Surf rod or Carp rod for spillways?

[fishallnight]

Hi everyone. New to the site.

I have just recently begun fishing below spillways in Missouri for whites, hybrids and stripers. I have a heavy clunky 10' fiberglass spinning rod that is just too heavy to use all day. I see a lot of graphite surf rods and some carp rods out there and was wondering what your opinions are on which would be a better fit for the spillway type of fishing.  I have a couple of 4000 series spinning reels I can use.  Probably would also use this for some long-distance catfishing as well.  

I am looking for light weight at the cheaper end of the price range.  Hope to keep it well under$100 for the rod. I've seen some 10' and 9' rods from Fiblink and Goture that throw 3/4-3 oz of weight. These run in the $50-$70 price range. Carp rods run around the same price from Big Carp Tackle for their lower end stuff. 

Please let me know what you think!

Thanks

 

[Quillback]

Welcome to Ozark Anglers!

I have no opinion on a heavy spinning rod for throwing weights up to 3 oz.  I use bait cast gear for heavy weights.  

[fishallnight]

Thanks for your input, Quillback. For the distances I want to cast and the frequency of how often I will cast (over and over) for the bass, I just don't trust my baitcasting abilities. I'd end up with bird nest after bird nest!

[MoCarp]

Lighter steelhead style rods are nice, but for bigger fish the smaller carp rods are hard to beat, BCT has some 9 footers so called stalking rods....fishing rods are like golf clubs....each has its place

[fishallnight]

MoCarp, those stalking rods do look very nice and like they'd fit the bill - light weight, long casts, able to handle a wide variety of fish sizes. I've watched a few videos already and I guess some people even use carp rods for light surf rods. If nothing else jumps up in the next couple of days, I may grab one of those 9' NGT Stalkers.  My KastKing baitrunner may find a new home.  Thanks for the suggestion!

[Quillback]

1 hour ago, fishallnight said:

Thanks for your input, Quillback. For the distances I want to cast and the frequency of how often I will cast (over and over) for the bass, I just don't trust my baitcasting abilities. I'd end up with bird nest after bird nest!

I used to think the same thing, but bit the bullet and learned how to throw a bait caster.  You'll bird nest less with a heavy weight as you can just lob it out there.  

[fishallnight]

I ended up buying one of the Margin Carp Rods from BCT and so far am really happy with it. It does take a lot of weight to really cast out there, but the lightness of the rod makes it easy to cast all day. 

Also tried my hand at Euro-style carp fishing in a creek/small river near my house and landed a 36" grass carp with it. I was shocked at how much easier the rod made handling a fish that size even in some current. It's really thrilling how hard they run and peel bunches of line off.  I used plumb boilies and some strawberry pack bait made from oats and grits. 

I haven't had a chance to make it to the spillway yet, but am pretty sure this rod will do the job. 

Thanks everyone for your input!

[MoCarp]

6 hours ago, fishallnight said:

I ended up buying one of the Margin Carp Rods from BCT and so far am really happy with it. It does take a lot of weight to really cast out there, but the lightness of the rod makes it easy to cast all day. 

Also tried my hand at Euro-style carp fishing in a creek/small river near my house and landed a 36" grass carp with it. I was shocked at how much easier the rod made handling a fish that size even in some current. It's really thrilling how hard they run and peel bunches of line off.  I used plumb boilies and some strawberry pack bait made from oats and grits. 

I haven't had a chance to make it to the spillway yet, but am pretty sure this rod will do the job. 

Thanks everyone for your input!

It pulls you down he rabbit hole.....I bought my first euro gear to fish spillway areas ..Truman and the pothole....fell into carping because them fish PULL!

[snagged in outlet 3]

11 hours ago, MoCarp said:

It pulls you down he rabbit hole.....I bought my first euro gear to fish spillway areas ..Truman and the pothole....fell into carping because them fish PULL!

I went through a stage of chasing them and then tried them on a fly.  I never had any luck even though I was catching them on bait right there.  I think it's due to extremely muddy water I was fishing in.  All of the videos I've seen of guys catching them on flies was in clear water.  These back water sloughs off of the Mississippi are past muddy, it's more like suspended silt.  Never got a sniff.

[Johnsfolly]

One of the guys that I work with catches them routinely on flies. He has stated that they bite best when they see the bait dropping through the water. So he is catching them in clearer water.