I am about to buy a 7 foot rod for an all around treble hook rod for shallow to medium cranks along with Jerkbaits/Sammy/Spooks/Poppers, but I want to know is a 7' rod hard to work these twitching baits compared to a 6'6"? I know a 6.6 would be easier, but I upgraded to a 7' to get more distance. How much harder is it to work my jerkbaits/poppers and sammys?

Does it make no difference or am I going to have a bit more trouble as I already struggle quite a bit.

I found that a 7' rod for myself made it a little bit more difficult for twitching due to the rod tip being that much closer to the water and/or the edge of the boat.  I went back to a 6' 6" and am much happier with it.

As far as a good all around rod I would have to go with a St Croix Avid AVC66MF.

Later,

I was in the same thinking as you were.  I wanted a longer rod to cast my lure a little farther, but a I didn't like using a 7' rod for jerkbaits and topwater baits.  I found what I feel is the perfect rod for topwater, jerkbaits, and shallow to medium running crankbaits, which is the G Loomis SMR814C-CB.  It is 6'9" in length (a little longer than the 6'6" rod I was using), but it is not too long that I find twitching baits with it cumbersome.  I am very pleased with this rod (I actually own 2) and I think it is a very good treble bait rod.

I found that a 7' rod for myself made it a little bit more difficult for twitching due to the rod tip being that much closer to the water and/or the edge of the boat. I went back to a 6' 6" and am much happier with it.

As far as a good all around rod I would have to go with a St Croix Avid AVC66MF.

The AVC66MF is my dedicated jerkbait and topwater rod, but I

consider it an "all-around" rod for all medium weight treble hook

lures. I also recommend this Avid for spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and

small swimbaits.

8-)

I found that a 7' rod for myself made it a little bit more difficult for twitching due to the rod tip being that much closer to the water and/or the edge of the boat.  I went back to a 6' 6" and am much happier with it.

As far as a good all around rod I would have to go with a St Croix Avid AVC66MF.

The AVC66MF is my dedicated jerkbait and topwater rod, but I

consider it an "all-around" rod for all medium weight treble hook

lures. I also recommend this Avid for spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and

small swimbaits.

8-)

How did I know you'd say that?

I found that a 7' rod for myself made it a little bit more difficult for twitching due to the rod tip being that much closer to the water and/or the edge of the boat. I went back to a 6' 6" and am much happier with it.

As far as a good all around rod I would have to go with a St Croix Avid AVC66MF.

The AVC66MF is my dedicated jerkbait and topwater rod, but I

consider it an "all-around" rod for all medium weight treble hook

lures. I also recommend this Avid for spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and

small swimbaits.

8-)

How did I know you'd say that?

Sounds like advice i've heard before....  I had a custom 6'6" mf avid made for this purpose

I would agree with everyone on getting a 6'6 rod for these applications. I would love to get that avid, but right now I just got a Compre crankbait 6'6MMF rod. I think it will do the job for the time being and it seems to run a little stiffer for its' action anyways. After feeling the Avid at BPS through, it is a perfect rod for everything you listed.

Thanks for all the input. I've decided to get the 7' and buy a top water/jerkbait rod later on when I have some extra money to spare.

I just got a Dobyns 704CB rod mainly for jerkbaits and deep diving jerkbaits.   I also plan to use this rod for crankbaits and some topwaters in a pinch.  I like the 7' rod for jerkbaits mainly for the extra casting distance and since I work the bait out to the side instead of straight down the length is not an issue for me.  Depending on how you work your jerkbaits & topwater baits you may only need that one 7' rod, but hey the more rods you have the better off you are.  Because as we all know you can never have too many rods.