I do love a good shortie (really enjoy fishing with some of these shorter lure rods)
What is considered short and what is considered long in terms of rods we might turn to for our lure fishing? What is the most popular lure rod length in the UK for bass fishing? It’s something I get asked a fair bit but I don’t have any hard data to back up my gut feeling - which happens to be that 9’ sounds about right for the most popular length of bass lure rod in the UK and Ireland. Now that might well be because there are more 9’ rods available than any other length - again, I don’t actually know - but to me it’s a good all round rod length for the sort of bass fishing so many of us do.
The Savage Gear SGS6 8’3’’ 12-42g lure rod in action
But for me there is something about a really good lure rod that sits somewhere in that 8’-9’ range (around 240cms to 270cms) which I can’t get away from, however much I might turn to a 9’6’’ or 10’ rod in the surf and so on. Give me a lure rod in that 8’-9’ range and if it’s a goodun I tend to be sold. In many respects the one lure rod which kinda brought me back a bit to these shorter rods was that incredible Savage Gear SGS6 8’3’’ 12-42g (review here), a rod I stumbled upon in the catalogue. I do have a bit of a thing for what could be called a bit of an overpowered lure rod in that 8’-9’ range - if it’s a peach to fish with and doesn’t rip your arms off with every cast. Something about a bit of extra grunt and a very responsive rod tip which doesn’t remotely flap around in a decent bit of breeze really does it for me. I have never quite subscribed to what sort of lure rod is best suited to which style of lure fishing, but what I do know is that a good “shortie” sits in my hands so easily, and it makes actually needing to work certain lures - surface, soft plastics, bumping etc. - a doddle.
The Penn Conflict Elite 8’ (2.44m) 6-32g in action
Two more shorter lure rods which I really like but never hear anything about are the Penn Conflict Elite 8’ (2.44m) 6-32g (review here) and the Tailwalk Crimson S88H-F 8’8’’ Max 50g (review here) lure rods (you can chuck way more than 32g on the Penn rod, but I didn’t say that and be it on your head if you do!). Then you go the lighter way and you’ve got that outrageous Favorite Black Swan 852M 8'5'' 6-24g lure rod I reviewed the other day - here - and which is not only ridiculously light, but it’s also ridiculously good. I am really interested to see the new HTO Tempest lure rods, and specifically in today’s category the Tempest Combat 8’2’’ 5-25g and Tempest Bay Area 8’8’’ 6-30g rods. Hell, that lovely HTO Nebula IKA Hunter 2.65m, 2.5-4.5 egi (squid) rod (review here) for £100 is a peach, so I imagine their new Tempest rods could be a bit special.
The APIA Foojin'Z Testamatta 88MH 8'8'' 8-56g lure rod in action
Then you go way up the scale to something like that incredible (and incredibly expensive) APIA Foojin'Z Testamatta 88MH 8'8'' 8-56g lure rod (review here). I have nothing to do with how APIA go about their business or market their gear outside of Japan, but I personally believe they made a mistake with this Testamatta. It’s a truly brilliant rod, but it’s way, way more versatile than the 56g top end rating suggests to an angler, and I wonder if that can put people off (as well as the price of course, but top end stuff costs a lot). Do you ever stop and think what all those words and numbers on a lure fishing rod mean but also imply? I was lucky because I was able to play with the Testamatta before giving in and getting one, but would I have bought one blind when it’s got a 56g top end rating? Quite possibly not, but I am so glad I did because it’s a very special bass fishing rod.
The shorter lure rod which is currently wrecking my head in action
And then you get to a specific lure rod I came across fairly recently but which is what I call a serious problem rod - in that (in my opinion and of course swayed by how I do a lot of my bass fishing) it goes some way towards changing what I thought was possible. This rod (to me) is SO bloody good that I can’t quite believe it, in fact what almost annoys me the most is that for all my trying I can’t trip it up in any way. I need more time with this rod to make sure that it really is as good as I believe it to be, but in the meantime I shall leave you with the rather obvious inkling that yes, Henry here continues to have very serious issues with lure fishing rods!
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