I know the answer to my question is to figure it out for myself by trial and error, and I have been doing that, but perhaps some input from the wise members here will expedite the process. Let's say I know a guy, who knows a guy, who is old, gimpy, bank fishes and must travel light, because he is old and gimpy and routinely has to limp as fast as possible to get away from alligators. So, he wants a light way to carry tackle and that means carrying only one rod and reel. He fishes small ponds and lagoons in a swamp and to fish thoroughly means a good distance of walking, in very hot and humid weather.

I recently read an article in the Bassmaster site about bank fishing and the amount of gear the guy said was needed was enough to require a mule to haul it all. Well, I have worked out what works for a reel and lures and a tackle bag, etc. but the perfect rod for all around use is more difficult. Like all bass everywhere they don't tell me what they want until the immediate moment when they do or do not strike my lure. And that can change from moment to moment.

A good rod for finesse fishing will not work at all for heavy spinnerbaits and jigs. A good rod for those will not work for finesse. A middle of the road rod is the obvious answer except that has not been entirely satisfactory either. I currently have ultra-light, light, medium light and medium heavy rods, all with fast or moderate fast actions. I do use baitcasting at times but prefer spinning. For some reason, my many rods do not include a true medium rod or heavy rod. Let's rule out heavy. Before I spend money on a true medium rod, what do you think you would do in this case? What weight, action, length, make and model?

I was going to say North Fork or Airrus or Denali until I read the part about limping away from gators!

In that case, a Shakespeare Ugly Stik because one can use it to distract pursuing gators. Simply turn it around and offer the gator the reel end of the rod dragging behind the escaping person. The gator will turn its attention on the movement at ground level and snap at it first.

Then once chomped on by a gator, since Ugly Stiks are indestructible. The gator will leave it close by to retrieve later on- sometimes. Problem solved!

Not only will it catch fish, but gators can't break it, and its cheap gator protection diversion bait! And one won't be crying over a gator chomping down on a $400 Loomis rod either! 😉

If it were me I’d choose a shorter rod in the 6’9” range and I’d go for a MH with a decent tip most likely MF action. The shorter length is easier to maneuver and cast around obstacles. MF action will help cast lighter lures while still having a good backbone.

You can back off drag some to help with trebles, finesse hooks, etc and just be cognizant of what you are throwing. But you can also set a thicker hook if needed and have power to get fish out of grass.

Another option is to carry an extra spool or reel with different line so you can change from 50lb braid to 12lb coplolymer in a few minutes and completely change your setup capabilities.

If your heart is set on a medium power spinning rod I’d suggest the Daiwa Tatula XT. Now I will admit I’m biased because I own one and it’s my favorite spinning rod in my collection. It’s a $99 dollar rod that gets used as much if not more than some of my $200-250 ones.

It’s the rod I reach for when I want to travel light bank fishing. It’s 7’ Medium power fast action, rated 1/8-3/4oz.

Even as a medium it will set a 3/0 weighted belly swim bait hook at the end of long cast. It will handle 5 lbs fish with aplomb. I’ve caught fish on it with swimming worm, floating worms, wacky/Neko rigs, weightless flukes, underspins, floating Rapalas, Shad raps, shaky heads, keitechs, tubes, micro Chatterbaits and spinner baits….so it’s a pretty versatile rod especially for pond hopping.

My bank fishing backpack weighs 19 lbs. I am not the right person to answer this.

Look at what the Japanese guys are doing. Okappari style fishing. Two ish rods and a hip pack or messenger bag. It's beautiful (but could never be me).

1 hour ago, bp_fowler said:

It’s the rod I reach for when I want to travel light bank fishing. It’s 7’ Medium power fast action, rated 1/8-3/4oz.

I used to always recommend a medium spinning rod as the ultimate all purpose rod, but with so many casting reels now able to cast on the lower end I like this set up in a casting version.

Using this rod range as the example, I'm not looking to cast 1/8oz. In my experience with rods with those ranges it's a bit of a stretch to do both of those ends with one rod, let alone one reel. However, that sort of rod normally does 5g (~3/16oz) fairly well and that's really the lower end sweet spot for bass fishing, at least in my opinion.

The reason I feel that total weight is important is it is about a 1/8oz jig head and small soft plastic. 1/8 jig heads are very special in that they commonly come in a #2 hook for panfish/trout and a 2/0 hook for bass. That's an enormous range in size that means 5g total weight gives you a huge range of applications available. That lower range will basically cover both finesse bass applications and catch some of the smaller species that often reside in the same areas.

If you can approach the top end of that rod range, about 3/4, then that covers your 1/2oz and trailers. Ideally I like such a rod somewhere around a Mod-Fast (leaning to the fast side) or a Fast (leaning to the Mod-Fast side) and anywhere in that 7-7'3" range.

