Light or medium-light spinning
A light or medium-light spinning rod is capable of propelling lures from 2 to 10 grams or from 5 to 14 grams. This rod is used in many different conditions to cast lures that are either very light or weightless. Small poppers, wacky worms or drop-shots are all easy techniques to use when spinning.
In summer, we use this rod for sight-fishing, which involves dropping a lure close to a fish we've spotted beforehand. When temperatures drop as winter approaches, we mount our soft lures on a drop-shot rig that allows us to follow the bottom topology efficiently and trigger listless fish.
Medium-heavy casting
The MH or medium heavy casting rod is the all-rounder for black-bass fishing. It can be used in the heat of summer as well as on cold winter days. The versatility of its power range allows us to use weightless lures of a good size, to fish close to the bottom with a rubber jig, to comb the ground with a chatterbait or a crankbait.
This power range can be used everywhere. However, not all rods have the same action and you'll have to make a compromise, as a rod designed for jerkbaits doesn't have the same action as one designed for crankbaits. It can quickly become uncomfortable chatterbait fishing with a fast-action rod, but the aim is not to take a rod for every lure to the water's edge.
Heavy or extra heavy casting
H and XH are the letters that indicate you're entering a category of rod that doesn't make fish laugh when hooked. There are various applications for these rod powers (14-42 grams in general), but they are mainly used for strong fishing in crowded areas. Extracting a 2 to 3 kg fish from a submerged tree can be very complicated without a sufficiently powerful rod.
This type of rod is often associated with punching, rubber jigging or even swimbaiting techniques. Such techniques require power, even if it means greatly reducing the sensations when fighting a nice fish. The H or XH rod, although little used by black-bass anglers, can simply be a classic pike rod with a good reserve of power.
