Hi all. New member here and relatively new fisherman. I started fishing back in September so I'm still getting the hang of things. Anyway, I bought a new rod the other day because I got a good deal on it. It's a 7'8 MH Phenix M1. The thing is, I bought first and thought later so Im not sure what it would be ideal for. I have a 7'6 heavy that I use for larger keitech style swimbaits and heavier lures. Then I have a couple 7/7'1 MH rods I use for spinnerbaits, smaller lures, and senkos. I'm just not sure what would make the most of the added length on this MH rod. I was thinking of just using it as my Texas/Wacky rig rod primarily, but thought maybe some more experienced bass anglers could give me some useful suggestions and info. Thanks all.

Welcome to BR. I think your new rod would work great with soft jerk baits, texas/wacky rigs & swim jigs. You could also use it for slinging traps & smaller crank baits on mono. 

You will need to test this rod to determine a few things about it.  First they look like nice rods and that one has enough length to do quite a few different things, depending on the tip and the backbone their rods are designed with. Let me explain. Not all manufacturers share the same formula when rating their rods. I love my Dobyns rods, but I know from experience that they rate their rods a bit heavier than most of us feel they are. So we choose a Dobyns rod accordingly.  If I would usually choose a medium heavy to do a job I may go for a heavy in their lineup. In an Abu Garcia I would go for the MH knowing it will handle lures a bit heavier and the rod will be a bit stiffer than they rate them.  

So I would put a reel on it and for testing purposes, I would load some 14 pound test mono or better yet copoly line on it. Standing the rod up straight, take the tip with one hand and gently bend the tip down. See how far the bend goes down the blank before it hits backbone. If the bend goes from the tip down several inches I would try throwing some jigs, texas rigs, hollow bodied frogs and even some carolina rigs. This means it acts more on the heavier side and can handle lures a bit heavier than 3/4 ounce. It might handle baits say up to 1 ounce or bulkier 3/4 ounce lures like a 3/4 ounce jig and a typical beaver style trailer.  

If it is more of a moderate, meaning it bends down the blank a bit further, than it is more of a truer MH and I would not use heavier, bulkier lures. I would stick to the lures like Dwight mentioned. 

If it is on the heavier side it will make a great rod for frogs, jigs and carolina rigs. That length will allow you to bomb a carolina rig out or pitch a jig well.  Go out and cast some of these lures and see what works for you. If it turns out to be good for frogs, jigs and plastics, both texas and carolina rigged, then I would consider changing the line over to braid. I would choose either 40 or 50 pound braid. 

By the way welcome to Bass Resources. Let us know what you find out and how it acts. Other members may be interested in your findings.

  

Do you fish from a boat or shore and do you fish more big lakes, reservoirs or rivers?

 

   

 

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Can't say it any better than fishnkamp. 

Thanks for all the info. I'll do the bend test when I get home.

 

I currently fish from the bank and from a kayak. As for bodies of water I try and hit up everything. Im pretty centrally located in California's central valley so I have a good number of lakes and rivers to choose from.

Well you are in a pretty area.  Be careful or gentle with my test. No need to give it the gorilla test, just bend it easy it gives you an idea how it will play. Casting and retrieving baits will tell you a lot more.

7'8" MH rod rated for 1/4 to 3/4 oz fast action is a tough question of what to use it for?

 Tom

Sounds like the perfect carolina rig rod or football jig

Finally got to test it out today. It did great with senkos, craws, small keitechs, and other similar things. It's definitely more on the medium side as opposed to heavy, though. I put on a 3/4oz spinnerbait and that thing had the rod flexing pretty heavily.

Awesome. I like the Keitechs but also fish the Reaction Innovations Skinny Dippers. On Dale Hollow we often find the big smallies roaming under huge schools of shad. They will be roaming over water as deep as 100 feet. The shad may be suspended down say 20 foot with thew bass another 10 feet below that. It will be just huge main lake areas of around islands.  That rod would help you make loooong casts and cover lots of water.  When we rig those Skinny Dippers or Big Hammer Shad baits we use the 1/2 ounce fish head style swimbait jig heads. That would be awesome on that rod. I rig all of my paddle tail swimbaits like those either with a light weight belly weighted swimbait hook, or those swimbait jigheads.  The swimbait jighead can be so deadly on a long tapering point too. Anytime I am fishing deeper than say 10 feet i go to the swimbait jighead setup.  Try it and hold on.  I use it over grass with the belly weighted hook to. much like you would a trap.