I was thinking of buying a pitching rod, but I am a little confused on what to look for. I have seen "pitching" rods in everything from moderate fast to extra fast action. Which is the preferred type?

Pitching is easier and much more accurate with a moderate-fast action rod. For flipping, you want a broomstick, but for pitching, some give in the tip section makes it all work much better.

I use a dobyns champion extreme DX705C for this exact technique. The rod is worth the $$$ IMHO. It is a designated pitching stick, but can be used for so much more. The rod can easily handle larger baits and line that is used for this technique. The rods length is a nice happy medium, is long enough for quick hook sets yet short enough for accurate pitching. Its a fast action but loads up nicely to keep the fish pinned. The most important part, its POWERFUL. With heavy line you can turn big fish.

The reason you see so many different "actions" of pitching rods is because: A- There is no real industry standard for what make a rod a certain action. B- There is no bass-fisherman standard for what makes a rod a good pitching rod.

Generally speaking, you want to avoid a rod that is super-stiff, like an old-school flippin' stick, because it will be hard to propel a bait with a pitching motion. But you want a rod that isn't too moderate because it won't load fast enough to propel the bait with said motion. Many pitching sticks now are more "moderate-fast" with a lot of backbone, but what they get labeled by the company can be a variety of things. I think some companies try to avoid using the term "moderate" for anything other than a cranking rod because they fear it will confuse the consumer or something.

Great info guys....some new food for thought!

Thanks,