Hi all I am wanting a rod for shallow and medium depth cranking and something that I can throw jerkbaits with. I am leaning towards trying to find a Shimano Expride 6’10” M. I know lots of folks say it’s a great jerkbait rod, but Like I said, don’t want to own two separate rods for jerkbaits and cranking. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for your advice.

That’s a great rod for both. 

I use the same for both.  I use a Levante Flatside Special and an Orochi XX Swingfire. 

The Flatside has a little bit of a stiffer tip so I tend to use that for jerkbaits but don't hesitate to use either.  Especially if I'm using two different jerkbaits on a particular spot. 

12 hours ago, Born 2 fish said:

That’s a great rod for both. 

I went for it. Ordered one today. Hope to have it ready for the fall jerkbait bite. Thanks for the reply.

12 hours ago, Dens228 said:

I use the same for both.  I use a Levante Flatside Special and an Orochi XX Swingfire. 

The Flatside has a little bit of a stiffer tip so I tend to use that for jerkbaits but don't hesitate to use either.  Especially if I'm using two different jerkbaits on a particular spot. 

That Orochi looks sweet. Going to have to save up for that one. Thanks for the info.

I threw squarebills and lipless on my jerkbait rod for a long time and had a good hookup to land ratio. I would waaaay rather throw cranks on a jerkbait rod than jerks on a dedicated crank rod. You can’t get the right action on a jerkbait if your using a super soft rod, especially if your fishing it on straight floro.

18 hours ago, Ogandrews said:

I threw squarebills and lipless on my jerkbait rod for a long time and had a good hookup to land ratio. I would waaaay rather throw cranks on a jerkbait rod than jerks on a dedicated crank rod. You can’t get the right action on a jerkbait if your using a super soft rod, especially if your fishing it on straight floro.

I agree with you For the most part. I actually use the old style bps crankin stick in 7’ medium for my jerkbaits and it has the perfect tip and bend for jerkbaits. It took me a long time to settle on the perfect jerkbait rod for me and this is it.