Match that up with any number of 70/80 size reels that have become quite common.

The only problem doing this in a casting version is many rod manufacturers only make certain rod specs into spinning rods and certain ones into casting rods even though their market is totally saturated with those same rod specs and even though a rod blank is a rod blank and doesn't care one iota in which spec it is made. Unfortunately, this means you probably won't find such a casting rod on your local store shelves and will need to look overseas where such things are more common.

This may not directly help the OP, but if you're reading this and you see such a rod, in either spinning or casting, grab it.

31 minutes ago, PGA Dropout said:

My bank fishing backpack weighs 19 lbs. I am not the right person to answer this

My bank fishing setups have all gone to fanny packs. I find fixed boxes to be less than ideal these days due to so much of the tackle we commonly use being soft plastics. Even things like terminal tackle I find easier to organize in small ziploc bags as they waste a lot of space in hard boxes. Obviously I like to keep a box around for things like hard baits with treble hooks but I don't need an entire backpack full to carry a few of those lures and I find once you eliminate the hard boxes you can get a much smaller bag and still pack a ton of stuff in it.

I'm pretty impressed with the versatility of my St. Croix LBTS71MF spinning rod

You didn't mention any lure weights but this'll toss a 3/8 swimjig with a 4 inch trailer as well as a 1/16 oz. worm weight with plastic. Well the swimjig throws easier but still.

3/4 oz. spinner bait might be too much unless you're lobbing a little bit.

With that said and some rod talk in other threads look around for a 5-25 gram lure rated rod fast to mod fast.

Otherwise I think it's a two rod deal to really cover all bases. One for BFS/lighter stuff and one for heavier stuff.

29 minutes ago, brophog said:

My bank fishing setups have all gone to fanny packs. I find fixed boxes to be less than ideal these days due to so much of the tackle we commonly use being soft plastics. Even things like terminal tackle I find easier to organize in small ziploc bags as they waste a lot of space in hard boxes. Obviously I like to keep a box around for things like hard baits with treble hooks but I don't need an entire backpack full to carry a few of those lures and I find once you eliminate the hard boxes you can get a much smaller bag and still pack a ton of stuff in it.

I require thirteen jerkbaits.

Your mileage may vary!

I have a dedicated two piece spinning rod that stays in the trunk of my daily driver. It is called the "Taco Rod," because the car has been dubbed "Taco" by my wife. It's a 2004 Honda Accord, dark green with tan interior, 2.4L, 4 cylinder engine. Originally purchased for her son to drive, it got t-boned in the HS parking lot, setting off air bags, big dent in the rear passenger door. We settled with insurance, fixed the air-bags, and "Taco" has been my daily driver for 5+ years now. knocks down 30 MPG. Anyway...back to the rod.

I wanted an "all-around" spinning rod in medium power that could live in Taco, or be taken on my brother's boat. It needed to throw everything from 1/16 oz jigs for crappie, up to big spinner baits and even light jigs for LMB's. And I will say it does the job well.

Fenwick Eagle XFS-2, 6'-6", medium power, 6-12 lb line, 1/8-3/8 oz. lures ($99). Paired with a Shimano Nexave 2500 HG ($59). I'm running 10lb bright yellow power pro, mated to 10lb fluorocarbon leader.

This has been an outstanding all-around set up.

1 hour ago, PGA Dropout said:

I require thirteen jerkbaits.

They make small boxes with just vertical slots ideal for jerkbaits.

That's one of the things common in Asia that allows them to downsize their storage needs is the usage of multiple smaller technique specific containers rather than having an entire system built around the larger, generic plano style boxes.

1 minute ago, brophog said:

They make small boxes with just vertical slots ideal for jerkbaits.

That's one of the things common in Asia that allows them to downsize their storage needs is the usage of multiple smaller technique specific containers rather than having an entire system built around the larger, generic plano style boxes.

I get you, but I can also cram a bunch of crap into a 3600 box.

Also the thirty bags of soft plastics. The frogs. The pile of spinnerbaits. The rat, for some reason. Ten different strolling head weights.

You see where this is going.

The Evolution backpack does a pretty good job of containing the madness.

I don't know if they make a rat box, but if not they should.

So although my suggestion is no longer available it would have been a Okuma TCS-A medium plus rod as I have this blank in a casting rod and absolutely love it. I will still recommend a medium plus rod in any manufacturer you may prefer along with the action of mine which is more of a moderate fast yet handles both single and treble hook baits well. One caveat is that it prefers lighter wire hooks and realizing your fishing in Florida that may not be ideal but I’m going to stand by my recommendation. Best of luck and please keep us updated on the search. I’m going to add a PS here as i looked this morning and they are offering the same blank in both a 6’-10” & 7’-0” version.

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by Eric 26
Added a PS