So, I bought a combo spinning rod and reel for casting spinner baits, crank baits, swim baits, anything that requires getting the bait out 60 feet or so. This rod is really good at that, I can get it to load up and make a lazy swing forward and the lure goes flying. Now, this rod says it is medium power and extra fast tip. Does that make sense? I thought a "slingy" rod would be medium action?

I've been operating under the idea that you adjusted the power for the size of the fish (assuming not having to pull through weeds) and the action was what determined how bendy the rod was. So, I would think for my purposes I'd need something like a light power, slow action, or medium power, slow action but that's just the opposite of what the rod I like has as its specifications.

Is my thinking correct and that rod company wacky, or is my thinking incorrect?

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/guides/rodselection.html

Thanks, I'll read that but they get off to a bad start by saying:



Most rods may be casting rods, but "specialized techniques and light lures"? I think most bass fisherman who use spinning rods and reels just do regular old fishing with them.

Postoak- One to know is that "power" and "action" can very from company to company. Someone's medium heavy might feel like another company's medium.

You can find some spinning rods that are built more for 'heavier' bass fishing than just the finesse techniques. If you are using the rod for moving baits, I would suggest a Moderate Action. The moderate action will help the rod load up better for longer cast and help dampen the bite when fishing moving baits so you don't pull the hooks out of the fishes mouth. You might want to look at inshore rods for reds and specs, they might offer more of what you are looking for.

Hey thanks, I kind of figured each brand would be different in regard to their power and action ratings.

BTW, what was written in that article kind of matched my own understanding.

I actually asked All Star Rods about this via their website. (One thing nice about All Star is that they put the designated use of the rod on the side of the rod.)

Since I specified a length of 6'9" to 7', they recommended either of two 7' rods, one marked Spinnerbait (ASCS845SB) and one marked Spin/Poppin' (ASCS845SPPN). The first is fast/medium and the second is medium/medium. I am definitely going to go with the medium/medium.

Wow, the medium, medium was soft as a whip. It cast very easily, but not real far as I couldn't load it up enough. So, I then tried their medium power, fast action and it did better. So this tells me that not only does power and action vary from brand to brand, but also WITHIN brand, as I've got their "Wacky worm" rod which is also medium power and fast action and it is nothing like this rod.

Most of the time the action has to do with how the rod blank is tapered and the wind profile of the blank.

Fast and extra fast action rods taper from the tip fairly quickly so most of the flex is concentrated in the first foot or so of the rod and the "backbone" of the rod extends up quite a bit. Medium action rods taper slower and take longer to "get fat" and flex further down into the rod. Slow action rods have a very slow taper and very little backbone with a lot of flex.

Helpful diagram:

I don't know if the power and action would change the casting distance that much. I have a carrot stick m/l and a allstar micro m/l. They cast about the same. The trick is finding the reel that suits the rod. If you put a heavy reel on a light rod you lose distance. I have a lews speed spin and a daiwa laguna I swap out between the two. The lews cast way further with minimal effort.

Good info here

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