For me it would be a 7' medium spinning rod used primarily with senko type baits. Spooled with 14# braid and a 6' - 17#+ fc leader and texas rigged senko on a 3/O hook. From Canadian shield smallies in boulder fields to largemouth under gin clear labaryth boat docks, the rod has the backbone to crank the large hooks through the mouth and rarely break off with this setup. The ones I do break off wouldn't have been hook without this setup anyway.

 

a pair of inexpensive Japanese Rockfish rods, made by Takamiya, I imported through a Japan broker more than a dozen years ago.  Bought the rods for pier fishing for nursery seatrout with my daughters, the logic was the long salt UL and XUL spinning rods would cast weighless rigs farther than typical short UL rods  - 

- ritual Fulton Beach pier drill between Cap'n Benny's fish dinner and ice cream.

 

Sight fishing big specs in the canals one night, landed 22" and 23" on 4-lb test, and discovered the rods had more backbone than I would have guessed.  

Since then, have been aiming them at big schoolie seatrout, redfish and snook, imitating winter glass minnows in tide passes.  

Still use the original two rods, but they've multiplied to longer and higher-grade small game rods, and finally to BFS.  

2 hours ago, flat said:

For me it would be a 7' medium spinning rod used primarily with senko type baits. Spooled with 14# braid and a 6' - 17#+ fc leader and texas rigged senko on a 3/O hook. From Canadian shield smallies in boulder fields to largemouth under gin clear labaryth boat docks, the rod has the backbone to crank the large hooks through the mouth and rarely break off with this setup. The ones I do break off wouldn't have been hook without this setup anyway.

Me too!

 

7’ Med Spinning.  High viz yellow braid with 8 or 10 sunline flouro leader.  Total game changer for me. 
 

ive always felt baitcast = bass fishing and maybe even subconsciously looked down on spinning gear.  I thought it was reserved for those that can’t cast. Oops. 
 

I was wrong. Profoundly wrong.  I’m getting very accurate casting my spinning rod.  I’m trying to buy a new spinning reel that’s more expensive than any of my baitcast stuff. I think a second spinning setup will take me to the next level in my neighborhood.