Topwater , Mono , What Rod ?

[CMorg]

I plan on using mono on my topwater rod this year , however I need to know which of my rods to use. I know mono has more stretch. I used a medium action Fenwick Eagle GT last year , but it had flouro , seems like that whippy tip with mono could mean heartbreak in a tournament ?

[MIbasser]

I used a Mojo rod the past two years - 6'6" M, I now have a Quantum PTSuper Lite 6'6" M and I will use my jerkbait rod a Falcoln Cara T7 6' 5" M every now and then. I typically use a 12 lb mono and have not had any issues.

[bamabassman]

for topwater (and i only use mono and braid) i use a heavy action rod. without a fast tip. better hook set ratio and better control of my bait.

[rrw4258]

For a topwater/jerkbait rod I use a 6'10" MH Tour KVD Rod. I am not a fan of shorter rods, and a 6'10" is about as short as I use. The rod is designed for spinnerbaits, but I have found with the softer tip and the backbone of the rod, it works well for jerkbaits and topwaters. I use 12 lb. P-Line Floroclear.

Ryan

[Tavery5]

CMorg, believe it or not, lots of Fluoro has as much or more stretch than mono.

[Bender]

What topwaters are you using? I think it depends if you are throwing something big like a super spook vs. a little popR. I use a 6'M rod with 50# braid for spooks, another 6'3"M with 20/30# braid that is a little stiffer for medium topwaters, and a 7'M spinning rod with 8/10# mono for those really little ones. No problems with any of those setups.

[CamG]

For topwater baits with treble hooks, I've used a light action Falcon with mono for years, with a very good hookup rate. I've also got an older glass Lew's Poppin' Stick that I use on nothing but Iovino's Splash-Its. It has a super whippy action, with very little backbone - perfect for the razor sharp lightweight hooks on a Splash It.

LFC-2-169 LR Topwater Special is the Falcon I use.

[walkeraviator]

I use 12lb mono and a 5'6" pistol grip rod for my topwaters other than buzzbaits, and i love it. I find a buggy whip tip makes up for teh rod length when casting a super spook. It really loads up nice.

[cassidyta]

I use a JM 6'6" rod for my topwater baits. I prefer a short rod when I am working on the top of the water. I can walk the dow better with the 6'6" then a 7'.
I use mono, but not for stretch purposes, like Tav said, some of them stretch more than mono. I like the mono because it floats better than my flouro. For me, this matters with TW baits.

[keithdog]

I use a 6'6" M-F with 12 pound mono for my small to medium size topwaters, and a 6'6" MH-F with 15 pound mono for my large topwaters like a big jointed Jitterbug and the larger Zara Spook. The mono never has caused me any issues and since it floats, it helps with the lures action.

[Old Hooker]

My TW rod is a old BPS Spiral Graphite pistol grip 6' med action. Like Cassidyta, I've found I can walk a Spook Pup or dance a Devil's Horse a lot easier with a shorter rod and a slower ratio reel. Also, mono gets the nod for TW just because it floats. It's the only set up I use mono on. Everything else is copolomer or braid.

[coachpurdy]

I switched to a med. action rod last year for topwater and liked it alot better. Seemed like I missed less fish

[Tavery5]

This is an interesting conversation. So we know we are throwing top water baits on a mono line. Two things come to mind when I think about this, top water baits are usually cast a long distance, and with mono line having the stretch that it does we need to consider how to get a good hookset. The other thing is with top water baits there is usually allot of slack line that needs to be taken up rather quickly to get that good hookset.

I find it easier to fish top-water baits on a shorter rod, by shorter I mean something around the 6'6" length, so I usually don't have a long rod to move allot of slack line. I fish a reel with a higher gear ratio to help with that. As far as rod action and power, I believe that with the length of the rod and the fact we are using mono line, I want something with some backbone like a med heavy power, and I want a rod with just a little more tip than I would normally use for throwing treble type baits, I am thinking a mod fast action, one that is closer to the fast side if possible. I believe the mod fast action would offset the stretch in the mono line.

So after all my rambling, I am saying I would recommend a 6'6" MH Mod Fast rod with a higher gear ratio reel.

[keithdog]

Originally Posted by Tavery5

This is an interesting conversation. So we know we are throwing top water baits on a mono line. Two things come to mind when I think about this, top water baits are usually cast a long distance, and with mono line having the stretch that it does we need to consider how to get a good hookset. The other thing is with top water baits there is usually allot of slack line that needs to be taken up rather quickly to get that good hookset.

I find it easier to fish top-water baits on a shorter rod, by shorter I mean something around the 6'6" length, so I usually don't have a long rod to move allot of slack line. I fish a reel with a higher gear ratio to help with that. As far as rod action and power, I believe that with the length of the rod and the fact we are using mono line, I want something with some backbone like a med heavy power, and I want a rod with just a little more tip than I would normally use for throwing treble type baits, I am thinking a mod fast action, one that is closer to the fast side if possible. I believe the mod fast action would offset the stretch in the mono line.

So after all my rambling, I am saying I would recommend a 6'6" MH Mod Fast rod with a higher gear ratio reel.

I like what you said here for the most part Tavery. But I question the need for a fast ratio. Your right about the reeling in of the excess slack line and I was using a 7.0:1 reel for a lot of my topwater for that reason. But I'm wondering if a 6.3:1 or so would work maybe even better. My only reason for bringing this up is that one thing I've seen with guys working topwaters is that they often try to set the hook too soon. Often a bass will take a couple hits at a bait before he actually connects. For an experienced topwater fisherman a high speed reel would be a good thing. But maybe something a bit slower for someone new to fishing topwaters?

[carolina-rig-01]

For buzzbaits I use braid on a 7' MH rod with a fast action. For spooks and Sammys I use the same rod only the reel on that one is spooled with 17lb mono. For smaller baits like Popr's and Chug Bugs I will use a 7' M rod with a softer tip to help keep from pulling the smaller treble hooks.

[Tavery5]

Originally Posted by keithdog

I like what you said here for the most part Tavery. But I question the need for a fast ratio. Your right about the reeling in of the excess slack line and I was using a 7.0:1 reel for a lot of my topwater for that reason. But I'm wondering if a 6.3:1 or so would work maybe even better. My only reason for bringing this up is that one thing I've seen with guys working topwaters is that they often try to set the hook too soon. Often a bass will take a couple hits at a bait before he actually connects. For an experienced topwater fisherman a high speed reel would be a good thing. But maybe something a bit slower for someone new to fishing topwaters?

I guess my thinking is that with the shorter rod you are not going to take up as much slack line on the hookset, so keeping the slack out of the line with the reel becomes a little more important. I think a 6.3 or 7.1 either would work fine, probably just something you need to be a little more conscious of if you like to use shorter rods.

[keithdog]

Originally Posted by Tavery5

I guess my thinking is that with the shorter rod you are not going to take up as much slack line on the hookset, so keeping the slack out of the line with the reel becomes a little more important. I think a 6.3 or 7.1 either would work fine, probably just something you need to be a little more conscious of if you like to use shorter rods.

Ahhhh, I got ya now. A shorter rod will take up less line on a hookset. I wasn't thinking about that. Good point.

[Rebbasser]

A 6-6 M action for smaller baits like a Pop-R or Heddon Torpedo, a 7' MH action for a big bait like a Spook or a Sammy.