I find myself using my one spinning setup more often than all five of my casting setups. Because of this, I want to add another spinning combo. I fish in lakes, ponds and small streams for bass and trout. I already have a 7' M XF and 1500 size reel with 20 lb braid and a leader. I fish a lot of drop shots, Ned rigs, split shots, wacky rigs, and keitechs. Looking at a Quantum Smoke inshore 6'3" MLXF and 25 size reel. I am also looking at a 7'1" mh Powell max too. What do you think?

7' MF or 7' MXF is a GREAT all-around spinning outfit.  However, for trout, crappie and the Ned rig I prefer 7+ feet MLF

 

 

 

13 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

7' MF or 7' MXF is a GREAT all-around spinning outfit.  However, for trout, crappie and the Ned rig I prefer 7+ feet MLF

 

 

 

 

Thats what I'm thinking, but most of my streams are small, I'm thinking the 6'3" would be short and accurate, but could work for bass too. I do like the idea of trying to find a ml 7'1"

Here is how I would go.  I would look at a repurposing the 7 mXF for use to throw things like 5 inch kalin grubs fished on a jig head ( I love BPS Perfect Finesse Worm Jig heads).  These tx riggs are fantastic for grubs, small finesse worms and creature baits. I would also throw baits like Reaction Innovation Little Dippers and Skinny Dippers. ANother good bait like those is the Keitechs.  Throw these on belly weighted swimbait hooks. I like the Gamakatsu ones the most.

 

Now I would look at the Dobyns Sierra SA 692 SF . I would try and see how that smaller rel feels on it. If it balances close to the thread for the reel seat then fine. If not I would upgrade both of my reels to something like a Pflueger President, one would be a 6930 for the 693 and a 35 for the current rod.  Another great reliable lightweight option is an Okuma RTX30. 

 

The Dobyns are terrific rods and I love fishing with them.  That is my replacement going forward but my previous solution to fishing plastics with a very sensitive rod has always been a G Loomis  Classic series SJR721 and SJR722s. We still fish these 6 footers, but if I were to replace them I would replace them with the 6'6" version of the same rod.

95% of my freshwater fishing is smaller rivers and creeks with spinning tackle. I tried the shorter rods but I never saw any advantage and saw a visible reduction in casting distance. A lot of times on smaller bodies of water you get gin clear water that isn't super deep so casting distance is super important so now I stick to all 7'+ rods. One thing you don't see mentioned very often in bass fishing but can be great is a light power rod such as the St Croix ECS70LF. You never mentioned a budget but that rod is in the Eyecon line and is $130. As for reels I stick to Shimano and Daiwa because I truly believe they are the best. For a solid performer for the money you can get a Daiwa Procyon on Amazon for about $100. So for $230 you have a combo that would be killer for all of your smaller and lighter presentations. I think I just managed to talk myself into getting this combo

6 hours ago, PatrickKnight said:

95% of my freshwater fishing is smaller rivers and creeks with spinning tackle. I tried the shorter rods but I never saw any advantage and saw a visible reduction in casting distance. A lot of times on smaller bodies of water you get gin clear water that isn't super deep so casting distance is super important so now I stick to all 7'+ rods. One thing you don't see mentioned very often in bass fishing but can be great is a light power rod such as the St Croix ECS70LF. You never mentioned a budget but that rod is in the Eyecon line and is $130. As for reels I stick to Shimano and Daiwa because I truly believe they are the best. For a solid performer for the money you can get a Daiwa Procyon on Amazon for about $100. So for $230 you have a combo that would be killer for all of your smaller and lighter presentations. I think I just managed to talk myself into getting this combo

 

I was looking at the eyecup, its actually 120 from cabbalas!

I like shimano and diana too!

thanks for the help.

I have a Powell max ml and it's a great rod.   It's slightly under 7 feet.  And sounds perfect for what you are looking for.   Its paired with a shimano saros.