the recent introduction of short, specialty rods..

[dudley]

From B.A.S.S.
Official Rules.... Bass Nation Federation

7. TACKLE AND EQUIPMENT: The use of grippers in landing bass is prohibited. Only artificial lures and biodegradable artificial lures may be used. No "live bait" or "prepared bait" will be permitted during official practice and competition, with the exception of pork strips or rinds. Only ONE casting, spin-casting or spinning rod (8-foot maximum length from butt of handle to rod tip) and reel may be used at any one time. Other rigs as specified above may be in boat ready for use; however, only ONE is permitted in use at any given time. All bass must be caught live and in a conventional sporting manner. Anyone guilty of snatching or snagging visible fish will have his/her catch disqualified. When visually fishing for bedding bass, to be counted as a legal fish all bass must be hooked inside the mouth and must be verified by your partner before being unhooked.

In a quick search of the web I found other smaller clubs who also allowed only casting, spin-casting, and spinning rods. I found no other rules about rod length.
Other non-BASS club rules mentioned neither rod/reel type or length, only the use of artificial lures only

[BobC]

I think I'll take a pass on the < 8 footers. Slightly under 9 works best for me, but 9 will be just fine for the kayak and river fishing.

[CoachBob]

For panfish and largemouth bass (unless I am pretty sure I will find a lunker) I use a TFO 7'6" 3wt. or a Quarro 7'6" 3 wt or a White River 7' 3 wt.

All these rods are softer (slower) than even a 9' in the same weight but they are excellent for all occasions with these fish. They are 3 and 4 piece rods because I travel a lot and I want them packable.
I use exclusively BassPro's White River HC1 reels because they are under $40 and are ultra light and do everything necessary for warm water.

Short rods? Thing about it. You are not going to be casting 60' and you will not have to mend.

The one drawback for big bluegill and medium bass is that the rods lack some backbone for hook setting. These fish require a HARD hook set and I probably miss 10% of the bass that hit a popper due to lack of rod stiffness.

But catching a 6" panfish on one is so much fun I would not trade it for that 10%.

[flyflingerandy]

The Sage rods are not 6, 7and 8s, they are 8, 9.5 and 11. They are overkill for most bass, considering that the tournaments do not allow fly angling anyway. These are niche rods of the worst variety. They are targeted at such a slim market, and calling one bluegill, is a waste. They are overkill for even record size gills.

[SteveGibson]

One of my favorite rods is a 6-foot-9 1-weight TFO Finesse.

[Buddy Sanders]

There certainly is a place for shorter heavy rods.

The Sage rods perform okay for some very specific uses. If you want to fish from a bass boat throwing big deer hair or foam topwater baits over heavy cover, there might not be a better 'production' rod available. They are too short for good subsurface bass fishing, and too heavy for open water of any kind.

I do think the Sage rods are poorly named, though, as was mentioned above. They are way too heavy for 'general' bass fishing, and the fact that they called them 'Smallmouth' at 9 wt. and 'Largemouth' at 11 wt. is just as absurd as marketing an 8 wt. rod and calling it the 'Brook Trout'. You may need an 8 wt. rod for certain conditions to catch brook trout, but it's certainly not the ideal all purpose brook trout weight. It's pretty insulting to those who really do fish for bass in various conditions with a fly rod.

I've built some heavy shorter bass rods on spinning rod blanks for heavy cover, big flies, and short range applications. A 6' 6" 9 wt. I have is an ideal rod (for 'me') for short accurate casts to openings in heavy grass or getting a big deer hair bug to skip back under some overhanging brush. This rod has the 'muscle' to set a large hook and turn a good sized bass quickly. I've also used it in similar conditions while pike fishing.

A short 2 or 3 wt. rod is perfect for small open ponds or rocky banks throwing little poppers or streamers for bass. Bass don't pull all that hard, and you can have a ball with a light little rod in the right circumstances.

Rods are tools. We pick them based on our own criterias, and as long as they perform as each of us desired, there really isn't a 'correct' answer to the equation. Way too subjective.

Good Luck!

Buddy

[raw69]

The rods were made to enter the Bass Tournament market, hence the < 8 feet. But don't forget the special fly line that comes with them. This is as important to their function as the short stiff rod. The line is extremely front loaded and I was taught to make a roll cast to get the line up and forward and then make one, and only one, back cast. Once you get the rhythm it isn't bad and you really can cast a fly the size of a Robin. If you are a LM specialist it is another good tool for tournament work.

It is not a rod I would want to cast all day. It was as hard on me as an 8wt. Also, it was not as much fun to land a fish as it is with a regular fly rod, and that's why I fly fish.

[Gigmaster]

I have a 6-1/2' 5 wt rod. I thought they made them to cast in tighter spots, to keep your backcast lower. Shows how much I know. It's a bit more difficult to cast with, but fun.

[SteveGibson]

I think I'll take a pass on the < 8 footers. Slightly under 9 works best for me, but 9 will be just fine for the kayak and river fishing.

I like the shorter rods for kayak fishing. Guess it's all a matter of opinion.

[dudley]

I like the short rods in the kayak too
Makes it easier to fight and land the fish
I have a 7.5' 7wt that I like. A Berkley Parametric
Now I'm looking to build myself a 9wt of the same size for the salt