Short Frog Rod (for the kayak)

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Houndfish
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Re: Short Frog Rod (for the kayak)

Post by Houndfish » Fri Nov 26, 2021 6:55 am

I was looking for a short frog rod a year or two ago and found a lot of options. The first place I looked were snakehead rods from SE Asia. There are a lot of short, powerful rods in the snakehead world and I ordered a cheap one from aliex. It was more or less what I was looking for, but it had a very slow taper and wasn't really giving me 100% confidence in hooksets. It also had a fairly long rear grip, which seems like a started feature on shorter "big game" rods. I next looked at some of the Bone World rods, but they all seemed too powerful/still for what I wanted to do and again the long rear grip issue. I discovered the Legit Design rods and was looking hard at their rods but couldn't find any real info or videos about them.

At long last I settled on a rod from the new Daiwa Black Label line, the LG 631 MHFB-FR:
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Capture.JPG (11.92 KiB) Viewed 2824 times

It's exactly what I was looking for. It fishes like a sawed off 844c in all the best ways. It's light, balanced and feels like there is no way it can be as powerful as the rating indicates, but I have been using it for two seasons now and am 100% in love with it to the point where I am looking to buy a second one for yak use. For frogging it's amazing, the short length allows super accurate casts and it makes walking/popping very easy. It's got a lot of power, but this is not a rod for bombing casts out into 60y of standing spatterdock, it's a rod for working cover lines. open pools, and light floating pads. I do a lot of hike-in bushwhack fishing and the rod is a dream for that as well. In addition to frogs, it's exelrty for singlehook moving baits and the tip is light enough to load a Zoom Super or PopMax, so it really is a do-all rod for a lot of the marsh fishing I do. Cannot recommend it enough. The prices do seem to be all over the place for the BLX line as a whole, so do some looking around if you are interested in one.

freelancer27
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Re: Short Frog Rod (for the kayak)

Post by freelancer27 » Fri Nov 26, 2021 11:16 am

Houndfish wrote:
Fri Nov 26, 2021 6:55 am
I was looking for a short frog rod a year or two ago and found a lot of options. The first place I looked were snakehead rods from SE Asia. There are a lot of short, powerful rods in the snakehead world and I ordered a cheap one from aliex. It was more or less what I was looking for, but it had a very slow taper and wasn't really giving me 100% confidence in hooksets. It also had a fairly long rear grip, which seems like a started feature on shorter "big game" rods. I next looked at some of the Bone World rods, but they all seemed too powerful/still for what I wanted to do and again the long rear grip issue. I discovered the Legit Design rods and was looking hard at their rods but couldn't find any real info or videos about them.

At long last I settled on a rod from the new Daiwa Black Label line, the LG 631 MHFB-FR:
123.JPG
Capture.JPG


It's exactly what I was looking for. It fishes like a sawed off 844c in all the best ways. It's light, balanced and feels like there is no way it can be as powerful as the rating indicates, but I have been using it for two seasons now and am 100% in love with it to the point where I am looking to buy a second one for yak use. For frogging it's amazing, the short length allows super accurate casts and it makes walking/popping very easy. It's got a lot of power, but this is not a rod for bombing casts out into 60y of standing spatterdock, it's a rod for working cover lines. open pools, and light floating pads. I do a lot of hike-in bushwhack fishing and the rod is a dream for that as well. In addition to frogs, it's exelrty for singlehook moving baits and the tip is light enough to load a Zoom Super or PopMax, so it really is a do-all rod for a lot of the marsh fishing I do. Cannot recommend it enough. The prices do seem to be all over the place for the BLX line as a whole, so do some looking around if you are interested in one.
THanks for sharing your story and thought process! The Blacklabel sounds interesting, though the fact that you can fish a Megabass PopMax with it, makes me wonder if it has enough power for what I am looking for. Actually reminds me a bit of my NRX 804c! :)

I think I will jut order the following three rods from TW and see if I like any of them:

* WILD SIDE Casting Rod 6'4" Extra Hvy Bait Spec Finesse
* Buddy Gross Casting Rod Series 6'10" X Heavy Grass
* Daiwa Fuego Casting Rod 6'9" Heavy

Houndfish
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Re: Short Frog Rod (for the kayak)

Post by Houndfish » Fri Nov 26, 2021 12:13 pm

http://tackletour.net/viewtopic.php?t=83019

I found an old Fredo posted during my frog rod hunt. I’d forgotten about the rod I was initially asking about, the Feed Jungle Bash.

As to it’s power, the BLX shorty is fairly close to a 4p MBR, a “Heavy” rod but not a “heavy cover rod”.

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Re: Short Frog Rod (for the kayak)

Post by freelancer27 » Thu Dec 09, 2021 10:16 pm

Update,

I got the three rods from TW, aaaaaand... i did not keep any of them.

The Buddy Gross was just too much of a broom stick with little to no tip to throw frogs. It felt more like a pitching stick. It was also rather tip heavy.

The Wild Side I reall tried hard to keep. The craftsmanship on the rod is really nice and a 6'4 rod would be a dream. Unfortunately the rod was just overall too heavy in weight (i think it was almost 6oz) and the tip was way to moderate for my liking.

