spinning rod suggestions

[am4mu]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a six and a half foot to 7 foot ultra light spinning rod for throwing rooster tails, light jigs and drift fishing.

I have found several at Bass Pro and Cabellas. Custom building seems to be out of my price range except for a very good friend of mine out of Mtn Home.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Doug

[drew03cmc]

I just bought a MicroLite glass rod from Bass Pro in Olathe for $19.99. It has a VERY nice action for throwing light lures. I plan on trying it out at James A Reed Monday, and then at Roaring River, end of the month. Also at BPS, they have marabou jigs 1/32 oz to 1/100 oz for $2.99 for 12 jigs. I bought some white, olive, black, black/yellow, and brown. I will not be underjigged! Now I just need a reel for it. I have one I am going to use on it until the middle of the month. Then, I will probably be getting a Shimano.

[ollie]

Everything fishing is like a preference thing for most. Me, I wouldn't go near a shimano spinning reel, but if you do then ok. I like my Falcon rod and Daiwa spinning reel for my set-up.

[Ham]

There is no need to go custom for the uses you are describing UNLESS you just want one.

I have a 3 piece (L) action BPS Micro LIght. It does really well for trout. I paid $29.99 for mine. It is only a 6 ' rod though.

MOST Shimano Spinning reels will bind when they get dunked. It might not happen the first time, it might not happen for years, but it will happen.

I fish Daiwa Spinning reels for the most part. SS1300 or an SS700 will do the trick for trout and panfish. I'm going to try a BPS Pro Qualifier 1000 IF they ever come off backorder status.

Think hard about UL vs L. All the trout you catch won't be less than 12 inches.

[mizzouflyfisher]

What is this Shimano reel bashing? Are you talking about the cheaper shimano reels (under $40) or the good stuff? I have nothing but good things to say about shimano and will probably never fish anything but Shimano and Abu for the rest of my life. Anyway, back to the topic: I've got a cabela's fish eagle that is fairly light and I really like it. It was a good buy for the money.

Mizzouflyfisher

[10pointer]

Ive never had a single complaint about shimano im a big fan. I work with reels everyday and see alot of what comes back and under repair. Shimanos like Diawas are great reels, and if you want an excellent shimano reel go with a stradic 1000, even though i wish they made that model in a 750 size. I absoulutly love mine and own almost one of every single model of shimano reels.

As far as a rod goes i can tell you this much...once you buy a nice rod thats a little out of the price range it does make a hugeeee differnce in the feel and numbers of fish you catch.

I personally use gloomis and st.croix avid rods and couldnt be happier with them. The loomis is the way to go as far as sensitivity and quality go, and has a lifetime warranty. I never thought that a rod could make such a difference but if you needed gift ideas to give someone then id suggest the loomis rods.

I prefer mine in the 4'6 and 5' but are offered up to and around 6' and they cast small jigs a mile. The GL3 and the IMX cant be beat and they can be found in the $120-$190 range. They really are worth it in my opinion and rods you will keep for many many years.

As far as a rod that would be more economical i would go with the bps microlite, the falcons, or the shimano ultralites that have the instore lifetime warranty at bps.

[Ham]

The wet Shimano binding issue affects "most" of their models. This is not a complaint about their lower end reels. The binding issue can occur in Shimano's high end stuff as well.

It isn't bashing. Shimanos tend to bind when the spinning reel gets water inside of it. There is a bushing that apparently absorbs some water and swells. I've had it happen to me and I've seen it happen first hand to another guy I was fishing with.I have seen MANY people post about it happening to them. I use some Shimano baitcasters and I have a couple of Shimano rods that I love.

Try a summer of wet wading/kayaking with a Shimano reel. I don't think you'll make it through the summer without it binding up.

I enjoy fishing high dollar rods and reels. I just don't think it is necessary for throwing inline spinners for trout. Quite a few slow to moderate action spinning rods out there to chunk offerings to trout. My relatively limited amount of experience with trout has shown me that they sip dry flys, but knock the crap out of small jerkbaits and inline spinners. You really need hands of stone to miss a Rooster tail bite.

I'm quite aware the BPS Microlite isn't the quality of a G Loomis. I won't cry so much if a have a stream side mishap though.

I think I can buy another Microlight for the postage require to return the G Loomis or St Croix for warranty service.

Lots of gear to choose from. No doubt the high dollar stuff will do the job also.

[trout fanatic]

I use a shimano symmetre for winter steelhead fishing. The reel is attached to a 10' 6" noodle rod which means you get a loop around the eye of the rod and your reel is gonna get a dunkin while you unravel it. Not a problem so far. The reel of choice by most winter steelhead fishin that i have noticed is the shimano stradic. Again i am not aware of any problems.

[drew03cmc]

I have heard great things about Pflueger President reels also. I might be trying one of those out! I currently have a Mitchell Trion, and a Shakespeare Agility. Cheapos, and have had no problems. But, I want a reel with at least 8 bearings now, so the Pflueger will probably be my choice. I loved my BPS microlite today, hooked (and lost due to me being an idiot) trout up to 18" in KC! Great rod, highly recommend it!

[am4mu]

Thanks for the input guys!! I am now rethinking my approach.

Thanks, Doug