I've debated this with others and I believe it all boils down to personal prefference. What do you think?

In regards to fresh water bass fishing I've tried the shorter sticks and Although it's not popular among freshwater bass anglers I have a strong prefference towards fishing longer sticks. Since there's a very limited amount of bait casting blanks designed for freshwater bass which are over 7ft in length I came to the conclusion that I was just was not satisfied with the selection avaible. This season I wrapped an 8ft steelhead/salmon rod for fishing plastics in freshwater. Although the season is just about to begin I'm really happy with it so far and to me it feels much better than my 7ft worming rods.

The benifits are many for starters I can cast farther giving me the range I need to reach a spot or make that long cast to a breaking fish. It also allows me to fish spots with lighter weights or even weightless that would not have been possible with shorter stick with out adding weight. I've noticed that I have more hook set power, and definitely more control over manuevering a hooked fish around rocks or brush. I have a perfect example of this. The other day I a hooked a fish while fishing a small break in the reeds. The fish made a run for it and I was able to stick my rod over and out past the reeds. I position rod directly over the fish keeping the tip out in front of it I was able to steer the fish over to the clearing for a landing and release. I know if I was fishing one of my shorter sticks that fish would have been long gone. I use this rod mostly from shore where I realize that many of the benifits come in to play. It would not make as big of a difference if I was in a boat but I believe that the benifits are still worth while weather it be from shore or boat. I would like to see longer bait casting rods get some recognition from the manufacturers in terms of availability of models designed for freshwater bass fishing .

Some say longer rods are too heavy. In the rods defense I can say that in saltwater there are many days we will throw jigs all day with 9-10' jig sticks. Many of which are glass rods (heavy) with reels (penn 500 series or Newell 300 series) clamped on that tower over any freshwater bait caster. What about those few who really enjoy a work out while they fish. These are the anglers who use Accu's and Progears on 540's or 100J's. Definitely not my first choices but hey to each his own.

I noticed that I get a lot of looks and head shakes from other bass fisherman since I started using my 8' rod but I have found many are just set in their ways. When I say that many are set in their ways I'm referring to myself. I'm used to fishing the longer sticks (it's the saltwater Angler in me) and I don't feel strained from using a longer rod after a full day of bass fishing. If I did it would time to trade in my fishing license in for a gym membership. Some of these guys need to give the longer rods a try before they knock it. They just might find that they have been missing out all these years. The trout fisherman have really begun utilizing longer sticks in recent years with the growing popularity and realized effectivness of the minijigs.

Oh well just some food for thought. Thanks for reading. I know I write some long ones but I do appreciate your comments on the subject even the negative ones. I do believe critizism can lead to enlightenment.

See you on the water!