Ideal casting rod/real/line/lure weight for long casts

[Al Agnew]

Let me give you all my set-ups...

Canoe rods:

1.  Topwater exclusively--an ancient Lews 5'6" medium power pistol grip rod, cut down to 5'3".  The reel is my most expensive one, a Diawa Tatula SV TW.  I bought this reel because everybody else said it cast light lures a mile, and I wanted it originally for casting 1/8th ounce hair jigs in the winter, and casting light buzzbaits in the summer.  It's good, but it ain't any better for me than any of my other reels.  But it's smooth and casts topwater lures a mile, for sure!

2.  Light crankbait--this is the outfit I often use to cast my homemade crankbait, and it doubles as-- a jerkbait outfit for the canoe.  5'6" Razr rod, short straight handle, medium power.  Reel is a Lews Mach 1, about the cheapest of my newer reels with one exception, but a pretty good reel.

3.  Heavier crankbait--I use this one for deep diving cranks but it works well for my shallow runner as well, which is pretty wind resistant...an old Loomis crankbait special (the brown one) 6'6" medium power, but cut down to about 6 ft. by cutting off a couple inches of the handle and 4 inches of the tip.  Reel is a Diawa Tatula CT100.

4.  Light spinnerbait--I use this one mostly for my 1/4th ounce twin spin...St. Croix 5'6" medium power pistol grip--this is a GREAT rod for canoes if you like pistol grip rods.  I don't know why I didn't buy several of them.  Lews Laser Pro reel.

5.  Heavier spinnerbait--I use this one for regular spinnerbaits...an old Castaway 6' medium power rod, Lews Mach 1 reel.

6.  I don't use jigs and soft plastics all that much in the canoe, so my two rods for that kind of fishing are real salvage jobs.  One is a Kistler Helium that started out as a 6'6" medium power, but had about 5 inches broken off the tip so I just put a tip guide on the end of it, and I suppose it's now a heavy power.  The reel is an really old Shimano Scorpion 1000.  The other one is a Kistler Z-Bone 2 meter (I guess about 6'8") medium power that got about the same amount of tip broken off, and an ancient green Shimano Curado CU100.

Jetboat rods--since I use the jetboat more in the winter than in the summer, some of these rods kinda do double duty:

1.  Topwater (summer) and jerkbait (winter)--A Kistler custom made (done as a trade for artwork) 6'3" topwater and jerkbait special rated for 6-12 pound line with a pistol grip.  Reel is a Shimano Curado 70 HG.

2.  Crankbaits--Major Craft Nanoace crankbait special 6'6" medium power, Shimano Citica 200G6.

3.  Spinnerbaits, doubles as a rod for bigger jerkbaits in the winter--Loomis 6" medium power, about 15 years old and not their top end rod for sure, Garcia Revo STX.

4.  All-purpose--Browning Medallion 6' medium power, ancient Curado CU200 reel.

5.  Light hair jigs, doubles as a Superfluke type lure rod in the summer--Major Craft Nanoace 6'9" medium power worm and jig special, Lews BB1SHZ reel.

6.  Heavier jigs, etc.--Nanoace 6'9" medium-heavy power worm and jig special, Kastking Stealth reel.  That reel is my least expensive one, and I haven't had it quite long enough to recommend its durability, but once I got it dialed in it casts light lures about as well as any reel I own.  I'm actually using it for heavier stuff right now because I want to see how it holds up.

[Gavin]

Never Toss less than a 1/2 oz buzzer or walker on casting gear. Buzzer goes on a 7’ Medium rod, walker on a 5’6” pistol grip Medium Light.

[Mitch f]

9 minutes ago, Gavin said:

Never Toss less than a 1/2 oz buzzer or walker on casting gear. Buzzer goes on a 7’ Medium rod, walker on a 5’6” pistol grip Medium Light.

Pretty much what I do, except I will someone’s use a 3/8 buzzbait

[Gavin]

Will go 6’6” for the walker if fishing from a bass boat. Better angles.

[darbwa]

Thank you all for all of the input!  That’s why I love this forum. Such a great place to get ideas!