new rod

[slopmaster]

i want your opinions on a question/delima i have.

i need a new crankbait/spinnerbait rod or i need a new flipping rod which is it?

my delima is i have a 7 foot med.hvy st. croix triumph rod and im either going to use it as my crankbiat/spinnerbait rod or im going to use it as a flipping rod. i would love to buy 2 new rods but i dont have the money for both so bare with me.

my question is would i be better off buying a medium action rod for my spinnerbaits and crankbait rod, or should i buy a heavy action rod for flipping. I really am getting into the flipping so i want a rod that will do me justice. But on the other hand will a med.hvy be to stout for cranking. I know it would be best if i had a seperate rod for each situation but its not on my budget as of now. fyi i will be using mono or florocarbon if that makes a difference.

[Cecil]

I would get a medium for cranks and spinners. If you want to make your med/hvy heavier (prob dont need to) you can always use braid.

[TR21]

How fast is the tip on the medium/heavy? If you have a fast tip you can use that for cranks and spinnerbaits. Are you going to be flippin heavy stuff or just docks and shallow water. If no heavy stuff the medium/heavy would work for that but if you are going into the junk its best to have a heavy rod. Cecil is right though you can influence rods with different line. Just make sure if you're using braid to ease off on the drag a little - you don't want any broken rods.

[Craigums]

I would use your MH as your flipping rod, then go with a meduim rod with a slower action for your cranks

[Katman]

I personally think it'll depend on how you'd feel fishing the rods. I'd personally go with the med/hvy. I like heavier rods but I'm one of those that have a pretty heavy hookset too. I'd use some mono for exposed hook situations. I understand that you need a multi-function rod.... and I think a heavier one will leave you feeling a bit more powerful and versitle in the end. A medium with a moderate action would be ideal for cranking but will leave you feeling a bit under power while flipping. But again.. this is what works for me.

[slopmaster]

you guys all make good points. I use to use braid on all my rods and found that for flipping it worked ok but with exposed hooks i lost alot of fish even with a medium action rod. I wouldnt say that i pitch in extremely heavy cover most of it is 8 feet or less and a lot of docks but i do pitch a decent amount of weed pockets. That is why i was curious as to if i need a heavy rod or is that too much? I would say i have a fairly hard hookset and for me its hard not to do so because i fish muskie so it comes natural. i thought maybe i would lose alot of fish crankbaiting if i used my med hvy for that reason. But if i use mono will i want a medium or med hvy for crankbaiting? sorry for all the questions i just want some insight on what you guys use for these situations.

[slopmaster]

o and the 7 foot med hvy rod that i have now has a fast tip.

[Cecil]

That would be quite a bit too much rod for cranks IMO, mono or anything. I use a med/hvy for flipping.

[slopmaster]

i think i will get a medium for cranks and keep my medium hvy for flipping. Thanks for all your input guys its good to hear differnt views and learn a thing or two in the process.

[mww24]

st croix has a great 7 foot medium glass rod with moderate action in the premier series. around 100 bucks. ive had mine for 3 years and its a unbelievable rod for the price. very soft tip so you dont rip hooks, and when using flourocarbon i can feel everything. with mono it feels kindy mushy but it works.

[slopmaster]

So just out of curiousity if i get a 7 foot medium action rod with a moderate action will this rod serve as a decent spinnerbait rod as well or will it strictly be a crankin rod? Also thanks mww24 for the suggestion, i have a triumph and like that rod alot.

[mww24]

i never use mine for spinnerbaiting. i dont see why not though. the only thing i wouldnt use it for is heavy jig and worm stuff because of the action, but you have medium heavy for that. i associate crankbaits and spinnerbaits with the same kind of reaction strike so i dont see why it wouldnt work. the moderate action is for the angler. all moderate means is more of the rod loads up on the hookset which in turn makes the whole hookset slower. the reason its nice is because a lot of people myself included set the hook so fast when the feel a bite on a crank they pull the bait out of the fish' mouth. the slower action delays it. basically its more forgiving for you. i do the same with spinnerbaits to. sorry for being long winded.

[slopmaster]

that makes sense and no need for appoligizing i appreciate you taking the time to respond!

