I'd like to keep the Rod between 7' and 7'6'. Preferably, a 7'3" MF rod would be perfect. It's the reel that gets me. I would lie to stick to casting reel, but talking about an 1/8 ounce shaky head, man that's light for a casting reel. The reel would be a Shimano Curado DC 150 IF I did go the casting route. There's also the spinning rod aspect. Just never really had any luck with a spinning rod. Again, the rod would be as mentioned above, but the reel this time would probably be a Shimano Stradic. So, what say all here? Think a bait caster is just not going to work for this application? Or am I overthinking it?

3 minutes ago, RLinNH said:

but the reel this time would probably be a Shimano Stradic.

Stradic is part of the 'power' line-up from Shimano.

For this I'd use one of the 'finesse' reels - either a Miravel or a Vanford.

I don't own any BFS gear, but I know Shimano makes a BFS specific Curado that may be the cure to what ails ya.

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Shimano_Curado_BFS_Casting_Reel/descpage-CRBF.html

If you're talking about a 1/8 head plus at least a 4" worm (ideally 6") then that puts you right at 1/4 oz total weight. As long as you have a rod with a light enough tip to handle it, one of the Daiwa SVTW spools (zillion, tatula) will handle that. With 12 lb mono, a zillion, and my lighter MH finesse jig I can throw a 4" unweighted fluke which is certainly lighter than what you're talking about. Plus that rod doesn't have as light a tip as I'd pick for your application.

I think a spinning rod is a better all around choice for what you're doing, but if you want to make a baitcaster work then you don't need to go BFS for this one.

I have rods specifically built for your application. They are 7’6” rods that I have used with various reels. They were custom built. I can throw my shaky worms with weights from 1/16 on up. If you are interested I will look for the blank, reel seat and guide specs.

I throw weightless Senkos and 1/16oz Neko rigs with a Dobyns fury 733 and a tatula 100 spooled with 10lb yo zuri hybrid. It could definitely handle a light shakey head, weightless fluke, etc.

It's my absolute favorite junk fishing combo, it can really do just about anything.

37 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

If you're talking about a 1/8 head plus at least a 4" worm (ideally 6") then that puts you right at 1/4 oz total weight. As long as you have a rod with a light enough tip to handle it, one of the Daiwa SVTW spools (zillion, tatula) will handle that. With 12 lb mono, a zillion, and my lighter MH finesse jig I can throw a 4" unweighted fluke which is certainly lighter than what you're talking about. Plus that rod doesn't have as light a tip as I'd pick for your application.

I think a spinning rod is a better all around choice for what you're doing, but if you want to make a baitcaster work then you don't need to go BFS for this one.

When you say "Light Tip", how would one go about figuring out if a rod has a light tip. Quite honestly, I am still confused these days as to what all this Medium, Medium Heavy, fast, means for a bass fishing rod. I come from a fly fishing back ground so I understand various rod lengths, rod weights, and the difference between a dry fly and nymph rod. I just haven't found the proper teaching tool yet to decipher my bass rods...

And I just found this video to watch. Thanks Glenn!!!

I'm back on the Senko-on-Spinning train. 7'2 M rod (Enox Wizard presently), 3000 reel, 20 lb SX1 braid, .31-.33 mm fluorocarbon leader. Same setup for backglides, 💩 baits, and Free Rig.

I much prefer senkos on a spinning rod; M when its light, MH when its not. I run the M with 15/10 prespawn into early summer. Once we get sloppy and grimy...a 5"-7" t rigged senko with no weight on 20lb braid/12lb hybrid lead on the MH is my go to.

Where I fish, I throw just into the far shoreline grass, jiggle it until it quietly plops into the river, and it tends to jump and pull tight right quick. I then need to beef them over and/or through dense weeds before we can dance properly. For whatever reason, my spinning rigs been getting it lately.

Agree with Casts_by_fly, if your rod can load and fling the rig, then you just need a finesse oriented casting reel, or a lightweight aftermarket spool for a reel you already own. I'd personally consider going lighter on the line, 10lb or even 8lb will cast better and have more natural action on such a light lure.

4 hours ago, RLinNH said:

When you say "Light Tip", how would one go about figuring out if a rod has a light tip. Quite honestly, I am still confused these days as to what all this Medium, Medium Heavy, fast, means for a bass fishing rod. I come from a fly fishing back ground so I understand various rod lengths, rod weights, and the difference between a dry fly and nymph rod. I just haven't found the proper teaching tool yet to decipher my bass rods...

And I just found this video to watch. Thanks Glenn!!!

Glenn’s video will be good. To put it in fly rod terms (I used to build a lot of fly rods, worked in a couple shops, and exclusively fly fished for a couple years)- action is the same. The faster the action, the less of the rod bends when casting. A true extra fast fly rod will primarily bend in the top 20% of the blank when casting. Casting off the tip would be the fly term. A slow or moderate action fly rod will bend down past the middle of the section. Think of a bamboo or fiberglass fly rod where a normal cast will get it flexed down past the middle ferrule. That’s how to think about action and it applies to bass rods also. In bass rods you don’t get the really slow actions- really a true moderate action is about as slow as you’ll see. For power, lite, medium, and heavy (with the in between ML/MH/XH versions). Medium and heavy cover most things in a casting rod. For what you are talking about, a true medium power with a fast action will have a light tip and not a ton of power under it. That will happily throw a shaky on light line and a quality reel.