goletafishin - If you are buying a rod just for Hudd, I would get the 7'6" H. If you really want a 7'11" rod, get the XH.

There is a big difference in what you want for fishing wood and topwaters vs. rubber swimbaits. Big big difference.

I have talked about this year before so apologies if I am boring some, but with a hardbait like the Lunker Punker that Erik is talking about - when a fish comes up and eats it, the hooks are forced against the hard body of the lure and it does not take much force to get the fish hooked.

If I had a big one eat a top water, I would just reel fast and sweep the rod back to the side, then get strong pressure on the fish. There is no need to swing hard on the fish.

With a hudd or a rubber trout, the trailer hooks are going to move and give in to the body of the lure as the fish hits. The top hook is pretty solid but the fish may clamp on to the lure, catching it's teeth in the plastic. Because of that you need to set the hook with rubber baits. With a ROF12 or 16 hudd, I swing hard and just about straight up to hook the fish. With a ROF5 hudd I swing hard and to the side, to roll the bait and catch the hooks in the corner of the bass' mouth.

Whatever ROF you are using, a stiff rod is needed to begin driving the hook the instant the fish grabs the lure. A soft rod will flex down to a point on the initial strike and the really big ones will simply let go of your lure by the time you get any real pressure on them. If you haven't had it happen, you will have it happen at some point. Then you will remember this conversation.

Also, if you aren't thinking about how you set for each individual lure, you need to start thinking about it. I see people make all kinds of mistakes and wonder why they aren't hooking and landing the bass. There is no 'one hookset fits all' in swimbait fishing, or bass fishing in general. There is also no 'one rod fits all' in swimbait rods. Just like a great crankbait fisherman will have a half dozen actions to match his crankbaits, a great swimbait fisherman will have a half dozen rod actions to match his swimbaits.

How serious you want to get depends on how much money you want to spend. It takes a long time to build an arsenal of good rods, but once you have it - you have the advantage. You're not the guy at the end of the tournament moaning about the monster you lost. I saw it every tournament I fished in the mother lode. Guys with the wrong tackle and probably the wrong approach wondering what the heck happened. There's some luck in fishing, but a lot less than most people realize.