I fish from shore, usually from open areas where a long rod helps get a little more distance. But, I'm thinking of moving to some other ponds that are surrounded by brush etc.

How short a rod would you use, is there a preference in power/action and are spinning or baitcasting reels preferred?

Thanks

I fish a lot of small ponds, lakes with heavy cover and brush... going to need a strong rod to get em' out of there... so I'd go with medium heavy 6'6" or even 7'- I've got an Allstar Rod and it's worked great.... I like the Low profile reels to reduce fatigue... Best I can tell you is go maybe to Bass Pro if there is one in your area and look at the reel, reel it a bit to check the smoothness and ask the clerk your price range and what he'd recommend- I believe you'll be a happy fisherman then....

I can tell you my buddy had a Team Daiwa reel- they are expensive but well worth it.. Maybe you could find one of those??? Also, you are going to need to use a heavier line in these situations so make sure the reel/Rod can handle a heavier line..........

I do a lot of shore fishing during the week, in some open places and in some places that have a lot of shore-bound obstructions.

For the tighter areas, I find it much easier to use spinning gear, and I prefer a 6'6" rod.  7' is good too, but personally I prefer the compactness of a 6'6". I use medium power (my M power rod has a lot of backbone though), but MH might be better. I think a huge benefit in shore fishing is using braided line. It's really strong and you can cast much farther than you can with flouro/mono of comparable strength. Sometimes while shore fishing that extra casting distance results in more fish, especially when you need to get the lure out to deep water.

If you don't need to cast far and your targets are within flipping/pitching range, you can use a baitcaster, but personally, I find spinning setups much easier to use when there are obstructions.

Hope that helps  8-)

Thanks, I've actually been considering 6' or even 5'6" to make it easier to pass through the bushes.  Also easier to cast around tree limbs.  Guess it might help with accuracy to.  I'm also leaning towards MH, since most likely I'll be fighting through the brush to get to the areas that have heavier structure.  Since I value casting distance from the shore, It's encouraging to see that you do well with 6'6" rods.  That would make the rod a more versatile.  Thanks for the ideas

I travel all the time with my job. I can't pull my boat with my company car so I spend a lot of time pounding the banks all over Arkansas. I find that anything over 6' can be a problem when fishing banks with trees and structure. I prefer to use a Med action 6' baitcasting rig. I have a cheap quantum rig that stays in my car year round!! It has caught a lot of fish including 5 today.

 Have fished small lakes and ponds from shore for REALLY ;Dlong time! If you're fishing places like I do (trees, branches, weeds and anything else you can think of), I try to keep to no longer than 6'. I have 3 rigs:

Shimano Symetre 2500 6' MH Bionic Blade

Shimano Citica 200D 6' M Bionic Blade

Shimano Citica 200D 5 1/2' M Bionic Blade

 Have no problems covering anything that has come up. Shorter rods keep the frustration level to where it's bearable ...

                               As Ever,

                                skillet

Right now, my main rods are 6'6" and 7'.  You're helping the bait monkey see the need for another new, shorter rod    Thanks

5'6" MED HVY is what I use. Very accurate to use. I highly recomend this length for bank fishing with over hanging limbs and such.

  I started out (70's) using the shorter rods and never changed over. If you can get comfortable (it can be done) with that length it would be great. Then you could save that $$$ for Bananna Breath's cousin, Boat Monkey ;D...

                                As Ever,

                                 skillet

Every week the baitmonkey pushes me in a new direction.  This week a drove by a pond near my house that I don't usually think about.  There's easy access by the road, but woods and thickets around most of it.  I started thinking, the all the best looking places were away from the road, so how would I walk through the brush to get to those isolated areas...  Once in a while I see a 5'6" or 6' rod on clearance.  I may have some justification now

Of course, since I'm going to start taking my 10 year old daughter with me, I might stick with the open water areas.

Today, the banana trail was leading me to look for the 6' MHF Daiwa L&T.    Seems pretty versatile and they have a lot of loyal users.

Cheers!