Curious to hear suggestions for this rod. I am looking for a rod that is a heavy M or a light MH. 7'2-7'4" in length. I am looking to use it to pitch weightless worms, flukes, around grass lines( I pitch a neko rig a lot), but also a good rod for a finesse jig 3/8-1/2 oz like a Beast coast sniper jig keitech football jig. In my arsenal I have a Dobyns Champion 733. I am looking for a sharper version of that if that makes sense. Would welcome all suggestions. Thank you!

My experience is in the Saint Croix realm, so you're looking at a 7ish ft. M/F in your price point. Anything from BassX to LTB would be great. 

2 minutes ago, J Francho said:

My experience is in the Saint Croix realm, so you're looking at a 7ish ft. M/F in your price point. Anything from BassX to LTB would be great. 

I am planning to get the dock sniper the shorter spinning m xf for skipping docks, but i dont think i see a longer casting version in the st croix line?

 

I like 3 rods that fit your description although an inch or two shorter:

• ALX Enox Decoy - 7'1" MH Fast, but rated to only 7/8 oz versus your typical MH rod rated to a full oz or more.  Extremely versatile rod, great with Texas rigs, Senkos, 1/4-3/8 oz jigs. 
• Phoenix Feather - Also 7'1" MH but Fast and rated to 3/4 oz.  This rod is described frequently as somewhere between a true M and MH, closer to a Medium IMO. I use it as my Neko rod or Free-Rigs. 
• Daiwa Ehrler rod - also an XF and classified as a "Medium-Medium Heavy." I use as my dedicated Caffeine Shad (fluke) rod and it's always on my deck. 

thank you all for the suggestions. i have always been curious abour falcon and i have used alx and daiwa rods and like both!

10 hours ago, raoka said:

Curious to hear suggestions for this rod. I am looking for a rod that is a heavy M or a light MH. 7'2-7'4" in length. I am looking to use it to pitch weightless worms, flukes, around grass lines( I pitch a neko rig a lot), but also a good rod for a finesse jig 3/8-1/2 oz like a Beast coast sniper jig keitech football jig. In my arsenal I have a Dobyns Champion 733. I am looking for a sharper version of that if that makes sense. Would welcome all suggestions. Thank you!

Casting or spinning? Spinning rods in general have lighter power ratings vs casting rods. What affects how a rod cast is the action. In bass rods the terms Moderate = more even bend from the 1st guide to the tip or a parabolic bend.

Fast = the rod bends under light casting force more in the upper 1/4th from the tip down. 

Extra fast or XFast the tip is actually softer then the Fast bending more u;dear light pressure from the 1/8 the tip down. 

confusing you bet! Every rod maker has a different rate of rod power and action.

It become try it to know for sure.

Options yes, ALX (Alex), Dobyns (Gary) and St Croix ( no contact?) have excellent customer service that can suggest a rod to fit your needs.

Tom

4 minutes ago, WRB said:

Casting or spinning?

Tom

 

53 minutes ago, WRB said:

 

casting. i was sitting on this a bit. i have an old school mh xfast 6'10" shimano crucial that I think will do just fine for the weightless ewg hooked stuff but if we were to focus on the neko, free rig with a cover shot hook and the finesse jig hooks on beast coast sniper/keitech finesse jigs....does anyone have any comments on the kistler helium 7'3" light MH rods?

also the alphaangler clutch...thoughts on that too...

It's only 7', but the ALX Zolo Dream would be a good choice. Alex could custom build you one that's longer if you'd like. 

My first choice would be the DX743C. I have that model and the Kaden 743C.

 

The Alpha Angler Clutch would also be a good choice being it’s built on an NFC blank. If it’s your first AA purchase, you should qualify for 10 percent off.

Kistler Helium 

HE733LMH 

Lite-Medium-Heavy

Lite-medium-heavy? So it's "extra medium" ?? Lol. 

11 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Lite-medium-heavy? So it's "extra medium" ?? Lol. 

Well the op did specifically ask for a heavy medium or a light medium heavy 😉 I agree their naming convention is a bit silly. I use a lmh helium in a 7’0” length for pitching finesse rigs around grass lines, pad edges, docks etc neko rigs, shaky heads, flick shake, finesse jigs, perfectly suited for this purpose ime/imo

I think you're going to have a hard time finding a rod that can effectively fish 1/2oz jigs and throw weightless flukes. Those are two pretty different rods imo

9 minutes ago, JNorman said:

I think you're going to have a hard time finding a rod that can effectively fish 1/2oz jigs and throw weightless flukes. Those are two pretty different rods imo

im looking mainly at finesse jigs with thin wire hooks like the ow sniper from beast coast not anything with a stout hook.

