I agree I have a 10' and 2 12' poles and I do pretty good. I have some real good friends who see my pics and want to come catch fish and say come on. Most of them come with short rods and I will catch 10 to there 1 winch is good because I can fill there limit. Not only with a long pole can I reach future but I can work my jig and present it to the fish in a more realistic way. I don't believe you can work a jig and make it look real with a short pole.