7'0" medium, moderate action casting or 5'6" extra-heavy, moderate action stand-up
The 7'0" medium, moderate action casting casts 3/8-7/8 oz and the 5'6" extra-heavy, moderate action stand-up casts 32-200 oz, and the two windows do not touch. That makes them a pair to own, not a pair to choose between. Whichever one you buy, the other is still the answer to something this one cannot throw.
- 7'0" medium, moderate action casting
- casts 3/8-7/8 oz · 10-17 lb line · 7'0"
- 5'6" extra-heavy, moderate action stand-up
- casts 32-200 oz · 80-200 lb line · 5'6"
Where the Two Part Company
| Differs on | 7'0" medium, moderate action casting | 5'6" extra-heavy, moderate action stand-up |
|---|---|---|
| Reel Arrangement | casting | stand-up |
| Power | medium | extra-heavy |
| Casting Window | 3/8-7/8 oz | 32-200 oz |
| Line Rating | 10-17 lb | 80-200 lb |
| Methods | crankbait fishing | deep drop |
| Fish Reached | largemouth bass | swordfish |
| Length | 7'0" | 5'6" |
Reel Arrangement
7'0" medium, moderate action casting: casting · 5'6" extra-heavy, moderate action stand-up: stand-up
The reel sits on top, where the line comes off a spool that has to be controlled by thumb. It costs practice. What it buys is accuracy, and the ability to lean on a fish in cover without the line coming off a fixed spool at an angle. Short, because the weight has to stay in front of the angler and close to a fighting belt. Every inch past the reel is leverage working against whoever is holding it. Nothing further down this page matters until that is settled. It decides who can fish the rod well, not what the rod can do.
Power
7'0" medium, moderate action casting: medium · 5'6" extra-heavy, moderate action stand-up: extra-heavy
3 steps apart on the power scale. Power is how much fish and how much cover the lower half of the rod will move. The medium rod gives line to a fish; the extra-heavy rod lifts it. Neither reading makes the other wrong. It makes them different purchases.
Casting Window
7'0" medium, moderate action casting: 3/8-7/8 oz · 5'6" extra-heavy, moderate action stand-up: 32-200 oz
The two windows do not touch. Between them they cover 3/8-200 oz, and no bait bends both rods. This is a pair to own, not a pair to choose between.
Line Rating
7'0" medium, moderate action casting: 10-17 lb · 5'6" extra-heavy, moderate action stand-up: 80-200 lb
A casting window decides the bait; the line rating decides the fish. The 5'6" extra-heavy, moderate action stand-up is rated to 200 lb against the other's 17 lb. That gap is the difference between reaching a fish and being under-rated for it, however well the rod is fished.
Methods
7'0" medium, moderate action casting: crankbait fishing · 5'6" extra-heavy, moderate action stand-up: deep drop
They share no method at all. Only the 7'0" medium, moderate action casting is rated for crankbait fishing. Only the 5'6" extra-heavy, moderate action stand-up is rated for deep drop. A method each rod is rated for is a method it was designed around, so an exclusive one is the strongest single reason to pick that rod.
Fish Reached
7'0" medium, moderate action casting: largemouth bass · 5'6" extra-heavy, moderate action stand-up: swordfish
The 7'0" medium, moderate action casting reaches largemouth bass and the other does not. The 5'6" extra-heavy, moderate action stand-up reaches swordfish and the other does not. Reach here means the fish is caught with a method the profile is rated for. It is not a promise that the line rating is enough for it, which the rating above answers.
Length
7'0" medium, moderate action casting: 7'0" · 5'6" extra-heavy, moderate action stand-up: 5'6"
1'6" of difference, which changes the cast and not just the feel. The 7'0" medium, moderate action casting throws further and keeps more line off the water. It is also the harder of the two to fish accurately under anything overhanging.
6 Baits Only One of Them Throws
Each list is the reverse match run over every fish that profile reaches, keeping the baits it throws cleanly and the other does not. A bait missing from both lists is one they both throw, or one neither does.
Only the 7'0" medium, moderate action casting
The rod bends well down its length and keeps small trebles — three hook points sharing one shaft — pinned through a head shake on your moderate-action rod.
The rod bends well down its length and keeps small trebles pinned through a head shake on your moderate-action rod.
The rod bends well down its length and keeps small trebles pinned through a head shake on your moderate-action rod.
The rod bends well down its length and keeps small trebles pinned through a head shake on your moderate-action rod.
The rod bends well down its length and keeps small trebles pinned through a head shake on your moderate-action rod.
Only the 5'6" extra-heavy, moderate action stand-up
The moderate bend gives a circle hook — a point curved back to catch the jaw's corner as line tightens — the steady pull it sets against on your moderate-action rod.
What the Two Have in Common
The two agree on one thing: action (moderate on both). Said in a sentence, not tabulated. A column of matching values takes the same room as a difference, and it hides the part worth reading.
Which of the Two to Buy
Buying one: pick by the weight you actually fish. The 7'0" medium, moderate action casting covers 3/8-7/8 oz and the 5'6" extra-heavy, moderate action stand-up covers 32-200 oz, and nothing bends both. The question is which range your box is full of, not which rod is better.
Buying a second: this is the pair that justifies it. Two rods whose windows do not touch cover 3/8-200 oz between them, which no single rod on this site does.
Every value on this page comes from the two profile pages and the same matching engine they read, so nothing here can disagree with them. What those pages carry and this one does not is the reasoning behind each verdict. This page is the adjacency, not the argument.