Rod selection on hammers or any small leadhead type swimbait like that has a lot to do with what species of fish you're fishing for. Bass have this horrible habit of jumping and spitting those baits so my theory on the bass is to use a softer tip rod than I normally would. Guys who fish Hammers for dorado will tell you they lose a lot of fish on them too because the dorado jump so much.

So for bass, I use my Rainshadow SW967's which are very parabolic and soft action ...but a custom one is going to run up around $200. The new Okuma Med-Heavy may be a good option once it becomes more available they just aren't quite out yet in volume. I have one on order and will do a review on that rod when it comes in. If you want something right now for bass or jumping fish for cheap, the Heartland like Urban mentioned is totally the right action.

For saltwater and non-jumping fish then you want to use a super stiff rod and just drive the hook in. Captain Larry Heron is one of the best calico bass I've ever fished with and he throws his Hammers on very stiff Shimano rods like the Calcutta 815 and 820 even with ligher line like 12 and 15lb.

One last consideration would be how soft or hard the fish's mouth is. I know a lot of guys like to use the 3" hammers trolling for trout and that's a case where not only do the fish jump but they have really soft mouths so you have to go even lighter on the rod actions.

Anyway, hope that helps some.