Lightest Weight Bass Combo...... 2025

wademaster1 reply :

What's your opinions on the lightest weight bass rods? I wanna stay around 6'6" and medium action. I fish a Pfleuger President combo now and love it, but its a little heavy considering my shoulder injury. After casting it for a while, it takes its toll on my shoulder. (Shoulder surgery: 2011) I need something sensitive, strong but super light weight. I wanna stay with a spinning outfit, and no I'm not even going to venture to try to learn to cast with my less dominant arm. Thanks in advance.

Brian Needham reply :

a duckett rod and shimano ci4 is going to be hard to beat weight wise

Marty reply :

I know nothing about the weight of rods, but I suspect the reel weighs more. And I wonder how much weight difference there is between a typical rod and a lightweight one.

Are you confident that an ounce or two reduction in rod weight will make a difference with the shoulder? If yes, fine, I hope you will get to enjoy your fishing more. If no, I'd suggest getting your doctor's opinion before plowing money into a rod which may not help your problem.

Good luck. I've had some problems and can empathize with your discomfort.

wademaster1 reply :

Thanks fellas. An ounce or two? I'm not sure how much this will help. But I do know when I throw my light action outfits that it doesn't hurt nearly as bad later on. I'll look into your suggestion also Brian, thanks.

flyfisher reply :

I would bet a well balanced rod and the casting style used will have more of an affect on your shoulder. If you are bombing long casts with swimbaits or cranks it is going to be way more stress than say pitching or short casts with lighter weight baits.

WRB reply :

You pay for less weight. What is your budget limits?

Tom

wademaster1 reply :

Fly fisher, I agree with that. But still, I'd like to lighten the load

WRB, I'd like to stay under a couple hundred bucks if I could.

J Francho reply :

Consider balancing your rods, and also try using a two handed cast, even when you don't need to chuck the bait. I had shoulder issues, and went to a two handed cast. the shoulder issues went away, but the two handed cast didn't. The only casts I make one handed now are pitches.

wademaster1 reply :

J Francho, the two handed cast is already something I use. But, still I'm wanting lighter gear. I'll see what else pops up here, thanks.

J Francho reply :

I'm using several Saint Croix Avids/CI4 combos. They are pretty light, and very nicely balanced.

BenB54 reply :

On 3/14/2013 at 7:03 AM, Brian Needham said:
a duckett rod and shimano ci4 is going to be hard to beat weight wise

x2, this is what I use for both of my spinning setups and they are extremely light.

WRB reply :

Saint Croix list their rod weight, most other rod makers don't. This makes it difficult to obtain accurate rod weight data. From my experience I would estimate a 6'6" medium/ fast light weight bass rod to be 4 oz +/- 1/4 oz. Important factors to consider are; the customer service and warranty the rod maker offers, how the rod balance with the reel and the lure weights. Rod makers that make good quality rods in your price range are; ALX, Dobyn's, Daiwa, Lamiglas, Shinmano, Saint Croix that I am familiar with. Take a look at their sites and then try to pick up and touch and feel these rods with a reel on them.

The reel is going to be importnat and reels weights vary greatly!

Also weigh your current rod so you have a baseline.

Tom

DINK WHISPERER reply :

It's all about balance imo. I have a new Cumara/G3 Revo STX combo that is feather light but is still tip heavy. I have a Dobyns Savvy and G3 Revo SX combo that weighs more but is perfectly balanced. The balanced combo is much more enjoyable to fish with even though it weighs more.

11justin22 reply :

carbonlite, duckett or kistler klx. Make sure it is balanced as others have stated

Fishes in trees reply :

I been there, not necessarily with the shoulder but I've had tennis elbow, that hurt to the point that on several occasions I stopped fishing to ride around and look at stuff on my depth finder rather than fish. I remember thinking that lighter rigs would help, they helped some, but not a whole lot.

What worked for me were taking a couple of Alieve gel tabs while I was driving to the lake. Using 2 handed casts, like J Franco recommended, helped quite a bit. Paying attention to technique helped too. Paying attention to every action of the cast, and not twisting my elbow or wrist too much. Hope it gets better.

kickerfish1 reply :

A few things...

1. The fenwick elite tech rods are right around 3.5 ounces for their 6'9 ML rod. Guessing the medium would be a touch heavier. Phenix recon rods for a bit more $ are pretty light as well. A 3 powered rod would be close to medium action rod in their lineup.

2. A stradic ci4 2500 series reel as noted above is 7 ounces. Another choice would be dropping down to a 1000 series reel which will be around 7.5 ounces +/-.

3. Aaron Martens has noted in a few of his videos that you can hold the spinning setup slightly different to avoid fatigue or so the outfit feels heavy. Try moving your hand further up the forgrip as if you were fishing a dropshot. This should help balance the setup. Just an idea...

TiNuts reply :

Carbonlite microguide. Or even the normal guided version.

SirSnookalot reply :

Lots of options, I use either a light rod with a 6.5 oz reel or ml with a 7.5 oz reel, both setups are very comfortable, balance well, and is effortless, probably the most fun bass fishing I do.

00 mod reply :

I have a Pinnacle 70ML/F with a CI4 2500 that is REALLY LIGHT and PERFECTLY BALANCED!!!!

Jeff

RyneB reply :

duckett, carrot stick wild black, st croix rage. All very very light rods.

clayton86 reply :

My veritas and Revo premier 20 balance well and is very light but I'm running a 6'9" rod. Same rod with the Ci4 2500 also very very light and well balanced.

