With colder water coming I realized I need a good rod for long casts dragging football jigs along sparse  pea gravel bottoms with random rocks on points and long flats ... What do you look for in a rod for a football head jig with a typical creature / craw trailer on #15 FC or co-poly line ? ...What is your favorite rod (length , power , action) for throwing & dragging football head jigs ? ... Thanks in advance !

For 3/8 to 1/2 ounce football heads the Falcon Cara Mike McClelland signature swim jig rod.

For 1/2 to 3/4 oz. The Cara Amistad both on12lb. Sniper.

I also have a NRX 894 but I prefer the action of the Falcons, a bit slower and plenty sensitive.

Falcon Cara Amistad

For 3/8 and 1/2 I like a falcon 7'4 jig special.

For 3/4 andd 1 ounce I like my 735 dobyms fury. 

15 or 17lb sunline assassin

744c dobyns champion is a good one

*To be more specific : Mostly throw 3/8th oz. ~ 1/2 oz. football jigs in less than 15 ft. of water . Currently BPS has their Carbonlite 2.0 7'3" MH / XF casting rod on sale which might be a decent choice for football jigs under 3/4th oz. - might double for dragging soft plastics as well ... Your thoughts ?

Conventional wisdom is going to longer jig & worm rods 7'4" to 7''6" to get good hook sets and make longer cast. The reality is a longer rods may help cast a little further depending on your skills, however the longer rods also dampen feedback and slow down your reaction time. When you make a long cast between 40 yds to 50 yds strike detection becomes critical and a longer rod doesn't help to detect strikes or get good hook sets at over 120' because too much line is in the water and swinging a rod alone doesn't move the jig with enough force.

My jig rods for making long casts are only 6'10" and I casts between 40 to 50 yds all the time and catch lots of big bass on jigs. This is my skill set, jig fishing.

I would suggest a 7' jig and worm rod, long enough to swing quickly after you reel set to tighten all the line in the water. The to success comes from keeping in contact with the jig.

For reference my custom ALX jig rods are serial # 201202 to 204. 202 is MB915NG+, 1/4-1 oz, 6'10" 5 power, 203 & 204 are MB916, 3/8- 1 1/4 oz 6'10" 6 power. The 201202 is the rod I recommend for football jigs. Contact Alex at ALX and ask him what rod series is equal at longer lengths if that is your preference.

Tom

i look for a MB FMJ

GLX 894 (or NRX if you can afford it) 

6’10 medium heavy fast. Powell. 

I have spent a ton of money looking for the perfect fb jig rod for under $350.  Here is what I have bought and used:

1. Powell Endurance 714 cef (Great rod. Handles jigs up to 3/4oz really well.  Perfect action, but a little short for my liking)

2. Powell Endurance 775 cef (A little too stiff for fb jigs IMO)

3. Dobyns Champion 735 (GREAT rod. THis and the Powell 714 would be tied for my 2nd favorite)

4. Dobyns Champion Extreme 784 ML (Favorite fb jig rod for 1/2-3/4oz figs BY FAR)

5. G Loomis E6x 894C JWR (eh, it works, but not very sensistive)

6. Megabass Destroyer x7 EMFT ($600+ rod.  Most Ive ever spent on a rod only to be let down.  It’s rated for up to 1oz, but starts getting over powered at 1/2oz)

7. Phoenix Recon 764 (Now my flutter spoon rod.  Didn’t handle jigs well IMO)

8. St. Croix  LTB 7’1” MH/F (Hated the way this rod felt. Super tip heavy)

Lots to consider - thank you for the replies !

For up to 1/2 the Cara swimjig rod is really good. The finesse jig (old Eakins ) rod is also good but 3/8 is as heavy as I would go on it. It's also a shorter rod if you like that, but I personally don't think the extra length is ever a bad thing when it comes to dragging anything.

Used a bunch of good ones.  784 ml is my first choice

I use an avid 7' mh-f for the weights you plan to use. It throws and pitches really well to me. 

If i go heavier i go to a bps extreme7' mh-f (1/2-1.5oz rating )currently, but am planning to replace it with a 7' h-f avid. 

G Loomis GLX803C JWR and 12lb Invizx.

I have the Loomis imxpro jwr 804c. It’s become my favourite 1/2 jig rod. I do fish jigs on a fairly short line and I like the accuracy of the shorter rod. 

I have been using my Dobyns Fury 735 and 704 for this....I like the 704 better FWIW.

This summer I really concentrated on adding jigs to my arsenal and am VERY glad I did.  I started out with a $110 MH/Fast 7 foot rod and liked it fairly well.  Until I switched to a St. Croix AvidX MH/Fast.  My ability to feel the bottom, weeds, rock, strikes went way up.  I'm still far from an expert but I love that rod. 

On ‎11‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 9:34 AM, ww2farmer said:

I have been using my Dobyns Fury 735 and 704 for this....I like the 704 better FWIW.

*How about a Dobyns Fury 734 (i.e. 7'3" MH / F ) ?

2 hours ago, ChrisD46 said:

*How about a Dobyns Fury 734 (i.e. 7'3" MH / F ) ?

I don't have that rod yet.

When I first started dragging jigs, I used a Dobyns 734c XP. It worked wonders for me at the time. Later on, I picked up a Dobyns 745HP. It had a much stiffer backbone and faster tip which I preferred over the 734. A few months ago, I picked up a Dobyns 784c jig rod and I'd have to say, this thing is a beast! The longer rod is amazing to cast and hook set on deep waters. The tip also is slightly softer that the 745HP really allowing you to detect deflection on the subtle bites in deep waters. I have it paired with a Metanium and love the combo. It's my go to jig rod and now my 745 sits as a backup jig rod or depending on body of water, serves as my medium pitching rod.    

*I was close to pulling the trigger on a BPS Carbonlite 2.0  7'3" casting rod for football jigs as the sale price was $79 (down from $119) but the sale ended yesterday ... I subscribe to karma that I hesitated in buying that rod for a reason and am now hoping for a sale on other good football head jig casting rod candidates heading into Black Friday . *For what it's worth , here and on other forums I search for best value football jig casting rods - the Dobyns brand of football jig head casting rods is mentioned more than any other by about 2 to 1 ... Must be a reason for that and many posters are not located in Dobyns home base of California either . I also have learned that this is definitely an application where you want as sensitive rod as you can afford for feeling whats on the bottom better and for detecting strikes better (2X that for sensitivity required in cold water where strikes may be light and harder to detect) .

Uribe Riverside M2.  Just got this rod a few months back and have been using it to drag 3/8 & 1/2 keitech footballs with little swimbaits.  I'm pretty impressed with this rod.  Better sensitivity than a Fury 735, Mojo 71MHF and is right there with the Tatulas I love.

7ft MH Fast Abu Garcia Veritas when using Mono,Copoly or Fluoro.

 

7ft1 MH ModFast Abu Garcia Veritas when using Braid.