I am looking into buying a rod that would be used for jig fishing for steelies. I have been told to make sure it is at least 10' 6". Please give any input you have as to what I should look for in this rod and any specific ones you like.

JSTEEL

I'll second the 1263 Allstar or even a 1264. Are you looking for a spinning or casting rod?

rainshadow 1263

Not going argue with the Allstar...The length will help keep your line off the water.

I'd vote for the TH 1263 or the 1143
both great and very popular floar rods.. if you fish bigger rivers I'd go with the 1263

I'd go with the 1263 too.

As far as which one, well you don't need to spend a ton of $ for a good float rod.

If I were to do it again, I'd get an Allstar. Good rod, good price, and not too heavy...

I've been very happy with my 10.5' Lamiglas 8 - 12.

My All Star 1263 is rated 4-10lb, but it has enough backbone to handle big fish. It isn't so limber that it is "noodly" and you can feel everything when you use it for drift fishing.

TH1264 as shown here in my avatar. Actually I use it drift fishing.

Okay here's my avatar.

Remember that the longer the rod, the more "cushion" or shock abosorbance you get when fighting fish. Essentially the same concept described as "noodly" by dogfish.

One more thing to remember:

Sensitivity is always sacrificed with longer rods compared to an equivalent weight/line rating rod of shorter length.

The pros of a longer rod for driftfishing are:

-Able to keep more line off the water by mending

-Longer casting range

The cons of a longer rod for driftfishing are:

-"Spongy" feel and more travel to rod butt (rember that's wher you hold onto it)

-More distance from tip to backbone, meaning that you have to move the rod a lot further during a hookset or when lifiting up and over rocks, trees, etc. before you get to the "ass" of the rod because of moderate/moderate light/ultralight rating. In float fishing, it's visual so you se the float move and you crank down tight and unload. Drift fishing you are going by feel and you'd better have some ass (backbone) to that rod and preferably a fast/moderate fast action so you can add tension, feel the bite, and unload like a U.S. Military convoy on some Iraqui soldiers!

IMHO - Be versatile and if one or the other is working for you, then don't worry about it. In a perfect world we would have rods to meet every condition, but if I had to pick two

-1025 for most driftfishing applications

-1263/1264 for float fishing

Thanks for all the great info. everybody!

Lami 9' 6" cert. pro 6-10#. This is my baby. The best jig rod I've fished......
Cuttie