TW has these rods on sale for $59.95. Recently purchased a Daiwa SSII 2500C reel that needs a home. Looking at these rods as one option (primary option as money is a bit tight). The 3 rods I'm interested in are the 6'3", 6'9" and 7'3". All are Medium power / Fast action.

I'd like to start fishing the Delaware River for smallmouths. Either from shore or wading. I'm thinking about using his rod for 1/8-1/4 oz. jigs with small tubes or grubs. Tubes seem to be a hot bait.

I just looked at my old Lightning rod, and it is rated for 1/8-3/8 lures, so maybe I already have a rod for this technique. It is a 6' Fast. Seems like it should work. What do you guys think?

The Lightening already has a reel on it that I like...an equally old 5.1:1 Penn 430SS. The only other spinning rod I use is a MH Cielo with 30 lb. braid (as suggested by some members here).

If the Lightning will work for the jig/tube technique, then what would be a good choice for the 2500? TW has the Clark Wendlandt 7' Medium Fast 6-14 lb./ 3/16-1/2 oz. Grub/Worms rod on sale. Price is more than I'd like to spend right now. Don't have to have a new rod right away, but these rods may be sold out if I wait until next year to buy.

I will say that I would love to try one of the Fenwick Elite Smallmouth series rods or a Phenix Recon with this reel, but either of those would definitely have to wait until next year to buy.

I have one of the 6'9" M Spinning rods. I have a Daiwa Tierra 2500 spooled with 8lb YZH mounted to it. I have fished with it once so far, using Fat Ika's and some tubes (4" with 3/16 head) for some LM and SM in a local pond. I felt more with it than my Lamiglas Excel 703 using the same baits and line.

I did some googling prior to ordering and people seemed to get stuck on the handle length being too long. While it measures 16" from Butt to the front of the foregrip, the back cork is only 8.5" which seems in line with my other spinning outfits (7' Lamiglas Excel and 6'8" BPS Extreme). It balances very well with the Tierra (9.6oz). I really like it overall. I am thinking of getting a 7'3"H casting model as well.

Thanks for the mini-review. I was afraid the sensitivity wouldn't be there for contact baits. Some people think the Excels are very good rods for the money.