Series Two Spinning & Finesse Rods - The Finesse Rod Frontier
If you know much about my favorite bass techniques, you probably know that I love topwater frog explosions, giant Texas rig hooksets and pulling heavy fish out of thick cover with heavy rods. While I do prefer power fishing, we can’t deny the effectiveness of finesse techniques. Drop shots, wacky rigs, ned rigs and many more; there are many times those techniques flat out
catch fish when you can’t buy a bite on anything else. Combine these finesse techniques with the modern advancements of forward-facing sonar and you have a dynamic that continues to put fish in the boat.
Today, we are looking at several spinning rods that offer many features and benefits, including versatility, quality and effectiveness.
Lawman: 6'10 / Medium Light / Fast
Sheriff: 6'10 / Medium / Fast
Warden: 7'0 / Medium / Fast
Ranger: 7'4 / Medium Light / Fast
We’ll get started with “Lawman”. This is 6’10 medium light rod with a fast action. Originally, the Lawman was designed for freshwater trout fishing on the White River (Bull Shoals, AR). While it is an excellent rod for that, we also found it's use for so many other things. It is great rod for fishing a crappie jig or dropping salmon eggs in the river. This rod also performs extremely well when throwing your inline spinners. It is the do all rod for the angler chasing all species of smaller freshwater fish.
Next, we’ll take a closer look at the “Sheriff”. This is a 6’10 medium with a fast action. The Sheriff is geared for the bass angler who loves to throw everything on a spinning rod. It shines whether you are throwing a whacky worm down a grass edge, throwing a shakey head on a rocky bank, shallow drop shotting, or catching big fish on a bed using a ned rig. The Sheriff can pull big fish
away from cover without sacrificing the ability to be a finesse rod. The Sheriff features a dual hook keep system to secure your hook and your dropshot weight.
Next, we’ll take a closer look at the “Warden”. This is a 7’0 medium with a fast action. The Warden is one of my personal favorites as it is really is the deep water specialist in our spinning rod lineup. It excels for fishing a drop shot in 10+ foot of water and around cover. A very under looked application of this rod is fishing big neko rigs over tops along with fishing a damiki/moping a minnow! Just like the Sheriff, the Warden features a dual hook keep system to secure your hook and your dropshot weight.
I get alot of questions about my spinning set ups, specifically for bass. I keep it light and simple.
- Rod: JB3 Sheriff or JB3 Warden
- Reel: Shimano Stratic FL (1000 size) or Shimano Vanford (2000 size)
- Line: 10-15lb braid to a 10-15lb flourocarbon leader
I use the "set up" mentioned above on 99% of my bass spinning applications. I trust the heck out of it, and it just works for me.
We’ll finish up with a relatively new rod, the “Ranger”. This is a 7’4 medium light with a fast action. This rod has many applications within the realm of spinning rods. It is a great rod for open water drop shotting with smaller weights. The added length allows you to throw small weights longer distances, especially into the wind. This rod is also designed to allow Northern smallmouth anglers to throw a marabou jig, which typically requires a specialty rod. The Ranger also doubles as a great rod to jig fish for crappie and other panfish. It has plenty enough power to pull fish from tops and piles without giving up the tip required to fish a crappie jigs.
