Some Med/Heavy flipping rods on the market are able to handle jigs and T-Rigs up to 1 1/4OZ and come in 7'6-8' lengths. is there a still a need for a heavy -Extra Heavy 8' "meat stick"? most of us are more accurate With a Med/Heavy Rod. The Med/Heavy rod has more give in it to help you fight fish with the no stretch braided lines. According to Greg hackney he does not employ heavy rods when fishing matted cover. He also sayes that todays Med/heavy flipping rods has enough tip to let him feel the fish before the fish feels him. And still enough back bone to drive the hook and drag there buts out of there!! I gotta say I agree with him! The guy obviously has a outstanding Resume. And is know for fishing matted grass! After reading his Jig system he has really simplified things for me. So the question is are heavy action flipping sticks becoming a thing of the past because of no stretch Braided lines that we offer today?? Something to really rap your brain around!!

Ish says the same things, well he says use and 8 foot rod but it is softer than u figure, the rod is to get a better angle and have longer flips... I have bass university membership thing and several guys talk about it. They want a MEDIUM Heavy, with a fast tip. DEFINATLY not an xheavy or xfast tip, say hook is better and you don't tear as big a hole in the fish when you hit them.

several guys have spoke about it...

Thanks for the reply! Ish is Great example. Even some of the frog rods he uses and recommends people to use is a Med/heavy

Nothing wrong with a heavy....I had the misfortune to lose a big one at Monti on a 7" swimbait because i had a 7.6mh rod....I was lacking the heavy power to horse it out of the yerba. My rod was doubled over and i couldnt do jack about it. Man if i would've had a H or XH i couldve kept the pressure on it and from making that second run down into the yerba. oh well.....

Obviously You need a heavy action rod for that. A-rigs, giant swim baits. This is about punching. A whole different technique

I initially thought that a broomstick type rod would be what i wanted for punching. I tried a few different types/brands. Then Zaldain helped design the Megabass Leviathan in the Orochi XX and Levante series. Its 8' and is a heavy action rod but the tip is a tad more parabolic than the rest I tried. Needless to say it must be a West Coast thing cause a lot of the guys from there helping design rods for different brands will often be similar. They almost prefer a more parabolic tip. I am a big fan of that now after using them. Makes the rod more versatile too. Has all the power you need to wrench 'em out of the thick stuff but also still enough tip to cast big baits well. Great swimbait rods as well. Its made a difference to me anyway. Like most things I am sure its all personal preference though.

I have six I built like this. We have been using them for many years down here on Rayburn. 8' for light weight flipping around structure (leverage to get around objects) and 7'4"-7'6" for flipping grass. 8hours of flipping a 1.5oz jig with a 8'er wears the wrist out. Punching you don't need the 8' of leverage.

P.s. I set my drags to take some of the hook set. being 6'6" this is critical.

The key is that they really DO shut off hard, the tip is just a little softer, say the first 4-5 eyes

parabolic bend is a hot term right now... It is a good to describe the action I guess but I'm getting tired of it...

you do realize you lose leverage to the fish the longer your rod is... You are on the short end of the lever, he gets a TON more out of it pulling on that great big long rod at the very end than you get with your 12 inches of rod your holding onto. Ever tie a big catfish on a rope for a stringer, and he can PULL for all he is worth, but its like ehh... you only weigh 30 lbs fish he can barley pull your arm around. but put him on the end of 12 foot rod. it is a BATTLE...

Now, having a better ANGLE to pull the fish away from cover because the pull is from more above the fish sure I get that.

I've been amazed how many of the pros in that BASS university deal say they "Don't use drag" they lock it down and thumb the reel... not saying I do, the idea scares me, but I may try this year some.

I am not a rod builder, rod expert or rod designer. I can't always explain the techical side of their build but I know when a specific model just fits the technique I want to use it for. I also have learned to trust a lot of the guys on the pro level that are considered experts on a certain technique. When I wanted to learn all I could about jig fishing I paid close attention to Beauer and Biffle. When I wanted to get serious about frog fishing i looked at the approach Rojas and Barrack take. Using that logic I took same approach with punching. When I came across lakes that have a ton of matted grass etc I felt the need to learn the ins and outs better. I know a lot of the Cali guys punch a ton so I looked there. THeir approach has made a big difference in getting better at it, landing more fish and enjoying the technique more. Not sure how trendy the term parabolic is but its exactly what the rods I prefer to use are so it works trendy or not.
Not a terribly original idea I guess but I tend to trust the guys that are considered experts on something coupled with my own experience. Everyone needs to use what is comfortable to them cause its rare we all agree 100% on anything.
Luckily in this day and age we jave so much access to real time info and that helps to lessen the learning curve.

Yes

if Ish is still a Diawa guy, he's likely using a Diawa frog rod. All of them I've seen from Diawa ,and own, are 7'4" extra heavy. With a soft tip for help with "walking" baits. I could be wrong, and maybe he's not using a frog rod that he helped design. I dunno....

Yes, That is overkill in my unprofessional opinion. 7'4" - 6" med/heavy fast tip seems to do the trick just fine for me but I do have some heavy/fast tips that are fine also but nothing 8'.

Yes (also)