This left the Fuego. It was close. I liked the the rod. Fast tip, good backbone and it actually looked pretty decent as well. I just could not get by the reel seat (lock knut was super uncomfortable for my way of fishing frogs) and i was also a bit concerned about the longevity of the rod. I dont know, but i could see through the blank almost, which reminded me a bit of a glass rod.

Anyways. I sent them all back and then ordered a Dobyns Champions XP 6'8heavy for 155usd shipped. This rod might be a bit too light in power to get bigger fish out of cover, but i like the fast action and the balance of the rod. It should do for light frogs in sparse cover and also should do well as a buzzbait rod. We will see...

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LowRange
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Re: Short Frog Rod (for the kayak)

Post by LowRange » Fri Dec 10, 2021 7:45 am

I'm going to have to get that Fuego stick for my Fuego CT and kayak use. Going to frog and work docks with it and paired to the Ray's Long Cast and Elite spools for the Fuego CT it should work well as a pitching, skipping and frogging rig.

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Re: Short Frog Rod (for the kayak)

Post by jmb27 » Fri Dec 10, 2021 10:08 am

MB P5 Super Destroyer.

Loved it with horny toads, Deps Slither K, etc. this past spring and summer.

Length works well when I am in the kayak at 6'9"

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Re: Short Frog Rod (for the kayak)

Post by hoohoorjoo » Fri Dec 10, 2021 5:02 pm

LowRange wrote:
Fri Dec 10, 2021 7:45 am
I'm going to have to get that Fuego stick for my Fuego CT and kayak use. Going to frog and work docks with it and paired to the Ray's Long Cast and Elite spools for the Fuego CT it should work well as a pitching, skipping and frogging rig.
No micros, either, so it's good for leader knots, if you so choose.
Try not to let your mind wander. It is much too small to be outside unsupervised.

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Re: Short Frog Rod (for the kayak)

Post by Westcoast » Fri Dec 24, 2021 11:46 am

I have a nfc X-ray sj685 on the way to build up as my short kayak frog rod. The sj blanks have a nice quick taper and a great tip for casting accurately and walking. I may cut it down a couple inches more as I’m not the tallest but I’ll see how it feels when it arrives. I definitely have liked most of the X-ray blanks I’ve built so far.

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Re: Short Frog Rod (for the kayak)

Post by ra2bach » Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:33 am

hoohoorjoo wrote:
Thu Nov 25, 2021 6:24 am
freelancer27 wrote:
Wed Nov 24, 2021 10:28 pm
Thanks for the info.
Without sounding too spoiled, but honestly it has been a while since i considered a $80 rod ;-)
I know practicality is essentially a lost art here on TT, but I've become exactly that in the last couple years. I've found that I dont need to spend $300+ on a moving bait rod. That leaves more $$$ for other things like reels and baits. :D If sensitivity isnt paramount for a technique, it usually doesn't enter my thought process when I consider a new rod. Aside from that, you'd feel a lot less anguish from breaking an $80 than a $500+ Megabass X7. That's a real possibility on a kayak.
I flipped my kayak (long story don't ask) with an expride 6'10M in the behind the seat rod holder and snapped it off right below the reel seat. I also lost a braillist with Met reel on the bottom of the lake. I only take my cheap stuff on the kayak now...

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Re: Short Frog Rod (for the kayak)

Post by goldrod » Sat Jan 15, 2022 3:40 pm

Is there a tether or bungee available for you kayak guys?

Seems like an open market. I am not taking shoots or rod shaming anyone. I've given to the deep too but I think with you guys at least a tether of some sort would help even when you flip you kayak maybe ??
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Re: Short Frog Rod (for the kayak)

Post by MeatHead » Sat Jan 15, 2022 4:40 pm

goldrod wrote:
Sat Jan 15, 2022 3:40 pm
Is there a tether or bungee available for you kayak guys?

Seems like an open market. I am not taking shoots or rod shaming anyone. I've given to the deep too but I think with you guys at least a tether of some sort would help even when you flip you kayak maybe ??
There's a bunch of different tethers available for rods, paddles etc for kayaks. I've got some attached to the rod holders on my crate, but have a bad habit of not using them.

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Re: Short Frog Rod (for the kayak)

Post by LowRange » Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:43 am

goldrod wrote:
Sat Jan 15, 2022 3:40 pm
Is there a tether or bungee available for you kayak guys?

Seems like an open market. I am not taking shoots or rod shaming anyone. I've given to the deep too but I think with you guys at least a tether of some sort would help even when you flip you kayak maybe ??
They exist but look like a huge pain in the rear and they only work if you can get the yack back. Mine took off like a missile once when I got blown off in a storm. I did eventually recover it though. Also all my reels that get kayak use get some rub marks on them. For the hard wearing reels it just some dull spots in the clear coat. For the thin paint reels they can get annihilated. I also lay my reels out in front of me rather than use rod holders or crates. I dont like the way they obstruct my swing but placing them out in front does get them soaked and they jumble around a bit and get rough with each other and sometimes trade paint. For these reasons I like workhorse reels and save my nice stuff for the boat.

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Re: Short Frog Rod (for the kayak)

Post by Firstoutfisher » Wed Feb 16, 2022 6:41 pm

Old thread but just found a rod that would be a good short frog kayak rod if you can find it

Daiwa Blazon 2021
C67MH-FR
C67MH-2/ FR

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