniques but we still catch fish! Makes you wonder how the old timers ever caught anything with their one or two rod approach.

This won't be the answer that you're looking for, but I'll chime in nonetheless. As I've gotten older, I spend less time using different techniques and more time fishing. And the net result is that I catch more fish than ever before. None of us catch as many as we'd like to, but in fishing with a good many people each year I've learned that I do manage to catch my fair share, or more.

I like very fast action rods and use them almost exclusively. I extend most of my blanks to give me an even faster action than is commonly available in most commercially made blanks. You'd be hard pressed to find a rod in my arsenal that has an AA of less than 78 degrees. That includes fly rods. I find such rods to be extremely versatile.

Having said that, most of what I do is limited to just a couple techniques. For the past decade and a half I have fished only 1 fly and perhaps just 2 or maybe 3 lures. Although I build what I believe are very sensitive rods, my technique never involves a tight line so rod sensitivity is not an issue - I see the strike by watching my line. I even watch my fishing buddies getting strikes that many of them never seem to notice.

On the flip side, there are tournament bass fishermen, and others, who rely on a great number of lures and related techniques and find they do best with a varied assortment of rods and actions. If that's what you're after, I suggest taking a look in the manufacturer's rod catalogs and get an idea of the type rod and action they market for each specific technique. That will at least put you in the ballpark for the blanks you need to be looking at for specific tasks.

.................

I've been around "one fly Tom" for quite some time now and witnessed the times that one rod has outfished everyone else around. It reminds me alot of the ESPN show " Beat Charlie Moore " , as far as equipment goes, you'll see Charlie using a Spinning rod for more than 90% of the time reguardless of the species or bait/ lure and he outfishes the other guys constantly.

[stcroixrods.com]

Above is a link to St Croix. I just picked one of their pages. There are a lot of sponsors, and suppliers to the left on this forum that will break down their products, or blanks depending on the presentations, and type of fishing that a person does. They may have a blank that can be used for an assortment of rod builds. Their catagories really help a person to get an idea on what to build. This has really helped me over the years.

Now, this is a good start, but nothing will work like experience. We fish with what we build. We also build to fish with our rods. There is a big difference here. If I think I want to tweak the action/power, I will build another rod, a bit difference. This is what the fun part is to me. But I have about 4 different ones. But I do duplicate the same maybe in both spinning and casting.

I am sorry that I am not quite there yet on the Common Sense ratings. I am learning this, but not to the point I can talk too intelligently about it! Most will be in the AA75 range, with a couple in the AA 60 range.

Kyle Robinson

inquiring minds want to know...what is that "one fly"?

It doesn't matter, just something that sinks. A black wooly bugger will catch any fish that swims if you put it in front of his nose. And you only need 2 - the second one being in case you lose the first.

..........

being a tournament bass guy, most of us have a small warehouse of rods now and if you ask any one of us to go through them - you'll get pretty much no clear answer on what rod is best for a given technique. The categories are too vague when all the variables are taken into account.... go find 10 different bass guys and ask them to show you their jig setup, crankbait setup, drop shot setup. You'll get at least 8 different opinions on each one. I think the action of the rod, followed by power and lure rating are the most important variables when getting into the nitty-gritty of "technique specific". I use 1/4oz jigs, so my "jig rod" is a 7' M/fast... another guy might prefer a 1/2 or 3/4oz jig and fish it in heavy cover... and he wants a 7'6" MH - Mod-fast action... another guy might fish the exact same way but he's 5'4".. and he wants a 6'6" rod.....

dropshot is another good example.... most guys want a 7 foot(ish) fast ML rod. i live in michigan where drop shotting the great lakes for 5lb+ smallies is the norm... those guys want a M or MH ... 7'6" etc. point is its going to be different for everyone... ask the right questions to get an idea of what they are looking to with it and go from there. Usually the only preconceived notions i go into a build with are
1. if it moves and has trebles i'm going to start at a moderate action blank
2. if it doesn't i'm looking at a fast action blank
then i find out:
what kind of baits? size, running-depth (where applicable), presentation
what kind of line? braid, mono/flouro, diameter
type of cover? open water, docks, deep weeds, slop, brush, timber, rock.....

it all makes difference. like i wouldn't hand a 7' MH x-fast super-high-modulus jig rod to someone who flips logs and timber. Snap-setting a stiff, brittle, fast action jig rod into an immovable object is a great way to break it in 2. Maybe a 7'6"- 7'10" MH mod-fast intermediate modulus is a better call.

