All purpose spinning rod

Seems like this topic has been posted a few times, but I thought I would re-visit it since my buddy busted one of my rods this fall transferring gear from the truck to the boat at the landing.

I’m looking for an “all purpose” rod for walleye fishing on the river. Pitching bombers, and other cranks, as well as pitching jigs (down to 1/8 oz). When I see a spot that looks worthy of a trolling run, I’d just like to be able to flip that crankbait over the side and let out enough line to troll with it. I’m not a gear fanatic and I don’t have room in my boat for a different rod for every application. Looking for a river “workhorse” for under $150.

thanks

Jason

6’8″ MXF

For me – Avid 6’6” Med-Light, Fast Action.
This is assuming you plan to run hardline.

For the purposes posted above… under $150

St. Croix Rage RS610MXF, Eyecon 68MXF
or TFO (Gary Loomis) TFGFWS703-1

66 or 70 MXF for me.

For me, i have one legend, but i’ve got a dozen Fenwick Ventures as backups and i often don’t notice the difference until i want to finesse a presentation.

For ME, I’d rather have a whole mess of rods already rigged with the options i want to try on a spot. To do that I can’t afford 30ish Legends…

Now, when we get real around here, I remember when FIBERGLASS was SOOOO much better than STEEL rods…

So, put things in perspective a bit. I remember a ‘conversation’ with my father when i said i only wanted to jig with fiberglass and he proceeded to outjig me with steel…

Remember, lead line’s been around a LONG time…

I like the limit creek smoothie’s for the river and lakes, but a very strong back bone sensitive rod and works great for all species and techniques.

Jason –

I have fished with the Eyecon 68MXF for a season and it is a solid rod for all that you mentioned. The price point is right too. I thought MAYBE the split grip would be an issue, but not at all. It actually aids in hucking small cranks and jigs. Good luck on your choice! Always fun to buy new equipment.

I’d highly recommend a St. Croix AS69MLXF. You’ll want to put braid/superline on it, and if you don’t mind throwing jigs with braid instead of mono you’ll have the perfect all around river rod. I have two of them. In the winter, I throw blades and fish vertically with them. I like mono for pitching jigs, but this is as good a braid rod as you can get for that job. In the summer, the rod is perfect for cranks up to the Bomber 6A size and it even does a good job with live bait rigs. Honestly, I can’t say enough good things about it. I’d recommend a 1000 to 1500 size reel with an 8 to 10 pound superline. I like fire line, thought I know a lot of people don’t. I just spooled up some 8# nanofil, and it seems like it will be even better. Power pro works great, too, but I get a lot of wind knots with it and don’t like the amount of water it picks up, especially when it’s cold.

Oh yeah, and when your buddy breaks your Avid next year it will only cost you $20 to get a replacement. St. Croix’s lifetime warranty on the Avids is pretty awesome.

Just got my new 69 MLXF. Can’t wait to try it out!