I am trying to talk myself into the big keitechs. I like to rig these weedless and not an exposed hook. I feel like in my 4.8's when fished with a flashy swimmer I get better hooksets with my fast action rod over my mod-fast (daiwa tatula).

 

Fished with a owner beast or flashy swimmer what would be a good rod?

There isn't any published weight data I could find quickly for the 7.8.

My guess it's about 1/4-3/8 oz, plus whatever weight you add for a hook/fish head jig.

This isn't a "swimbait" where you need a swimbait rod, it's basically a fat soft plastic worm with a paddletail so your jig/worm rod rated for 1 1/2 oz should work good.

Tom

 

@WRB what I could find it is almost 2 oz.

7.8 keitech weighs 54 grams without rigging.

7.8 Keitech with Owner beast weighted swimbait hook weighs 72 grams.

 

I use 7'9" Heavy  moderate Arachnid rod rated 1-4oz. 

Stand corrected. 1.9 oz (54 grams) plus jig head or keel weight hook puts the into a swimbait class of lure. I would consider this similar in weight to Hudd 68 in regards to rod selection. Dobyns FR 795SB rod should work unless you go with over 1 oz fish head jig.

If you plan on using larger swimbaits over 3 oz then go up to FR 806SB, it will handle the a wider range of swimbaits.

Tom

How is hook sets with that moderate rod? I figured it would be ok with a jig head (exposed hook) but not good for Texas rigged .

2 minutes ago, bholtzinger14 said:

How is hook sets with that moderate rod? I figured it would be ok with a jig head (exposed hook) but not good for Texas rigged .

I use 3:16 Mission Fish 7" & 8" weedless without any issues with swimbait rods rated 1-5 oz and 2-10 oz, most swimbait rods are moderate action with lots of hook setting power.

Tom

 

So it sounds like either a dedicated swimbait rod or a heavy to xtra-heavy for the 6.8 keitch. Dang! 

I use the Fury 795 for them with the Flashy Swimmer. 

I fish the 6.8 and 7.8 Keitechs regularly on owner 8/0 3/8oz and 10/0 1/2oz beast hooks respectively on a Musky Mojo MM72MHF paired with a daiwa coastal reel, the combo is nice and light for it's size, plus doubles as a light weight Lingcod rod for vertical jigging squid jigs.

 

 

I can cast the keitech's mentioned and 8" Huddlestons all day with no fatigue.

I ended up buying this rod. I hope it does what I want it to do.

36 minutes ago, bholtzinger14 said:

I ended up buying this rod. I hope it does what I want it to do.

 

I think you should be fine, so long as it isn't too stiff. I have the Genesis II Fred's MJS and it is just a little too weak to feel confident in making hooksets on weedless Huddgills and RI Big Dippers, so the more powerful Jr Swim should be fine.  I was looking at it as well, but 7'8" is too much for me to deal with.  

I have that rod and fished large plastic swimbaits like a trash fish and a 5 inch booty shaker on an Owner beast last fall and it did fine.  Plenty of hook setting power and just enough tip to cast accurately. 

Awesome, that is what i wanted to hear.