[Muddog]

Quote:

I would use your MH as your flipping rod, then go with a meduim rod with a slower action for your cranks

Ditto.

Hook set, hook set, hook set. Is that all you guys think about? Sharpen your hooks!

You want a Meduim rod with a slower action so you can load more of your rod on the back cast, so you can cast light crankbait!

I'm starting to see why some of you have reel over run problems.

[Cecil]

Mud, the medium with a slower action is meant to not be too stiff. So sharp hooks would help yes, but the point of the slower rod is to not pull the hooks out. Not so much the hook set, hook set, hook set as you say, it's keeping the fish hooked up once you do hook them. And the rod has a big part in that for treble hooks.

[Muddog]

Pick up a fly rod for a while then get back to me. Your way off and I think you listen to salemen who have no clue!

[Cecil]

I have fly fished. What does that have to do with it??????

[Deitz Dittrich]

this has been a fun thread to read. People fish differently, and what works well for one will not work as well for another just purely on style.

On the issue to why to have a mod action rod for cranks, I tend to agree with Cecil. Its so you hook fish better to begin with, and the rod then gives when the fish shakes keeping that fish on better. I really dont set the hook with a crank, more of just a load up. I do however like the mod action for casting a crank a mile as well.

[PerchJerker]

Cecil is correct. Another situation where guys want medium power rods with slower actions is for trolling crankbaits (eeek, sounds like walleye fishing ). There's no casting in that situation, but you get better hookups and do a better job of keeping the fish hooked with a medium/slower rod.

For casting, you have to match the rod with the weight of what you're casting, whether it's fly line, light crankbaits, heavy crankbaits, or anything else.

[gritsnham]

I like a bigger rod (7'6") heavy with a fast action for casting bigger cranks. The extra length and fast action makes for some booming cast and the heavy action helps fight fatigue when you are fishing deep cranks all day long. This setup does not work well for lighter cranks and a shorter mod rod works much better as others have said.

[Muddog]

There is no doubt that a slow action rod will take the shock out of a head shake. I use a 10.5 foot long slow action rod to keep the hook from pulling out of soft mouthed fish all the time. To tell you the truth I catch more Bass then any other type of fish, especially this time of year. I do not have problems with hook sets or hooks coming out of fish. I have a more difficult time getting rod, reel and lure balanced for casting . Let me tell some of you if you take a 7’ MH fast action rod with 20lb mono and try to cast a shallow running wiggle wart you are getting no where fast. If you don’t know what rod to use for crank bait’s the last thing you want to worry about is hook set. You want a balanced system that will allow you the cast light lures with the least amount of reel over run. Unlike fly fishing you do not want your line to weigh more then your lure on the cast.

Monster hook sets are showy and get some of these people the attention they crave but do little more then that. How much force dose it take to put a sharp hook into a fish. Some people think a fish hooks itself with a crank bait. a slow rod would need a bigger hook set then a fast rod to drive the hook home!

[gritsnham]

Sometimes "monster" hook sets are needed muddog it just depends on the fishing situation and I use them all the time to hook fish rather than get attention. I dont have issues with ripping crank hooks out with big hook sets especially when the strike occurs soon after my retrieve starts otherwise closer to the boat the fish loads it up fine. If I want attention I will just take my shirt off near big island

[Cecil]

Pretty sure 95% of us agreed that there is no need for 20# test line and a heavy rod for a crank...

[TonkaBass]

I agree with Cecil... Muddog, lets have a crankbait only contest

[mww24]

wow i opened a can of worms huh? lets look at what he said. he has a med heavy fast rod allready. so he doesnt need one. he wants a cranbait/ spinnerbait rod. or a flipping stick. he can use the med heavy for flipping for the most part. so back to needing a good crank/ spinner rod. you dont want to light of rod otherwise it will be a lot of lure for the rod with most spinnerbaits . thats why i suggested the med moderate crankbait rod. if he's going to throw really light stuff he would probably just use a spinning rod. and if hes going to throw really heavy deep cranks he can use his med heavy. i was merely suggesting a rod ive used for a few years now and love. everyone has there preferences though. use what you like slopmaster.