So I'm on thr hunt for spinning rod for creek and river smallmouth and was looking at the phoenix rods stated above so my question is the light rods those weight ratings seem well high for a light rod so I was wondering if anyone who owns or used either one do they handle those weight baits easily or is it more fish like a ml maybe a m in certain brands part of me is still leaning towards dobyns champ series or maybe the new st croix legend tournament bass granted major price tag differences so probably more along the lines of dobyns 

Recons have a moderate fast taper and tend to fish lighter than labeled.   A 715 (7'1" Heavy) fishes like a 7' mh st croix, with a softer tip.  A ml will be on the lighter end of the ml spectrum.  Recons fish a lot... LOT like Champions.

M1's are a bit faster in taper and in my opinion,  aren't as nice (ugly af too).

I was able to fish the 7'6" light power Recon Elite. IMO it fishes on the heavy side of light but not a full ml, also having talked to a Phenix rep the new Recon Elite has a faster taper than the M1 and it noticeably faster than the older Recons. My next rod is very likely to be that 7'6" for river and creek smallies I think its freaking perfect for em.

See that's what I'm shooting for but length will have to be on the shorter end where I fish skinny waters quiet often but the recons might be the one I look. More into if they fish like the champions for roughly 60$jsh cheaper 

I fish Phenix almost exclusively. The M1 line is a lot softer than the UMBX and Recon lines. 

 

For moving baits with treble hooks the M1 line is really good and very parabolic. The Recon line is very comparable to the UMBX line, only the rod diameters are a little larger and a little less dense. 

I have a Light action Recon 2 casting rod rated from 1/16-3/8oz.  The lightest things I regularly throw on it are lures like this;

 

6" Robo w/ 1/0 hook

 

J-7 Rapala 

 

Both of them will fully load the tip.

 

A 1/16oz inline spinner (which weighs a bit more then 1/16oz) will load the tip a little, but not super well.  

 

I really like the way the rod fishes and was thinking of having a custom spinning rod build on the same blank.  

 

1 hour ago, Bunnielab said:

I have a Light action Recon 2 casting rod rated from 1/16-3/8oz.  The lightest things I regularly throw on it are lures like this;

 

6" Robo w/ 1/0 hook

 

J-7 Rapala 

 

Both of them will fully load the tip.

 

A 1/16oz inline spinner (which weighs a bit more then 1/16oz) will load the tip a little, but not super well.  

 

I really like the way the rod fishes and was thinking of having a custom spinning rod build on the same blank.  

 

 

I'm looking for a 7' 6" L/ML rod and was thinking of this rod. Wanted to try a Phenix rod for years. Thanks for the post. 

21 minutes ago, joe chum said:

 

I'm looking for a 7' 6" L/ML rod and was thinking of this rod. Wanted to try a Phenix rod for years. Thanks for the post. 

 

The only thing I hate about it is the reel seat. I have never found a way to hold it that doesn't cramp my hand a little after a few hours.  But that is super subjective so don't let it deter you, but for sure put a reel on it and play with it before you take the tags off.   I have the 6'8" version but iirc the blanks are the same.  

47 minutes ago, Bunnielab said:

 

The only thing I hate about it is the reel seat. I have never found a way to hold it that doesn't cramp my hand a little after a few hours.  But that is super subjective so don't let it deter you, but for sure put a reel on it and play with it before you take the tags off.   I have the 6'8" version but iirc the blanks are the same.  

 

Thanks for the heads up. 

4 hours ago, gall said:

See that's what I'm shooting for but length will have to be on the shorter end where I fish skinny waters quiet often but the recons might be the one I look. More into if they fish like the champions for roughly 60$jsh cheaper 

 

The only reason I want the 7'6 is the full handle vs split grip on the 7'2.

So it sound alike the recon all and all is a decent rod for the money and I would mainly be throwing need rigs weightless trick worms and other small baits along those lines with max weight being an 1/8oz weight but more so 1/32 1/16 etc along with soft plastic baits and the 6'8 was the length I was interest in too ironically