Medium light Combo spinning rig or bait casting rig? What is your preference when finesse fishing?

[XMYTRUCK XMYTRUCK]

Hello

I am in the process of choosing a medium light rig for finesse fishing, and I can not decide to go with a spinning rig or a bait casting rig? What is your preference when finesse fishing?



Most of by fishing buddies choose to go with spinning for a medium light combo. My only issue is that the pole can not be bigger that 6

 

[TritonGlenn]

I have 5 combos that I use for "finesse" fishing - all spinning.



1) All Star- TAS725S 6' Medium, Fast. Paired with a Pflueger President 6735.

2) Pflueger- PTSP47631MXFT 6'3" Medium, XFast. Paired with a Pflueger Medalist 6035

3) Pflueger- SP47621M 6'2" Medium, Regular. Paired with a Pflueger Trion 4735

4) Pflueger- SP47591ML 5'9" Medium Light, Regular. Paired with a Pflueger President 6030

5) All Star- TAS845STR 7' Medium, Fast. I swap out the Medalist from #2 when I use this one.



Most of the time, I am using #1 for wacky rigging a Stinger (Culprit's version of the Senko). I use #2 and #3 for small worms, grubs, tubes. I also use #3 for small spinners and micro-crankbaits. #4 I use for skipping tubes and small lizards up underneath docks. #5 only sees action if I am going to do some drop shotting, so I don't usually have a reel on that one unless I'm planning to do so. So as you can see, the majority of my "finesse" fishing (different meanings for different people) is done with rods less than 6'3", and 4 of the 5 are mediums.The only time I break out "Excalibur" (7 footer) is when I'm going to be doing some deeper fishing with a drop shot rig.



Hope this helps.

All the best,

Glenn

 

[Texas Transplant]

For finesse, I use spinning tackle. If I'm fishing a lot of strucutre (like docks), whereby I skip the bait under, I prefer a 6' pole.



Tex

 

[Tim m]

I use the BPS Extreme Woo Daves baitcast combo...6,6 6.3:1

 

[JR F]

quantum pti 10 series, 6 foot loomis imx light action....

 

[Mark Hofman]

I've found that a medium-light spinning combo really works well for finess fishing.



My favorite rod for this type of a fishing is a 6-foot G. Loomis IMX SJR720 Magnum-Light paired with a Shimano Sahara 1000 front-drag spooled with 8 lb. mono. There are few fish that would overpower this setup.



My backup rod for finess fishing (bass) is a 6'-6" Cabela's Fish Eagle (Model XCLS662XF-1) spinning rod paired with a Shimano Spirex 1000 and 6 lb. test. The longer length works well with the lighter line.



Finally, I have a 6'-0" St. Croix Avid paired with a Shimano Sahara 1000 and 6 or 8 lb. test that I'll use if I need to have three rods rigged and ready.



The sensitivity seems to be better with a spinning rod than with a baitcaster.

 

[XMYTRUCK XMYTRUCK]

Hello Guys

I have one 6 foot medium rod right shimano sahara 1000 with a shimano rod now that I use for drop shoting and small worms . I was leaning toward the medium light to be able to throw even lighter baits.. But the main different between is the weight it can handle; Avid medium (3/16 to 5/8) and the medium light (1/8 ? 3/8) but I am not really sure which one to get. I will be throwing small jigs, weight less worms, small spinners, small spoons and crankbaits and drop shotting if my other rod is in use..

MO

I will need to check out G. Loomis IMX SJR720, do you feel it's a better rod than the avid.. Fish Eagle really that good of a rod?





So far 4 use spinning tackle for finesse and one uses a bait caster tackle..

Thanks

X

 

[Mark Hofman]

I don't know if I would say that the Loomis is a better rod than the Avid. The Avid has another 6" at the tip, which does help sensitivity. But if I'm fishing a lake where there's the potential to pull 5-pounders or bigger out, then I like the backbone of the Loomis. The Loomis also gives me a bit more confidence when the hookset is done with muscle.



The Fish Eagle is a better rod than I was expecting it to be. I probably use it more than any of my spinning rods. It's just an all around nice rod, and for a fairly decent price.

 

[Dan J.]

Just a suggestion: Whatever combo (Spin/BC) you choose for your finesse presentations, you can increase the sensitivity an incredible amount by properly balancing the outfit.



Ideally, a finesse rig is a much lighter (weight-wise) rig than your standard outfits. To really key in on subtle bites, bumps and nibbles, balancing the outfit (butt-weighting) for the technique used will increase your feel and dramatically increase your bite to hookup ratio. For soft plastics (drop/down-shotting, T-rigging, split-shotting) I'd recomend a balance to where your tip is nuetral in the 10-12 o'clock position. This is generally where you are doing the most rod articulation of your bait. For C-rigging, a nuetral weight about waist level is ideal for the sweeping motion most recomended. For crankbait/jerkbait/spinnerbait, I prefer a tip heavy or 4-5 o'clock weighting to keep my rod down and pointed towards my bait and the strike. The weighting needed to produce these affects at the butt are equal to a small stack of fender washers or about a $1.50 in quarters or less, slid into a butt cap or saltwater gimbal cap that is slid over the end of the rod. Many pre-made balance kits are also available. (These are just a few examples. Experiment with your own styles and techniques for a custom balance.)



Overall, definitely lighten up your finesse rigs for enhanced feeling. To really "kick it up a notch", balance the rig for the appropriate style/technique and your bite sensitivity will increase tremendously! I've never heard of anybody regretting their balancing of their outfit. Usually, when one gets balanced, you'll want to do them all! Good luck!!

 

[XMYTRUCK XMYTRUCK]

Good tip Dan

Thanks Guys I am going to go check out the avid and the Symetre at dicks today.. I am still in the air about bait vs spinning.. I love the control of baitcaster but spinning does have it advantages throwing really light baits no backlash..



Thanks

X

 

[Mark Hofman]

I'm not a pro like Dan, so please give serious consideration to his advice about balance being a key factor.



The thing that I like about the longer spinning rod, I think, has to do with the amount of taper and the diameter of the rod at the tip. My shorter Loomis doesn't taper down to as flexible a tip (last 6") as the Avid. There are days when I can detect a really light bite on the Avid that I just can't get on the Loomis by watching my line or the tip of the rod. The Loomis is terrible for trout fishing because the tip doesn't detect the strike as well as the Avid's, and I'm convinced it's because it tapers down to a small, and therefore more sensitive, tip.



When I'm fishing small 4" worms on a Slider hook, the Avid's tip will sometimes move just enough on a really light pickup so that I can set the hook and nail that sneaky little b@s+ard.

 

[XMYTRUCK XMYTRUCK]

to funny yea I went and looked at the avid again and I think that one for me, it will be great trout combo and finesse rig for bassin.. can't wait to pick it up next week

 

[TOMMY RICH]

I'm using a Browning Medallion and it's a perfect finesse rod and can be used for smaller cranks and jerks