What is the best all-around casting rod for bass fishing?

Some of my St. Croix rods

In my opinion, the best all-around casting rod for bass is the St. Croix Avid Series seven foot medium fast action rod. I fish spinnerbaits, topwater, jerkbaits, swim baits and crankbaits on that one series and action rod. The Avid Series is reasonably priced for a quality product. If I could have only one rod, that would be it.

I like a little heavier rod for shaky heads and small jigs, so I use the same rod, but in medium /heavy fast action. My hook-up rate with baits that require a strong hook set is better with this rod than with the medium action rod.

The seven foot rod gives plenty of length for long casts and for fighting fish. It is light weight enough to fish all day without tiring me too much.

If all my rods were destroyed in a fire or some other catastrophe, I would start out with two medium heavy rods and three medium rods. I could rig a shaky head and a jig on the heavy rods and a spinnerbait, crankbait and topwater on the medium rods to cover almost all situations i am likely to face on Georgia and Alabama lakes.

St Croix offers a good warranty, with repair or replacement of any rod with a defect. Even if you damage and break your rod, they will replace it for a low price. I have never had a problem with defective rods but I have broken them. It is easy to hit the side of the boat when working a topwater or jerkbait, and they can crack them. The damage may not show up until later when you load the rod up landing a fish but that is the most likely way to break one other than something stupid that shows up immediately like slamming the rod in a car door. Even that is covered.

A St. Croix rod will last you a life time with no problems.