Being new to the area I've been told that my 6'6" poles need to be upgraded to 7'for the type of fishing here. Well, I started that process by buying a carbon lite 7' MH that handles up to 1oz lures. I have some prodigys and mag touches that I bought about a year ago and I called Cabelas and they said I could exchange them for 7' because I have the receipts. What are your recommendations for actions for casting and spinning? Would I need a heavy action rod? I have a low gear ratio reel for deep cranking, and I also have one high speed. The others are your normal gear ratios 6.4/3:1.

Don't listen to the hype

Use what ever your comfortable useing

6'6" will be just fine. I like 7' better for the leverage, especially for deep water but you can use 6'6" for just about everything. Heavy action rod would really only be needed for pitching/flipping and heavy cover. Medium/heavy is pretty much an all-around rod.

this^^^

I still use 6'6" rods for things like throwing under docks, square bills, finesse jigs (well, 6'8" but close enough) and a few other things. No need to change everything over until you're ready. Now deep cranking and big jigs I like a lot longer but there is still a place for 6'6" rods.

I've been getting mixed opinions. I like to throw cranks and a falcon rep at bps was saying 7' minimum to be slinging the deep diving cranks. Need the length to cover lots of water to get the cranks down to proper depths. I think I'll keep my 6'6" spinning rods. I'll look into a MH that goes to 5/8 oz lures, and look at a medium action for my smaller 1/4 oz cranks. This will give me 3 7', and 3 6'6".

can't remember what show but they had a segment at the end with kvd of course, and it was all about equipment. they did a series where he talked about what setup he would have if he only 1, 2, 3, so on. anyways if he only had one he said it would be a 6'10" med heavy with a 6.3-1 ratio reel, most versatile setup and can do just about anything with it, second would be an over 7' heavy action with burner type reel 7-1 ratio or higher. this one for flippin and deep stucture with c-rig and football jigs(deep crank with the first one). third would be a spinning setup with 7' med or med light action rod for finesse stuff, shakey head, drop shot, weightless plastics, and such. when i watched this i had one rod, i have followed this as i grew my arsenal. now i have these three plus one more of the first ones that is super versatile only with a 5.1-1 ratio reel and i can cover any type of fishing i want to. in my opinion the 7' on the flippin rod is for leverage, on the spinning gear it's for forgiveness on the lighter hooksets on lighter gear. this has worked out good for me, hope it helps.

Optimum for deep cranking would be longer yes, but you don't have to change over everything you have right now. My three most used combo's out of probably 18-20 would be a 6'6" Lowrider with a Revo S that I throw square bills on, a 7'0" Lowrider with a winch that I throw deep divers on, and a 7'3" Cara with a premier 7:1 that I throw jigs on.

If I could only have 3 rigs, they would be it but I'd change the Winch to either an SX or Premier 7:1 on the 7' Lowrider so I could use it for lighter jigs and worms, I can slow down a deep diver easier than I can speed up a jig. That said, I have 5 rigs that are 6'8" or less and they catch plenty of fish so even though longer is better on some applications, it's not mandatory and you can still catch plenty with shorter rods as you change over.

Don't be scared to use the 6'6" rod they are plenty adequate.

I use everything from a 5'6" pistol grip to a 7'10". different rod for different applications.

I caught 14 yesterday on a 6'6". Use what you are comfortable with.

I like a 6-6 if I am pin pointing my cast, (docks, cover, etc.) If I am wanting distance or fishing depth, give me a 7'-0 or LONGER.

Thanks for all the advice!

I decided to keep what I have and see how I like the 7'.