10 minutes ago, raoka said:

im looking mainly at finesse jigs with thin wire hooks like the ow sniper from beast coast not anything with a stout hook.

I think it's more of a weight thing than the hook. A "1/2oz" jig alone weighs closer to 3/4oz than it does 1/2 with the skirt + weedguard. The head is the only thing that weighs 1/2oz. Then add in your trailer that will likely be between 5-7g on average and you're not that far from a full ounce. Rods that can load that heavy aren't often great at pitching a weightless fluke that weighs ~7g.

 

All that being said, I'd look for a rod rated between 1/4-3/4oz for what you're looking for. That is prob the best range to accomplish what you're trying to do

18 minutes ago, JNorman said:

I think it's more of a weight thing than the hook. A "1/2oz" jig alone weighs closer to 3/4oz than it does 1/2 with the skirt + weedguard. The head is the only thing that weighs 1/2oz. Then add in your trailer that will likely be between 5-7g on average and you're not that far from a full ounce. Rods that can load that heavy aren't often great at pitching a weightless fluke that weighs ~7g.

 

All that being said, I'd look for a rod rated between 1/4-3/4oz for what you're looking for. That is prob the best range to accomplish what you're trying to do

gotcha i see what you are saying by that.

5 hours ago, raoka said:

im looking mainly at finesse jigs with thin wire hooks like the ow sniper from beast coast not anything with a stout hook.

in that case, the swim jig Cara is the right answer.  It’s rated 1/8-3/8 but that’s the head weight, not total lire weight. Only rod I’ve ever seen rated that way.  It will fish a 1/2 jig and trailer but 3/8 is the sweet spot.  

11 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

in that case, the swim jig Cara is the right answer.  It’s rated 1/8-3/8 but that’s the head weight, not total lire weight. Only rod I’ve ever seen rated that way.  It will fish a 1/2 jig and trailer but 3/8 is the sweet spot.  

im confused though dont swim jigs have stout hooks? usually when i fish swim jigs i do use the 1/4 to 3/8 oz swim jig heads but the hook is a gaff...so usually there needs to be some backbone to get the hook into the fishes mouth?

@raoka 

Santone Lures Rayburn Finesse Swim Jig

3 hours ago, raoka said:

im confused though dont swim jigs have stout hooks? usually when i fish swim jigs i do use the 1/4 to 3/8 oz swim jig heads but the hook is a gaff...so usually there needs to be some backbone to get the hook into the fishes mouth?

Swimjigs are available with many different hook sizes and gauges. The earliest "traditional" swim jigs were finesse oriented and tended to use lighter wire hooks.

21 hours ago, JNorman said:

I think you're going to have a hard time finding a rod that can effectively fish 1/2oz jigs and throw weightless flukes. Those are two pretty different rods imo

I do both on nrx 873 crr but obviously not a rod the op mentioned

thank you all for the great discussion. looks like i might get 2 rods (of course this is the solution) one for pitching light stuff neko rigs senkos/flukes free rigs  t rig drop shot and then maybe another one for finesse jigs for the 3/8 1/2 oz variety...

13 hours ago, raoka said:

im confused though dont swim jigs have stout hooks? usually when i fish swim jigs i do use the 1/4 to 3/8 oz swim jig heads but the hook is a gaff...so usually there needs to be some backbone to get the hook into the fishes mouth?

 

 

6 hours ago, raoka said:

thank you all for the great discussion. looks like i might get 2 rods (of course this is the solution) one for pitching light stuff neko rigs senkos/flukes free rigs  t rig drop shot and then maybe another one for finesse jigs for the 3/8 1/2 oz variety...

swim jigs come in light, regular, and heavy gauge wires. I fish all three at times. The weight of the head doesn’t have to correlate to the gauge of the hook either. I have 1/2 oz with all three types of hooks. If I’m in lighter grass, docks, rocks then I probably have a lighter wire swim jig on. If it’s heavier grass or wood then it’s probably a regular or heavy wire hook. The weight just depends on the depth I’m fishing. 

if you’re fishing a heavier wire then you want a little more power in the rod. You can accommodate with using braid and a little faster action but not in a heavier power. That’s how the swim jig rod would be. It’s a medium heavy but designed for light to mid weight swim jigs on braid. It could do a 1/2 oz jig and a moderate gauge wire just fine, especially if you’re throwing braid. That’s the upper limit and if you’re throwing 1/2 oz heavy wire hooks often then I’d recommend a different rod. It sounds like youre coming to that conclusion.