Most of the swimbait rods are designed for 3 oz+ large swimbaits, and are too much rod for what I'm throwing. The lures I have are the Blackdog Shellcracker G2 (1.5 oz) and Savage Gear Line thru 6" (1.25 oz).

 

I looked at the Megabass Orochi XX Leviathan rod and it's a 10 power rod, wayy too much rod for my needs.

 

The Okuma Select Guide 7'6" MH fits the bill, but I want something built nicer with better components. It's too plain jane for me. 

 

Perhaps Dobyns DX 765FLIP? I have no way to handle one and test it out where I'm from so...

 

My budget is $300.

 

I'm looking for something around 7'5" give or take a few inches with a taper designed for throwing 1.5 ounce lures, well balanced, and powerful. Something that I can fish all day and not get fatigued.

At $300 you are in the custom rod range.

Loomis IMX 904C SWB 7'-6"

1/2-3oz baits

If you have a flipping stick or a 4-5 power jig rod, those will work just fine.

I recently picked up a iRod Genesis II Fred's Magic Stick, it's 7'5" H/F and rated for 1/2oz to 2oz. I have ZERO complaints about the rod. It is super light, sensitive, and looks awesome. Its only $149 and with TW's sale you could pick one up and a few small swimbaits to throw on it. 

 

If you don't have a reel for it yet, I recommend the Daiwa Lexa 300 5:1:1. It can be found on ebay for pretty cheap.

 

 

BTW, that's my exact small swimbait setup.

Try a phenix ultra MBX they have a rods to match your specifications

Try a 7'6" MH Abu Veritas. My Halo 7'11" MH Deep Cranking STick is perfect for 1 - 1.5 ounce swimbaits.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. My heart was initially set on Megabass but they do not yet have the small swimbait rod I'm looking for. Most of their heavier flipping rods are not true swimbait sticks and have too fast of an action on the tip. A swimbait rod should have a moderately-fast tip and a soft gradual bend in the blank. 

 

I decided to go with the G. Loomis E6X Casting 7'4" Hvy Swimbait 884C SWB. It's perfect for my small swimbait application. The handle length is perfect for me at 15.5 inches, has a moderately-fast taper, and will handle all the small 1.5 oz swimbaits in my tackle box perfectly. 7'4" is also long enough to make far casts and short enough to transport easily. 

 

I took a look at the Irod Genesis II 7'8" Jr Swimbait and 7'5" Fred's Magic Stick, and they both had flaws that I couldn't get over. The handle length on the Jr Swimbait is a tad too long at 17". For me, 15-16 inches is the optimal handle length for swimbait rods, too long and it becomes cumbersome and unwieldy. The overall rod length of 7'8" would cause issues in transporting as well. The Magic Stick's taper was just too fast more suitable for frogs and flipping applications.

 

Okuma Guide Select is so popularly recommended around here but I found the handle to be outrageously long at 22-24 inches. I couldn't get over how plain and mundane it looked also. Other than that, the MH would be fine for small swimbaits. A really good value budget rod. I just prefer something a little more. 

 

Anyway, I already bought my 884C SWB rod this morning and love how balanced and light it feels for a swimbait rod. I have it paired up with an Abu Garcia Orra Winch laying around that I previously had no rod for. It's a left-handed 5.4:1 gear ratio casting reel with 15 lb fluorocarbon. I highly recommend this combo for small swimbait!

If you have a flipping stick or a 4-5 power jig rod, those will work just fine.

X2

for those smaller swimbaits 1-1.5 oz a flippin stick will do

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. My heart was initially set on Megabass but they do not yet have the small swimbait rod I'm looking for. Most of their heavier flipping rods are not true swimbait sticks and have too fast of an action on the tip. A swimbait rod should have a moderately-fast tip and a soft gradual bend in the blank. 

 

I decided to go with the G. Loomis E6X Casting 7'4" Hvy Swimbait 884C SWB. It's perfect for my small swimbait application. The handle length is perfect for me at 15.5 inches, has a moderately-fast taper, and will handle all the small 1.5 oz swimbaits in my tackle box perfectly. 7'4" is also long enough to make far casts and short enough to transport easily. 

 

I took a look at the Irod Genesis II 7'8" Jr Swimbait and 7'5" Fred's Magic Stick, and they both had flaws that I couldn't get over. The handle length on the Jr Swimbait is a tad too long at 17". For me, 15-16 inches is the optimal handle length for swimbait rods, too long and it becomes cumbersome and unwieldy. The overall rod length of 7'8" would cause issues in transporting as well. The Magic Stick's taper was just too fast more suitable for frogs and flipping applications.

 

Okuma Guide Select is so popularly recommended around here but I found the handle to be outrageously long at 22-24 inches. I couldn't get over how plain and mundane it looked also. Other than that, the MH would be fine for small swimbaits. A really good value budget rod. I just prefer something a little more. 

 

Anyway, I already bought my 884C SWB rod this morning and love how balanced and light it feels for a swimbait rod. I have it paired up with an Abu Garcia Orra Winch laying around that I previously had no rod for. It's a left-handed 5.4:1 gear ratio casting reel with 15 lb fluorocarbon. I highly recommend this combo for small swimbait!

I actually have that reel on my iRod, the Daiwa Lexa 300 is on my big swimbait stick (Mattlures Swimbait Rod - 7'11" Heavy w/Telescopic handle)

I use a Phenix X11 composite rod.

It's rated to 3oz but I use it even for 1.5 sq bills with no problem.

The X13 is a 7'6

Mike

Bubs punch rod. It's rated up to 2 oz but will easily go higher I was told. He said some of the guys throw a rigs with it. It's 8' with a moderate action and is perfect for all kinds of little swimbaits. It is probably awesome for almost everything if you tried. It is definetly a rod to look at.