SirSnookalot reply :

Quote
3. Aaron Martens has noted in a few of his videos that you can hold the spinning setup slightly different to avoid fatigue or so the outfit feels heavy. Try moving your hand further up the forgrip as if you were fishing a dropshot. This should help balance the setup. Just an idea...

So many rods today do not feature a foregrip, I only buy ones that do. I've been fishing with my hand on the foregrip for what seems like decades. Not only do I find it more comfortable but if my rod is tip heavy it seems to balance it out little better. Some of my spinning reels go 18 or 20 oz, letting the rod do the work by loading up, I can cast fairly easily with a minimal amount of fatigue and soreness.

Silas reply :

I think the absolute lightest in spinning you may find is the discontinued Shimano CUMULUS series, known for its lightness and sensitivity.

I just received the casting model this morning and am blown away at how light and sensitive it is.

While looking I also saw a spinning rod on clearance....the Cumulus, that is.

If you are interested, pm me and I'll tell you where to find it and how much it is. It's FAR better than the Cumara! I ordered mine 2 days ago and it came today. Perfect, seamless service.

j2dh reply :

I have a ci4 3000 on The Pinnacle 7 ML F rod and its pretty darn light! Couple guys on here recommended the Pinnacle as i was having a hard time to find a nice balanced setup with the ci4! They were so right!

Diggy reply :

the okuma rtx reel is 6.6 oz up to 30 size, helios 6.8oz

most popular rods are light weight nowadays 3-5oz, take your pick

Capt.Bob reply :

My favorite lightweight rig for Smallmouth and Walleye is a St Croix Legend Elite 6'3"MXF with a Stradic 1000FJ and weights 10.4 oz, I use it for open water Largemouth finesse fishing, but I just put together a 6'10"MXF and a 7'2"MHM St Croix Legend Extreme with a Lew's Team reel's and they weight 10.9 oz & 11.0 oz, these will be for my heavier cover work, both feel weightless. Balance your outfits and even a little heavier setup will feel weightless.

Ima Bass Ninja reply :

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the Exo from quantum. It's whole sellin point is being light weight.

wademaster1 reply :

Thanks fellas for ALL this info!! I'll keep ya posted on what I decide on. I went yesterday evening for a while with the pfleuger and it went ok just trying to minimize shoulder straining by using different casting tactics. Thanks again!

thehooligan reply :

I got a 6'5 cumulus with 1000 sustain. That combo weighs about 9.5 Oz's. Its hard to go back to heavier gear once you use the light stuff...

skeletor6 reply :

On 3/14/2013 at 11:31 AM, kickerfish1 said:

A few things...

1. The fenwick elite tech rods are right around 3.5 ounces for their 6'9 ML rod. Guessing the medium would be a touch heavier. Phenix recon rods for a bit more $ are pretty light as well. A 3 powered rod would be close to medium action rod in their lineup.

2. A stradic ci4 2500 series reel as noted above is 7 ounces. Another choice would be dropping down to a 1000 series reel which will be around 7.5 ounces +/-.

3. Aaron Martens has noted in a few of his videos that you can hold the spinning setup slightly different to avoid fatigue or so the outfit feels heavy. Try moving your hand further up the forgrip as if you were fishing a dropshot. This should help balance the setup. Just an idea...

You do not need a large foregrip to do this either. It is an excellent tip to help balance out tip heavy spinning reels.

As far as the lightest weight combo, that will depend very much on the length. The OP mentioned 6'6'', If there is a 6'6'' cumulus I would bet on that. Reels such as the Shimano 50mg's, MGX extremes, and other sub 6 ounce reels fit the bill. How I see it, if you are under 10 ounces with a rod of medium power or higher you have a substantially light combo.

I don't buy into the balance idea as much as some others when dealing with these super light combos. If its a 15oz combo vs a 13oz combo, perhaps balance matters more than weight, but dealing with sub 10oz combos a little tip heavy is hardly noticeable and those weight savings usually result in increased sensitivity. Something I value more.

MCS reply :

On 3/14/2013 at 12:04 PM, TiNuts said:
Carbonlite microguide. Or even the normal guided version.

X2....BPS sells a Carbonlite paired with a curado for $240-260....I own a spinning rod and it is the lightest I have handled. For spinning I would put a daiwa Procyon or a supreme XT at around 8 Ozs unless you wanted to step up to a 200+ reel for even lighter weight.

jignfule reply :

My NRX 852 & Ci4 is the lightest combo I have

baluga reply :

I used to have a shoulder problem. Rotator cuff issue for a year from repeated casting using a heavy weight and tip heavy setup, now it heals up and never had the problem by using a well balance light weight setup. Repeated lob casting style also tends to aggravates the issue. Side casting is much easier for the shoulder.

Here's my solutions:

My lightest Spinning Combo

Crucial Dropshot 6'8" Med - 2.7 Oz

CI4 2500 - 7.0 Oz

----

9.7 Oz

My lightest baitcaster combo :

Phenix UMBX 6'6" M - 3.4 Oz

Calcutta 50XT - 6.6 Oz (Lightest Aluminum round reel.)

------

10,0 Oz

Phenix UMBX 6'6" H - 3.4 Oz

Core 100 - 6.1 Oz

-----

9.5 Oz

Cumara 6'3" M - 3.5 Oz

ITO 103M - 6.0 Oz

-------

9.5 OZ

mod479 reply :

Abu Veritas VRS66-5 and a Stradic Ci-4.

10.5 oz, 6' 6" Medium action, XF taper. Fishes more like a medium heavy rod.

3694

Lightest Weight Bass Combo...... 2025

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