I’ve had this mid 50s Heddon Pal Little John for a few years stashed away in the rod dungeon..

I’ve never seen any of these 6ft Little John rods ,can’t say I’ve even seen it cataloged .
Does anyone else have or had one of these sweet stix? I’d love to see a catalog shot . I searched the catalogs on sticky but I couldn’t find anything..
I scored a pretty sweet Zebco XLr 40 reel at fishing flea market a few weeks ago


I thought it would be perfect for the
Little John #126 6ft light action rod




Fits perfect in the slip rings which have a subtle hood that’s marked by a tiny stamped star to let you know where to mount the reel .
Very cool
Balances perfectly..


Was on the fence about using 6lb test or 4lb
Went with the 4lb test so I can throw lighter lures into tighter spots.

I’ve been using this Trout SOS mono for the last 3 seasons on all my “trout” rods
I’ve been super happy with it ..
It’s made by trout magnet/lelands lures and is super duper strong .
I was always a stren or trilene guy myself .
Lately though I’ve been using SOS on my small rods and Suffix on my larger rods
I tied up one of my all time favorite rigs ..
Small single hook rooster tail rigged on a snap swivel and tipped with a matching trout magnet grub tail

Fished on a steady slow retrieve while twitching ,drives em crazy .
There’s just so much action you can impart with the swivel and the tail added .
Gets strikes on slow days when I’ve thrown the whole tackle box at a stream .
Took the Lil John out on the first day of spring scouting for the smallmouth Bass on my home water behind the neighborhood.
Fell in love on the first cast …

This Chub was getting horny…

I had to readjust my cast to fish such a slow sweet lil rod properly. I put it in the bushes several times overcasting…
Once I got in the groove I just settled in listening to the lil Zebco’s purring cadence and the rush of the stream .

I finally spotted a few spring smallmouth (not sure where they go Dec-March)
I hunkered down behind a tree and put the stealthiest cast I could into a Boulder pocket .
I was rewarded with my first Bass of 2022

This scrappy guy on the Lil John was a hoot .

Glad to get the skunk-dust of this rod.
It’s now in the rotation…

Sweet outfit and I love the tackle box!

It should be an Old Pal to go with the Heddon Pal.

great-looking combo, and always looks best with fish

Can you still get single-hook Rooster Tails??
Those were our go-to spinner in the 70's.

A six foot light spin is just right.