Regards,
-Justin

Sammy Sammy Sammy

Personal Coded Reply }>>>

From the Swamp Boyz to the Fly Boyz On The High Ground In NC

From a devoted Bubba Basser

It appears that the bass rod marketing words of "task specific" are an irritating red flag to SOME in your proximity.

The confusing terminilogy for "task specific" fly rods from 2 wt - 18 wt bother Bassin Bubbas as well.

From a Bubba

Shoes that don't fit hurt your feet!

Don't go bear hunting with a switch!

Don't go into the woods at night to feed a Fox with the wrong brand weiner!

Don't go to Falcon with a shakey head!

Don't take a braid matt punch rod to gin clear water in California

Don't try to tickle the tops of grass with a Trap using a swim bait rod!

Don't crank a DD-22 down with an ultra light.

There will be vendors and manufacturers at High Point ICRBE who do the best they can to communicate the best choices.

Many fishermen could improve their catch rate with the right rod in hand.

As a custom builder your business may increase if your customer desires a set of rods for the deck of his boat. It helps to know the differences.

While we are in High Point shaking, testing and bending blanks the best bass fishermen in the world will be 500 miles to the south in Birmingham using "task specific" bass rods - they will be on TV and the feed will be in the lounge where many will be holding court and spinning tales - I hope the we have the exact blank in our booth that will appear on the ESPN feed in the hand of one of the leaders - we got a shot - six of the Elites will be using blanks and or rods that will be in our booth. Yes the MICRO will be in both places - The Classic and the ICRBE!

Smile when you see me coming!

Gon Fishn

Bill, to be honest the largest majority of the Bubba Bass guys around here have no idea of the difference between rod actions or purpose. Thank God they at least changed colors for the boys, now all they can say is "I want one of 'em 'nanner rods, you know the yellar ones."

I bet I've got em stired up now.

thanks guys!

I use the yellow rods for topwater, orange for crankbaits and white for plastices.

Don't forget candy cane colors at Christmastime.

Don't lay any camo rods down!! You will never find them again!!!

Some days you guys are just good cheap entertainment! I thought Skeet used one of those 'nanner rods to match his 'nanner boat! I was just looking for a gold metalflake paint for the rod to match the old Charger!

Mike, some days, this is just how a good thread ends up! But, some days, it is always good for a laugh or 2 also!

John, try a green rod with brown spots when you flip a frog to the slop. The action is better!

And so it goes...

Kyle Robinson



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2010 10:38AM by Kyle Robinson.

In addition to all the wonderful advice already given, I'll have to put in my two cents worth. I agree that we tend to make fishing a lot more complicated than necessary to catch fish, but having said that, there is one area of the technique issue that I feel very strongly about. If you are going to be casting all day with spin or bait casting outfits, if you will go with slower actions and powers that match your lure, you will feel a lot better at the end of the day. Fast actions and heavy powers determined by the fish you will (or might) catch will lead you to discomfort and less effective casting. The slower actions matched to the lure weight will result in more accurate, more comfortable casting, and unless you are in heavy cover, will handle just about any fish you could reasonably encounter. Think of matching line weight to the fly rod- you want the rod to load properly in spinning and casting just like in fly fishing. It seems like the manufacturers take pride in "fast" and "extra fast" to the point that it's difficult to find moderate actions, but they are really sweet casting/spinning rods.