All around rod

[Dan668]

I recently purchased a daiwa alpha. Looking to get a good all around rod for it. Any suggestions? Was looking at loomis and st croix, they have enough models. Difficult to choose!

[Weeds]

Alot of folks might tell you that there really is no such thing as an all around rod but in my opinion, and having recently searched for the perfect all rounder, I'd say go with a 7 foot one piece medium heavy. Providing it's made by a quality manufacturer, Shimano, I hear good things about the Compre, St. Croix, G. Loomis, etc, I think you'll end up with a good stick, strong enough for big fish but still fairly sensitive for smaller species. I'd suggest checking the classified section on this board, used rods are often like new and you end up with a quality item for the price of something mediocre if you buy new.

Edited December 21, 2007 by Weeds

[danbo]

fenwick HMG is my fave!

[Beans]

7 foot medium ugly stik will cover most general fishing...takes a lickin'

[bassjnkie]

Fenwick HMG, Techna av, HMX, 7' medium. I got one of each and love them.

 

Daniel

OCH

[DANIMAL]

There is no one rod that can do everything well. A 7' medium heavy is probably what you are looking for, it can handle most fishing situations pretty good. But it wont do a good job fishing with large musky size baits, or small panfish or finess baits. So depending on what you expect to be doing most you can go a heavyer or lighter from there.

[Weeds]

True. While a medium heavy won't chuck Believers and Bulldogs it's still plenty solid for throwing some substantial bucktails and spinnerbaits. Definetly not the perfect musky rod but I feel you could still responsibly use it for a bit of musky fishing. On the other end of the spectrum most medium heavy rods work pretty well with 1/4 jigs and lures which offer you a relatively decent amount of finesse.

 

P.S. Sombody is mis-spelling finesse and I'm guessing it's me.

Edited December 22, 2007 by Weeds

[boatman]

I guess I'm in the minority. I consider Musky and panfish outside the realm of one rod. To me a med-heavy is too heavy a rod unless you are throwing heavy baits, working heavy cover or fighting huge fish. I perfer a medium action 6.5-7' rod matched to a 1500-2500 reel. It think this is probably the most common "all purpose" set-up. It really depends on your target species. If you fish mostly medium to large species then get a bigger outfit and conversely if you fish mostly medium to small fish.

[fishindevil]

Well a 6.5...or ....7ft...Fenwick HMXorHMG....i have both and they are great i have caught bass & musky on both,they are mostly my walleye rods, but will cover most situations,its very versitile,medium action on both rods notmedium heavy,they are great rodsi guess everyones meaning of an all purpose rod is very different,good-luck...cheers

[pikeie]

7' shimano crucial med action, got some good backbone and still has a very soft tip to detect light bites, and talk about sensitive!

[addict]

bite the bullet and get a couple rods 6.6 med action spin rod with med.size reel spooled with 8-10lb test.and a med heavy action baitcast set up 14-20lb test.with these two u can fish for crappie walleye bass even musky as long as u dont toss those huge baits.

[Garry2Rs]

Your Daiwa Alpha is a very nice looking baitcaster.

If I were looking for an all around baitcasting rod I would buy a 6'6" Med Heavy rod rated for 3/4 to 1 ounce baits. Shimano Compre or Crucial rods give you a lot of rod for the money and they're in Peterbough if you ever need a new line guide etc. I used a G.Loomis 6'6" MBR783 to land many Kawartha Musky on Bass size spinnerbaits. I also recommend that rod, which can be serviced in Hamilton, but the Shimano's are cheaper.

The 6'6" is a better all around rod than the 7 foot because it gives you more accurate casts around docks, boats and weed beds etc. In the future you might want to add a seven footer, for a little bit longer range in open water, but start with the 6' 6" because most of the time a short accurate cast will catch you more fish.

Garry2Rs

[Blake]

The new Compre 6' 10" MH would fit the bill niceley or if you can go for more the new Cumara Rods from Shimano are incredible!!!!!!

[fishindevil]

Well its hard to say cause everyone of those rods that were mentioned are great !!!...i would like to have them all,and yes those crucial rods are great i had one in my hand the other day,and they are so sensitive!!!!

[Hooked]

7' shimano crucial med action, got some good backbone and still has a very soft tip to detect light bites, and talk about sensitive!

 

 

I may second that choice, pretty good one at too. I personally think something a little longer though, like 7'-4" - 7'6". Crucial are awesome rods.

Edited December 24, 2007 by Hooked

[Dan668]

sry for the late reply. have been away. G.Loomis 6'6" MBR783, haha i was actually thinking about getting that. Well mainly bass,pike, walleye. I guess maybe panfish.. prob would need a diff set up since i would be casting lighter lures. I have a musky set up, so def dont need a heavy action rod/