What rod power and action do y'all use for walking the dog baits, specifically the megabass giant dog x. I have a medium moderate crankbait rod I use for poppers and whopper ploppers. 

I use a 5'6'pistol grip in MH action .

I'd take more than just the bait into consideration... medium power/fast action if I was expecting to catch medium sized bass in mostly open water.  I'd step up the rod to medium heavy/fast action (with a softer tip) if I was fishing around heavier cover or thought an out-sized bass might be possible.

 

oe

31 minutes ago, Marc Tyler said:

What rod power and action do y'all use for walking the dog baits, specifically the megabass giant dog x. I have a medium moderate crankbait rod I use for poppers and whopper ploppers. 

The Giant Dog X is a 1/2 oz bait and most all the walkers I fish are at least 5/8 most 3/4 oz.

For casting gear and that bait, a M/F stick should be fine - can't recommend a cranking rod though - a little to 'slow' for working the bait IMO. 

I fish my walking baits on M/F spinning gear.

Long casts are important here and this rig gets it done.

Here's what that looks like . . .

A-Jay

    TTU701MRB  Daiwa Tatula Shallow Crank, Jerkbait, Light Topwater Rod is what I use. It's a Medium power/regular action. I liked it so much it's dedicated to throwing walking baits Sammy100 and Spook Jrs. I've got another I use primarily for KVD 1.5 and rattletraps. 1/2oz is in the rods sweet spot anything over and it feels like it's pushing it even though it's rated for more. 

    I use to use a couple of different MH/fast rods for these techniques until I got the Tatula's because I never found a action in a medium/moderate rod I liked before the Tat.

 

Currently, my choice for walking baits like Spooke & Sammies is a 6' Medium Action, straight cork handle, extra fast tip All Star rod that I got on sale at Academy.  I like shorter rods for this bait, so that I can kinda snap the rod tip straight down and not smack it on the side of the boat.

I agree with the med fast action.  I have a cple of jerkbait topwater rods that are 6'9 med fast and they're great for walk the dog style baits. Some cranking rods are too soft but some of the heavier ones would work just fine. The basspro cranking sticks in med hvy would work I would think 

Dobyns 734 for the bigger baits or 705 cb for the smaller/normal sized baits

Medium or Meadium Heavy with a fast action. Length depends. Weight of bait will often determine if you can throw it on a medium or medium heavy rods. I kind of rotate my rods around for walking style top water baits but I generally use the following: Dobyn's 734 XP, Dobny's 735cb XP, and Megabass Orochi XX EMFT. 

I have used the G. Loomis 783C GLX in the past but this past year I found that I like the St. Croix 7'MH Legend Elite (a little stiffer rod).   I don't think it's really necessary to have a rod that is as sensitive as these two.  I just like the soft tip and stiff mid section that these rods have.  I do however like the shorter length of the 783GLX though.  

On 12/8/2019 at 1:11 PM, Fishes in trees said:

Currently, my choice for walking baits like Spooke & Sammies is a 6' Medium Action, straight cork handle, extra fast tip All Star rod that I got on sale at Academy.  I like shorter rods for this bait, so that I can kinda snap the rod tip straight down and not smack it on the side of the boat.

+1 ... I have the same bait casting rod in the Allstar Nano series that is a 6' M/F rod that allows the straight down rod snap to work the top water lure .

You can use the same rod combo used for jerk baits. 1/4-1/2 oz size top water I use Iovino Medium 6'8" MJ Splash-It rod, 3/4-7/8 oz I use my 5 power Xfast 6'10" JWR rod or 7' crankbait 5 power rod, depending how I feel, both work and use Mono line.

Tom

I like a short handle, medium hvy, with some tip flex.