Favorite rod/reel for throwing the grass minnow

[BadChad1983]

Hi All-

I am pretty new here and to swimbait fishing in general, but thought I'd ask the board what is their favorite set up for throwing the little hudd weedless minnow? Or what should I be looking for in a combo to be able to cast it a ways.

I love fishing the big stuff too but that little minnow has caught me everything from crappies to wipers and my second biggest largemouth. A 3.53 which is big for Iowa. To be honest it's just plain fun to fish and fishing is supposed to be fun sometimes.

He (Matt Peters)had a great blog posting on the minnow. I want an 8 foot rod (or close to), enough parabolic action to be able to whip it out there, and a long enough handle that I can tuck it and sweep set the hook a la Matt Peters. His rod of choice was a Loomis 964 bbr, which as you all know has been discontinued unfortunately.
 

For now I am planning on the curado K unless I'm going to be making an obvious mistake here. I'd like to avoid obvious mistakes if at all possible...

As long as the rod can effectively fish the weedless grass minnow/shad then I'm happy. If I could also throw the hudd gill then that's purely a bonus.

The contenders:

#1 Loomis SWBR 953 (1/2-2, 7'11) This rod has been somewhat hard to find online and have only found two or three comments on various boards from people who have used it but they speak highly of it.
 

#2 Phenix M1 (1/2-3, 8'0) Has a med-fast taper, is a full 8 feet, plenty of handle, is 110 cheaper. Only thing keeping me from hitting order now is a bunch of very mixed reviews on TW and if it broke on a hook set I'd have to pay half the rod price to get it warrantied.

#3 Phenix USB-711ML either classic or non, is listed at 1-2 ounces and fast action. This particular rod I know is made by Phenix but have yet to find one for sale on any major retailers website. Even more elusive for info than the Loomis 953 but it has my attention and then some.

Any Loomis 904 or a Dobyns 794?

Sorry for the long post everyone. I really enjoy the wealth of information I can find here through searching the forum but could not find a posting on this particular topic. Sorry in advance if it's already been discussed.

 

Thanks!

[massbass10]

I can't give any advice on the rod but for a reel the curado 200k is great. It is small for a 200 size and is really easy to palm and controll but has good line capacity. It feels realy well built and is crazy smooth and well worth the 170$.

[waynem]

I believe you may be over-thinking this.  The grass minnow is only about half an oz with a relatively small hook.  There are lots of setups that will throw this just fine with plenty of hook-setting power.  Most 6.5 or 7 foot MH baitcasting setups will work just fine.  A 6.5 or 7 foot MH spinning rod with 10 or 15 pound braid will throw it a mile.  Its when you get to the much bigger baits that the rod/reel selection becomes more critical IMO.

[BadChad1983]

I think you're right, the grass minnow is probably best left to a spinning set up, after thoroughly exhausting the internet searching.

[MattC94]

I've been throwing the Hudd Weedless Grass Minnow on my Omen 7'3" Heavy/Fast with a standard size baitcasting reel mounted on it (TDZ w/ a 6:3 gear swap) spooled up with 50lb PowerPro. The rod is rated 3/8oz-1 1/2oz and throws the Grass Minnow perfectly, I've caught now 2 decently sized fish 1 hit the scale at 3lbs 9oz's while the other if I had to guess was maybe 3lbs and some change. This rod stays in my car since it's my everyday pond hoping stick that has now turned into just throwing the Grass Minnows since a lot of the bodies of water I fish are from the shore and mainly ponds or small bodies of water where I can just beat the banks around the body of the water. I'll typically drag it slowly on the bottom or with a straight slow retrieve and let the fish tell me what they want then I'll adjust accordingly. I've also been throwing a lot of the Weedless Shads on this same exact setup fishing it the same way as the Grass Minnow, I'm not using any leader also on both baits. I have talked with some other Grass Minnow/Shad users and they're using 65lb braid tied to a fluoro leader. I'm a complete newb to the swimbait world but slowly building my confidence in the big bait world with these perfect size snacks for the bass. I also see you make mention of wanting to be able to throw the Hudd Gill and I've also tossed the Hudd Gill on the same Omen I'm using for my Shads and Grass Minnows but if I can avoid using the rod for the Hudd Gill then I will just because it's pushing the limits of the rod rating but in a pinch I've thrown it just fine but I'm very cautious with casting it

[dheath2]

I've caught a lot fish on this bait using a Bentley lightening rod. I think it was. 7' mh using straight braid and an abu Garcia black max. Don't nuke it.

[Primus]

I throw mine on a  7'3" MH Kistler KLX rod , Curado 200 reel and 14 lb Sunline Floro and absolutely no problem with hooksets. I'm of the belief that once hooked it is harder for a bass to throw the weedless Hudd baits verses a jig hook style. I will sometimes throw the Grass Minnow/ Weedless Shads when faced with clear water , clear skies and light winds. These baits also skip well around boat docks & pontoons.