Looking for a rod that I will only fish with during a short window of time in Spring so I want to keep the price under $200. I need a spinning rod with decent sensitivity and larger guides (definitely nothing close to micro) to fish flukes and possibly senkos during the cottonwood bloom in June. The canal where I fish fills up with cotton on the surface and so bait casters, braided line, and small guides are out of play for about a month, as are most treble hook baits. Sounds like a standard MH to me, I bank fish there so 7'0 to 7'5 would be ideal. I might throw light jigs, creature baits with it too. Bass max out around 2.5 lbs there so I don't need anything too crazy.

I have rods that I keep in Texas for my oklahoma trip.

 

a Recon spinning from Phenix, and MH casting Phenix Maxim.  I love those two things.   the spinning bait keeper tab was in the worst spot for a tatula spinning reel, so in a dumb fit I cut it off with my Leatherman.  not my best moment.  but the rod kills it.  it is so good. 

Fenwick HMG's are nice for the money, though I see they have gone up a bit in price since my purchase.  I use a spinning version as my dedicated kayak spinning rod since I do not like to take my nice stuff on the kayak.  It has been a great rod over the last decade or so.  Lots of fish caught.

Falcon Expert. My first nice spinning rod and it’s freakin awesome 

I picked up a Fenwick HMG on clearance at Scheels last summer. Wish I would have gotten a few more. I really like. 

I had problems with cottonwood here in N Alabama about 2 weeks ago. Even my spinning gear was getting fouled up. Went fishing on Monday and found more cottonwood buried in the spool!

@Swest18x Last year it became apparent that the braid itself can make a difference.  My Varivas/YGK braid doesn't grab the cotton wood nearly as bad as my various 4/8 strand power pros.  Probably a roundness/coating advantage, I'm not sure.

 

scott

St. Croix Avid

Shimano expride on discount

Daiwa Tatula

Kistler's new magnesium 

 

St Croix 7' M/F in either the Triumph or Premier line. Fished those kinds of baits for years on these rods before moving to baitcasters, and still use those rods for various things regularly. 

 

Ps. What part of the canal (Erie Canal, for non NY-ers) do you fish? I fish it over by Clyde, NY, but mostly for walleye and catfish. 

I've got a Dobyns Sierra w/ an Ultegra reel that I use for flukes and as a spare rod. Price went up a bit but you can catch them on sale pretty often and might still be able to get a last gen ultegra somewhere if you need a reel. Great fluke combo but also 'good' for a ton of other stuff.

Check out Tatula and Tatula Elite in the 7'1 and 7'2 MH.

Thanks for the replies everybody. The cool weather this spring has everything behind up here but the cottonwood is coming and man it's a PITA. Jackstraw I'm west of the Genesee, out here the canal is best for smallies but on your side I hear there's a widewaters that produces big largemouth. It's a weird body of water, for those who don't know it picture miles and miles of riprap that drains and refills every year with virtually no weeds or structure except the rock, now try to figure out where the bass are.