Benefits of longer rods - Bluegill - Big Bluegill2024-03-29T11:30:10Zhttp://bigbluegill.ning.com/forum/topics/benefits-of-longer-rods?commentId=2036984%3AComment%3A300266&x=1&feed=yes&xn_auth=noyes i have 1 9' B& M ULTR…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2012-08-15:2036984:Comment:3002662012-08-15T20:26:37.842ZRay J. Hallhttp://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/RayJHall
<p>yes i have 1 9' B& M ULTRA LITE AND A 7' QUANTUM XTRALITE SPINNING THAT ARE BOTH GREAT FOR LONGER CASTING </p>
<p>yes i have 1 9' B& M ULTRA LITE AND A 7' QUANTUM XTRALITE SPINNING THAT ARE BOTH GREAT FOR LONGER CASTING </p> I use 12' rods for fishing ve…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2012-08-13:2036984:Comment:2999462012-08-13T15:08:20.553ZBadgerloaderhttp://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/Badgerloader
<p>I use 12' rods for fishing vertically and/or drifting with 1/80, 1/64 & 1/32 jigs. The reels are filled with Fireline or PowerPro with a 4# fluro leader. The jigs are tied with feathers & kip tail. I also use some plastics on a plain jig head.</p>
<p>For casting I use 7', 8'6" & 9'. This year I started using Fireling Crystal in 4# & 6# with a fluro leader.</p>
<p>I use 12' rods for fishing vertically and/or drifting with 1/80, 1/64 & 1/32 jigs. The reels are filled with Fireline or PowerPro with a 4# fluro leader. The jigs are tied with feathers & kip tail. I also use some plastics on a plain jig head.</p>
<p>For casting I use 7', 8'6" & 9'. This year I started using Fireling Crystal in 4# & 6# with a fluro leader.</p> Tony up till about 3 years ag…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2012-08-13:2036984:Comment:2996472012-08-13T03:48:18.629Zdick tabberthttp://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/dicktabbert
<p>Tony up till about 3 years ago that's all I used is UL between 4'.5" to 5'. I still own about a dozen of the smaller rods. I did start to buy some longer rod up to 6'.5". they have there place but only if I want a little longer cast. I found they are clumsy and always in the way but like I said they do have there place.</p>
<p>Tony up till about 3 years ago that's all I used is UL between 4'.5" to 5'. I still own about a dozen of the smaller rods. I did start to buy some longer rod up to 6'.5". they have there place but only if I want a little longer cast. I found they are clumsy and always in the way but like I said they do have there place.</p> I have also landed some big b…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2012-08-13:2036984:Comment:2998912012-08-13T00:31:50.170ZWalt Foremanhttp://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/WaltForeman
<p>I have also landed some big bluegill and shellcracker on a 4'6" rod. But my main rod for bluegill fishing is 8' long, a spinning rod made on a fiberglass fly rod blank. And I fish mostly ponds; size of the water body has less to do with it than preferred presentation. If you fish with lures a lot, a mid-length rod is fine; for live bait, a longer rod will do a lot of things a shorter one won't.</p>
<p>I have also landed some big bluegill and shellcracker on a 4'6" rod. But my main rod for bluegill fishing is 8' long, a spinning rod made on a fiberglass fly rod blank. And I fish mostly ponds; size of the water body has less to do with it than preferred presentation. If you fish with lures a lot, a mid-length rod is fine; for live bait, a longer rod will do a lot of things a shorter one won't.</p> I dunno' Troy, I've landed so…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2012-08-13:2036984:Comment:2998892012-08-13T00:27:53.566ZTony Livingstonhttp://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/TonyLivingston
<p>I dunno' Troy, I've landed some big Bluegills on my 4.5 foot ultralights.</p>
<p>I dunno' Troy, I've landed some big Bluegills on my 4.5 foot ultralights.</p> Anywhere from 5'6 to 6'6 is w…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2012-08-12:2036984:Comment:2998832012-08-12T23:55:37.776ZTroy Dormanhttp://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/TroyDorman
<p>Anywhere from 5'6 to 6'6 is where most bluegill anglers should be. The longer rods are good for bigger waters and the shorter rods good for small waters and ponds IMO. Short to me is anything under 5'6 and long anything 6foot or above. I like the 6footers the best, as David said, not to long or short, just perfect. You can take up a lot more line when bottom fishing and you have to set the hook when a big redear hits it using a bit longer pole too. Short poles have a hard time handling big…</p>
<p>Anywhere from 5'6 to 6'6 is where most bluegill anglers should be. The longer rods are good for bigger waters and the shorter rods good for small waters and ponds IMO. Short to me is anything under 5'6 and long anything 6foot or above. I like the 6footers the best, as David said, not to long or short, just perfect. You can take up a lot more line when bottom fishing and you have to set the hook when a big redear hits it using a bit longer pole too. Short poles have a hard time handling big bluegill and redear IMO. I like light action versus ultra light too because it gives me a little more confidence in landing that trophy bluegill that a weaker pole might fail to do.</p> One of my favorites for flipp…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2012-08-12:2036984:Comment:2995572012-08-12T20:47:28.890ZDave Campbellhttp://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/DaveCampbell
