Thread: 14 footers vs 16

I went from 14's to 16's. I'm not going back. One mention above was fishing shallow water. It's tougher to land a fish when you are fishing 3-5 foot deep with the 16's but the benefits outweigh the rest. Good Luck whichever way you choose.

Originally Posted by arkcrappie

I went from 14's to 16's. I'm not going back. One mention above was fishing shallow water. It's tougher to land a fish when you are fishing 3-5 foot deep with the 16's but the benefits outweigh the rest. Good Luck whichever way you choose.

Not so much a problem if you have baitcast reels with thumbars. And it's always good to have a long handled net handy, too, for those fish you don't really want to try and swing into the boat.
I've even seen people use spinning reels, and have the drag set loose enough to hand strip line off the reel in order to land a fish.

Originally Posted by CrappiePappy

Not so much a problem if you have baitcast reels with thumbars. And it's always good to have a long handled net handy, too, for those fish you don't really want to try and swing into the boat.
I've even seen people use spinning reels, and have the drag set loose enough to hand strip line off the reel in order to land a fish.

Thumbbars won't solve the issue with hard hitting fish in shallow water. I've used both type reels and keep my drag set appropriately whichever style reel I fish. Very shallow fish are tough to deal with on longer poles. I agree that if you can just swing them in the boat it's not so much an issue.

Originally Posted by arkcrappie

Thumbbars won't solve the issue with hard hitting fish in shallow water. I've used both type reels and keep my drag set appropriately whichever style reel I fish. Very shallow fish are tough to deal with on longer poles. I agree that if you can just swing them in the boat it's not so much an issue.

I'm just thinking that the thumbar would allow you to let line out as you bring the fish in, either to hand or net .... works for me.

I don't "personally" know about real shallow water, as I generally don't fish less than 8ft deep (unless I'm casting) ... I'm just going on what a member friend of mine does : 16ft rods - 1oz weights - 1+mph - <5fow = fish for him. And he rarely bothers with a net (unless pushing cranks and gets a big fish or "off brand" fish).

I guess I'm just not getting the gist of why a hard hitting fish would be any different, seeing as how they're more likely to get hooked good, it seems like you'd just have to lift the rod - push the thumbar button - let the fish down to within reach of hand or net.

I have fished with Friends that use 14 or 16 foot Rods ... after seeing 16 foot poles in action you could not give me one. The 14s are alright, I use 10 and mostly 12 foot Rods. The 10 foot rod is broke out in Trees and fishing under Bridges -- the main part of my fishing is with the 12' Last month I added a 6 1/2 Dock shooter that has not been used yet

Originally Posted by CrappiePappy

I'm just thinking that the thumbar would allow you to let line out as you bring the fish in, either to hand or net .... works for me.

I don't "personally" know about real shallow water, as I generally don't fish less than 8ft deep (unless I'm casting) ... I'm just going on what a member friend of mine does : 16ft rods - 1oz weights - 1+mph - <5fow = fish for him. And he rarely bothers with a net (unless pushing cranks and gets a big fish or "off brand" fish).

I guess I'm just not getting the gist of why a hard hitting fish would be any different, seeing as how they're more likely to get hooked good, it seems like you'd just have to lift the rod - push the thumbar button - let the fish down to within reach of hand or net.

CP, it's probably just me. I'm just not as fast as I used to be.