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My current love in light rods is the Bass pro Micro-Lite series. For your needs I would select the spin-fly in the longest which I think is the 8 1/2' It has the large spinning guides you need. Couple it with any quality reel but be sure you have a large spool dia. Tiny micro reels, in my opinion, just don't cut it when casting these super light jigs. Ad a dab of graphite to the drag of any reel.
Your selection of line would work out fine, but I would prefer 4lb .Trilene XL mono. In fact, my next venture in open stump free water will be with Trilene XL #2 lb. test, and is not as insane as it sounds. The long rod makes light line much more forgiving.Your Fireline would allow you to pull off wood if necessary.
One of the popular magazines (In Fisherman???)done an article on a fella that spin fishes with a custom 3 wt. rod blank fitted with spinning guides. He uses 2 lb. Trilene XL on a large spool reel with a good drag, and casts jigs and flies as small as 1/100 oz. He successfully lands big "bull" gills and big crappie.
Well, got to rambling here but please realize that as you venture into this light jig-fly fishing on light tackle, you are going to have a ton of fun. Don't be at all supprised if the fish get a little larger also. :D :D Mike
Illinoisgiller made some good points (I read the same In-Fisherman article.)
The rod should be long and flexible. I had an older version of the BPS microlight rod. It would work well. You could check out Cabelas for similar rods.
For the reel, take a look at the Daiwa SS 1300. It's light and has a big spool. For the line, you should consider Tectan (available from Cabelas.) It's very thin and very strong. They have a 5# line that has 2# diameter (.005")
I just got a Mitchell Avocet s2000, and this thing casts farther than another reel I've tried. I use 6# line and a 7' Berkley Cherry Rod and cast farther than most. 4 ball bearing, smooth Drag and Bail system. Try one out at your local Wal-Mart see what ya think.
64th oz jig & wanting to know casting distance ,,,, 1st thing you really need to worry about is how "smooth" the reel is and weather you are going to be able to "feel " the bite , if not , it isnt gonna matter if the thing can cast 300 yards .... just this rednecks take on casting reels , I very rarey cast for crappies anymore , but when i did the reel I bought was ALL about the feel & how smooth it was more than ANYTHING else
Any Wally Marshall combo and use 2# or 4# P-line. P-Line is one tough line believe me. Jigsatwitchin'..........cd
BleuGhill- I have attempted to help you a little, when in fact we are probably using these tools under very different conditions.
I do the vast majority of my casting from a Fish Cat #4 float tube. This allows me to position myself where long distance reaches are not necessary. I went out this morning and done a bit of realistic testing in the yard. My 8 1/2' Micro-Lite w/ 4 lb Trilene on a Daiwa Kastor 1500 would cast a 1/80 oz. Grizzly Jig Co. "Bills Water Flea" from 30' to 40' .
I was bank fishing this same jig in a southern Iowa lake for bull gills. I found an area they were holding deep on a drop off about 10' from bank .The breeze only allowed me to get out about 20' with the 7 1/2' Micro Light I had at the time. When the jig hit the water ,I would feed line off the spool by hand a little to allow the jig to sink as straight down as I could possibly manage. It worked! The next day, I was on a larger lake and had the float tube which allowed me to use the breeze to my advantage with some casts at 50' It sure worked in those cases. :D
I guess the summery of all this rambling is that there will be limitations. If wading or float tubing is out of the question, My limited experiance will not be of much help here. The article I refered to earlier, was on a fisherman that does lots of wading, so he could deal with the shorter reach.
Wish I could be of more help. Don't give up!!! Mike
Blueghil, Sorry for the late reply, I've been busy fishing.
I don't think there is a magic formula that I am aware of. I do know that any small diameter reel I have tried has hindered casting reach, as well as causing excessive line twist. I use Trilene XL because it works fine for me and is readily available in 1000 yd spools.
To be a little more specific on my rod, I have a lot of different Micro-Lite models.My favorites are the old model dark red 8 1/2 ft.light act. and my newer 7 1/2' 4 pc. pack spin-fly rod . This last one is rated Med-Light, but has a feel more akin to a light. Both throw a light jig reasonably well.
Please understand that I don't use this style of fishing ALL the time.
Yesterday I was fishing for sizeable gills ih brush piles within easy reach of bank with my 11 yr old grandson. I had the longest Micro Lite Float n Fly w/ 8 lb yellow fireline and a 1/164 th oz. jig we tie under a float. He had my 12' B&M. We use this set up because we KNOW we will be hung a lot and can straighten hooks with a strong tug. As usual, we got a nice mess of large gills from this over fished area. lol
You mentioned the reel without instant anti-reverse. On a trip north once, I bought a Daiwa Sweepfire 1500 that Cabellas were dumping for $9.95. :confused: I got a chance to fish it quite a bit. Not the smoothest of course and quarter turn slop in anti reverse, but I caught a lot of gills on that thing and in fact was on the pole I used yesterday. :rolleyes: I love good equipment but still want to push that cheap thing to the limits:rolleyes:
By the way, as you probably know, The full moon is comming up! Don't
miss it !!. I and the wife will be fishing our way across southern Iowa. :D Mike