What's your opinions on the lightest weight bass rods? I wanna stay around 6'6" and medium action. I fish a Pfleuger President combo now and love it, but its a little heavy considering my shoulder injury. After casting it for a while, it takes its toll on my shoulder. (Shoulder surgery: 2011) I need something sensitive, strong but super light weight. I wanna stay with a spinning outfit, and no I'm not even going to venture to try to learn to cast with my less dominant arm. Thanks in advance.

a duckett rod and shimano ci4 is going to be hard to beat weight wise

I know nothing about the weight of rods, but I suspect the reel weighs more. And I wonder how much weight difference there is between a typical rod and a lightweight one.

 

Are you confident that an ounce or two reduction in rod weight will make a difference with the shoulder? If yes, fine, I hope you will get to enjoy your fishing more. If no, I'd suggest getting your doctor's opinion before plowing money into a rod which may not help your problem.

 

Good luck. I've had some problems and can empathize with your discomfort.

Thanks fellas. An ounce or two? I'm not sure how much this will help. But I do know when I throw my light action outfits that it doesn't hurt nearly as bad later on. I'll look into your suggestion also Brian, thanks.

I would bet a well balanced rod and the casting style used will have more of an affect on your shoulder. If you are bombing long casts with swimbaits or cranks it is going to be way more stress than say pitching or short casts with lighter weight baits.

You pay for less weight. What is your budget limits?

Tom

Fly fisher, I agree with that. But still, I'd like to lighten the load

WRB, I'd like to stay under a couple hundred bucks if I could.

Consider balancing your rods, and also try using a two handed cast, even when you don't need to chuck the bait.  I had shoulder issues, and went to a two handed cast.  the shoulder issues went away, but the two handed cast didn't.  The only casts I make one handed now are pitches.

J Francho, the two handed cast is already something I use. But, still I'm wanting lighter gear. I'll see what else pops up here, thanks.

I'm using several Saint Croix Avids/CI4 combos.  They are pretty light, and very nicely balanced.

a duckett rod and shimano ci4 is going to be hard to beat weight wise

 

x2, this is what I use for both of my spinning setups and they are extremely light.

Saint Croix list their rod weight, most other rod makers don't. This makes it difficult to obtain accurate rod weight data. From my experience I would estimate a 6'6" medium/ fast light weight bass rod to be 4 oz +/- 1/4 oz. Important factors to consider are; the customer service and warranty the rod maker offers, how the rod balance with the reel and the lure weights. Rod makers that make good quality rods in your price range are; ALX, Dobyn's, Daiwa, Lamiglas, Shinmano, Saint Croix that I am familiar with. Take a look at their sites and then try to pick up and touch and feel these rods with a reel on them.

The reel is going to be importnat and reels weights vary greatly!

Also weigh your current rod so you have a baseline.

Tom

It's all about balance imo. I have a new Cumara/G3  Revo STX combo that is feather light but is still tip heavy. I have a Dobyns Savvy and G3 Revo SX combo that weighs more but is perfectly balanced. The balanced combo is much more enjoyable to fish with even though it weighs more.

carbonlite, duckett or kistler klx. Make sure it is balanced as others have stated

I been there, not necessarily with the shoulder but I've had tennis elbow, that hurt to the point that on several occasions I stopped fishing to ride around and look at stuff on my depth finder rather than fish.  I remember thinking that lighter rigs  would help, they helped some, but not a whole lot.

 

What worked for me were taking a couple of Alieve gel tabs while I was driving to the lake.   Using 2 handed casts, like J Franco recommended, helped quite a bit.  Paying attention to technique helped too.  Paying attention to every action of the cast, and not twisting my elbow or wrist too much.   Hope it gets better.

A few things...

1. The fenwick elite tech rods are right around 3.5 ounces for their 6'9 ML rod. Guessing the medium would be a touch heavier. Phenix recon rods for a bit more $ are pretty light as well. A 3 powered rod would be close to medium action rod in their lineup.

2. A stradic ci4 2500 series reel as noted above is 7 ounces. Another choice would be dropping down to a 1000 series reel which will be around 7.5 ounces +/-.

3. Aaron Martens has noted in a few of his videos that you can hold the spinning setup slightly different to avoid fatigue or so the outfit feels heavy. Try moving your hand further up the forgrip as if you were fishing a dropshot. This should help balance the setup. Just an idea...

Carbonlite microguide. Or even the normal guided version.

Lots of options, I use either a light rod with a 6.5 oz reel or ml with a 7.5 oz reel, both setups are very comfortable, balance well, and is effortless, probably the most fun bass fishing I do.

I have a Pinnacle 70ML/F with a CI4 2500 that is REALLY LIGHT and PERFECTLY BALANCED!!!!

Jeff

duckett, carrot stick wild black, st croix rage. All very very light rods.

My veritas and Revo premier 20 balance well and is very light but I'm running a 6'9" rod. Same rod with the Ci4 2500 also very very light and well balanced.

3. Aaron Martens has noted in a few of his videos that you can hold the spinning setup slightly different to avoid fatigue or so the outfit feels heavy. Try moving your hand further up the forgrip as if you were fishing a dropshot. This should help balance the setup. Just an idea...

So many rods today do not feature a foregrip, I only buy ones that do.  I've been fishing with my hand on the foregrip for what seems like decades.  Not only do I find it more comfortable but if my rod is tip heavy it seems to balance it out little better.  Some of my spinning reels go 18 or 20 oz, letting the rod do the work by loading up, I can cast fairly easily with a minimal amount of fatigue and soreness.

I think the absolute lightest in spinning you may find is the discontinued Shimano CUMULUS  series, known for its lightness and sensitivity.

 

   I just received the casting model this morning and am blown away at how light and sensitive it is.

 While looking I also saw a spinning rod on clearance....the Cumulus, that is.

 

If you are interested, pm me and I'll tell you where to find it and how much it is.  It's FAR better than the Cumara!  I ordered mine 2 days ago and it came today.  Perfect, seamless service.

I have a ci4 3000 on The Pinnacle 7 ML F rod and its pretty darn light! Couple guys on here recommended the Pinnacle as i was having a hard time to find a nice balanced setup with the ci4! They were so right! 

 the okuma rtx reel is 6.6 oz up to 30 size, helios 6.8oz

 

most popular rods are light weight nowadays 3-5oz, take your pick