Longer is better........?

Hi fishing friends,

I'm happy enough with my current combo for whiting surface action - 2500 reel 7 foot graphite rod 10lb braid (line a bit heavy but it's my one "do everything" rod). Before that I had a 6'6 rod. I couldn't believe how much further the 7 foot rod would cast (they had fairly similar characteristics asides from length)

I'm currently in Japan and I'm thinking about trying to put together the ultimate combo for the flats back home. I'm curious to try a really long rod. The Japanese seem to use longer rods than us in general.

I found an egi (squid jigging) rod that is 8'9 and rated for casting down to 3 gram lures. Do you guys think this could be the ultimate surface lure casting rod for walking the flats? Or is there such thing as too long? Has anyone used a rod this long for flats fishing? The rod itself feels similar in "back bone and tip characteristics" to my other rod, just JUMBO length haha.

Anyway, random interesting thought. We all love buying and trying new gear don't we haha.

Let me know what you guys think!

I know a few people who love their egi rods for casting small, light metals- I reckon it would be a sweet rod for stuff like whiting popping. I envy you being able to go tackle shopping in japan. So cheap. So, so cheap (in comparison anyway!)

It will depend on more than just the length. I had the same thought process with a spin set up for surface frogs for Barra - went from 7' to 9'6" for stuff all change and had a set up that was no where near as nice for the rest of the fishing process - not to mention a pita length for the boat. I think in my case I had reached the point where the limitation was being caused by the aerodynamic properties of the lure and the weight of the braid it was trying to drag with it rather than the rod.

Thanks for your replies guys! Somegood thoughts there. I am a bit worried about the rod being to stiff for Whiting hook ups. I'll have another look and think about it. That's an interesting thought too Scottar, that you'd hit an aerodynamic barrier. Hmmm anyone else to chime in?

And phantomphisher OMG tackleshops are pretty great here haha. It's amazing. SO cheap. TN60's are like 10 bucks and megabass siglets are 12 bucks, oh and braid is crazy cheap here. Lots of weird tackle (mainly in the bait fishing department) that I can't figure out for the life of me. Fishing is BIG here. Pretty much every male human in my area is into Bass fishing haha

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I think the first thing if looking specifically for more distance would be a reduction in line class - makes a huge difference with small lures.

Yea true, I've never used line lighter than 10lb so I'll probably be surprised and satisfied just by the difference that makes.

I think I am just excited about buying a new reel and rod before leaving Japan haha. If I go ahead with this "experimental" purchase I'll be sure to let you guys know how it goes. But maybe I should be sensible and reduce line class as Scottar suggested. Put that money towards other things 😏


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You still "need" a new rod and reel. You can never have too many. Just have a think about the total required outcome remembering that a longer rod will possibly mean a bigger reel to balance the outfit properly and what is required as far as being able to load the blank properly and work the lure. Then put some 4lb braid on it - not 10.

I have a 7ft 6in 1-4kg graphite rod. 1000 reel. 6lb Nanofil is the go, you wont believe how far you can throw a small lure,jighead with that combo. Plus its nice and light so you can cast for hours. You mentioned you want to fish the Pummy passage, nothing in there to really get busted up on so go light to get the bite. My best flathead (92cms) came on the combo above so it can handle just about anything you will hook up to in the passage.

Will you be fishing the northern or southern end of the passage?

Goodluck!!

Funchy is on the money there.
One thing to remember, the longer the rod, the quicker you will tire. It might weigh next to nothing but the leverage factor will tire your arm long before a 7' to 7'6" rod will.
1-4kg rods like the generation black albino are ideal when mated to a 1000 size reel.
Short mono leader about 10lb breaking strain tied tight to the popper will greatly reduce tangles as well.
Flurocarbon sinks too quickly and often starts the popper going subsurface.

I stopped reading at $10 jackalls. You mean, nasty person.

Haha sorry phantomphisher! Yea, I'll be loading up before coming home that's for sure!
Thanks everyone for your input, I can see it being a rod I wouldn't end up using. Might shop around and see if it's worth buying a new 7 foot rod here, do some price comparing. I'll definitely grab a little reel and braid cos they're so much cheaper.
You guys should do a summer Japan holiday. YouTube search "chining" or "top water chinu" and see what you find, awesome fishing! And you can stock up on cheap goodies at the tackle stores too!

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Update on the rod situation, well I found some very interesting rods when last at the tackle shop. These are Daiwa rods made for casting small lures for little rock fish (mebaru) they come in a bunch of sizes with very low casting weights, they are super lightweight and best of all it was only 70 bucks!!!
The one I chose is 7 foot 8 inches so she's pretty long but it has a solid tip. I went this option for the soft lips of Whiting (my main target with this rod). I have used it a couple of times and my verdict?? I LOVE it!!! The solid tip does take a bit of casting distance away but the extra length makes up for it. So it casts as far as my seven foot fast action graphite rod but has a super soft tip... perfect!

I put a Shimano Ultegra and 4lb braid and wow light line makes a big difference!

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I'll put a couple of reports up detailing my new combos recent outings!
Cheers fellas!

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If you are targeting bream and whiting and flathead etc on flats, go down to 4lb braid and you will be casting like a demon. You can land almost anything on the flats on 4lb braid, just change your leader to suit it. Short stiffer leaders for poppers, 8-10 lb for flathead, 4lb for bream etc.