<p>One of my favorites for flipping out light bait rigs or small lures for both panfish and trout is a converted fly rod. It was a 9 foot, five weight St. Croix blank that I had built out for fly fishing, and I managed to snap the last foot of tip in the brush only a month after I built it. Rather than dump it, I got a little creative, stripped the fly guides and put on a set of ultra light spinning guides, modified the handle for a spinning reel seat, and put on a medium penn reel. It's…</p>
<p>One of my favorites for flipping out light bait rigs or small lures for both panfish and trout is a converted fly rod. It was a 9 foot, five weight St. Croix blank that I had built out for fly fishing, and I managed to snap the last foot of tip in the brush only a month after I built it. Rather than dump it, I got a little creative, stripped the fly guides and put on a set of ultra light spinning guides, modified the handle for a spinning reel seat, and put on a medium penn reel. It's been great! However, it takes some getting used to in tight quarters. It also has advantages in the same settings though. I can reach out to the side and cast around things ahead of me in streams, and actually dabble a bit with it when casting is just too difficult. Because it is a slow action (being a light fly rod blank) and light weight, it's great with small lures and light bait rigs but hard to be accurate with heavier stuff. It will throw a night crawler with a decent split shot a ways further than anything else I've got in the spinning arsenal, though.</p> I like 6 foot rods. They are…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2012-08-11:2036984:Comment:2988782012-08-11T08:37:18.011ZDavid Dillmanhttp://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/DavidDillman
<p>I like 6 foot rods. They are not to long or short. If your bank fishing, and need to get out far, you should use the spooning method of bill modica. You can really fling that heavier spoon out their, and you have a small hook on the end for bluegill. You just just count down to the depth you think the fish are and then reel in slowly. It worked for me this spring before I could get in my float tube.</p>
<p>Dilly</p>
<p>I like 6 foot rods. They are not to long or short. If your bank fishing, and need to get out far, you should use the spooning method of bill modica. You can really fling that heavier spoon out their, and you have a small hook on the end for bluegill. You just just count down to the depth you think the fish are and then reel in slowly. It worked for me this spring before I could get in my float tube.</p>
<p>Dilly</p> Chris- I have a 2 piece 8' Z…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2012-08-10:2036984:Comment:2990812012-08-10T13:32:54.139ZJohn Sheehanhttp://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/JohnSheehan
<p>Chris- I have a 2 piece 8' Zebco Slab Seeker that is very inexpensive if you want to start out with a small investment to see how it works out. I had to change the tip top as it was ridiculously poorly designed and I lost two floats until I discovered the line wrapped between rings of the guide.The tip top I put on has no problem (very simple to do) .Very limber and sensitive at the end of the rod like you' d expect a Crappie rod to be and good for casting 16th oz and lighter good…</p>
<p>Chris- I have a 2 piece 8' Zebco Slab Seeker that is very inexpensive if you want to start out with a small investment to see how it works out. I had to change the tip top as it was ridiculously poorly designed and I lost two floats until I discovered the line wrapped between rings of the guide.The tip top I put on has no problem (very simple to do) .Very limber and sensitive at the end of the rod like you' d expect a Crappie rod to be and good for casting 16th oz and lighter good distances .Cant beat the price !Using a Daiwa UL reel with 2 lb test on this rod I've caught Perch, Crappie Bluegill and small Bass using this rod . Even has a 10" ruler on the handle of the rod for Panfish measurement .I thought that was cool too! In this link I see 10' and 12' but not the 8' but do a search for an 8' if that's what you want .Hope this helps you and good luck! <a href="http://www.cabelas.com/spinning-rods-zebco-slab-seeker-8482-rods.shtml?WT.tsrc=CSE&WT.mc_id=pricegrabber&WT.z_mc_id1=732184&rid=40&mr:referralID=5abcc7a0-e2ee-11e1-8e16-001b2166becc" rel="nofollow">http://www.cabelas.com/spinning-rods-zebco-slab-seeker-8482-rods.sh...</a></p> Its like every thing else. I…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2012-08-10:2036984:Comment:2987782012-08-10T11:12:09.990Zdick tabberthttp://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/dicktabbert
<p>Its like every thing else. I have a number of 5' rods but were I fish the waters are clear so some times I do need a little farther cast so for that a longer rod does make a little difference. But like everything else you need to weigh it out and see if its worth it for you. The biggest disadvantage being cumbersome being harder to guide through obticles, weight and off coarse storage.</p>
<p>Its like every thing else. I have a number of 5' rods but were I fish the waters are clear so some times I do need a little farther cast so for that a longer rod does make a little difference. But like everything else you need to weigh it out and see if its worth it for you. The biggest disadvantage being cumbersome being harder to guide through obticles, weight and off coarse storage.</p>