the last couple years i have been using my trout rods for the little bass fishing i do. however this year i bought a boat and will be doing a lot of bass fishing. so i wanted to get a rod that would do a little better the my two 5'6'' rods right now do. i mainly fish with jigs, cranks, and sometimes minows under a float.

so what do you guys suggest as far as length and anything else i might need to know will be great.

6'6" if you under 6' tall, 7' if your over 6' tall.

ditto what josh said.

slayer

I would say get a 6'6" medum weight, fast action. The Berkley lightning rod is a good rod for the money (about $35) and you can get the classic series IM7 for about $50 (I have three of these rods and they are great sensitive rods for the money)

You want a pretty long rod for bobber fishing. That is if you get much line slack. I use 7 and even 8 ft rods for slip bobbers and would probably go at least 7 for any bobber fishing. Up North here we don't have to many of those pesky LM bass. Quite a few small mouth though.

if you're fishing jigs, cranks, 3/8 oz or more spinnerbaits, buy a good medium power casting rod. I'd say a med. lite or medium for spinning rod though. my workhorse spinning rod is a med-lite. I use a casting rod just about every where else just because of their versatility and their accuracy.

slayer

I agree your probably best with a 6' 6'' or a 7' rod. I prefer the open face or spincaster reels ecspecially if your going to try casting a lot. Your going to want to stay with a medium or medium-lite action rod though.