Fishing Rods

Recently I ordered the 7'6" Helium spinning rod with a medium action. It was my hope the longer rod would give me more leverage when sitting the hook. Often I am throwing tubes, grubs, stick baits, etc in deep open water.

When the rod arrived I was surprised how soft the tip was. It seemed TOO soft and the tip was flimsly to me. I had dediced this rod would not do what I wanted it to do and told Clifford I was sending it back.

Today though I had the opportunity to try the rod out and I was pleasantly pleased and surprised. The rod's backbone was more then sufficient for setting the hook on deep water smallmouth. Nor did I notice the soft tip except for it loading up nicely when I was casting jig heads.

I caught five beautiful smallmouth today and their weight was probably 17 pounds. The largest fish was a little over 4 pounds.

The rod surpassed my expectations and I will be ordering another one soon.

Larry: I too was a little hesitant(and skeptical) to use my new 7' LTA MC in the swamp pond I usually fish in. It is full of both under and above water snags(That's putting it mildly!). And to top it off, I started throwing a 1/2 ounce Vision Honeybuzz Buzzbait with it.

Here is a http://www.f150online.com/galleries/pictureview.cfm?pnum=70614&anum=3723 pic from last September when I got my first Helium MC. That was on a Sunday. That Monday, I ordered my second one. I now have three of that same model. I caught 8 Bass that day---all on that buzzbait/Helium combo. Even with its 'soft' tip, I was able to guide the rapidly moving buzzbait inbetween bushy stumps, etc. Once the rod helped me set the hook(not the easiest type of bait to do that with), I had to wrestle the Bass in and around logs, roots, bushes, etc that are present in that swamp.

Dan

I'm glad to hear you like that 7'6" Larry (I have it on my Christmas list ) . I thought the same thing you did when I received my 7' MH in mail. I thought it would be too whippy to get a good hookset, but I was mistaken. I get solid hookups when throwing tubes/grubs and have had no problem horsing the fish when needed...It's by far my favorite rod for plastics...

I have that rod I'm using for dropshotting. I love how the tip has enough give for light lines but the backbone can still set the hook. It's a great rod & the sensitivity for dropshotting is unreal.