Rods

[MrPhotographer06]

I've been living off of the BPS magazine lately and i was looking at rods the other day.. since i've got a boat pretty much now, i might as well start collecting some decent gear and then have some back ups..



Is there reallly a diffrence in the rods?
Topwater/Jerkin'
Crankin
Spinnerbait
Worm Rod

I just fish a medium or medium heavy 6'6"

i have 3 rigs set up that i take with me now.. worm, spinnerbait and jerkbait/Crankbait

Worm combo- Diawa reel on a Diawa 6'6" Medium - 12lb cajun
Crank/Jerkbait-Quantum 7'0 [actually broke and cut down to about 6'6"]
And a shakespere or shimano.. idr.. reel with 12lb cajun
Spinnerbait-Unknown rod- 6'6" Bew rod tip.. Mitchell reel with 12 lb trilene its actually my dads reel.. but he lets me use it since he fishes like twice a year

then my baitcaster i dont have a rod for currently but i was lookin at a shakespere graphite rod.. anthonys spinnin rod is workin out for him so i'll proballly get one..


so is there really a diffrence in them?

[BigBassin144]

these are what I use:

Topwater/Hard Jerkbait - 6' M(ish) Cabela's Fish Eagle II (was a 7' ML, then I modified it )

Crankin' - Obviously still looking for a crank rod. But 7'-7'6" M-MH a moderate to moderate slow action is good for cranks.

Spinnerbait - 6'6" MH. good for all around spinnerbaitin' for real small ones, I'll throw 'em on a spinning rod/reel.

Worm rod - Right now I use a 6'6" MH or 7' M, but I'd like to get a 7' MH or H and use my other 7' M for something else.

BB

[MrPhotographer06]

yeah.. i mean with the boat i might as well get into fishing a good bit so i'll have to get a collection of rods and reels and then combos..

ones i fish with and ones i can change to if need be..

[aikenyounggun]

yeah the tips and and how strong the backbone is is how they are different.... one of my rods loads up to the butt.... just differences

[coolbreeze]

Not only difference in rods for different applications but also differences in quality/pricing. And you need to consider how many setups you want to deal with. I mean some guys have 10 /15 or more very specific setups. Every ones situation is different depending lakes/conditons your fishing. I decided for my style of fishing I wanted no more than 4 to 5 set ups. I chose a Avid 7' ml/f action spin for finese light plastic applications. Also have a 7' Powell m/xf spin that way I can have one set up for like drop shot and the other like for light t rig/jig or shaky head. For cranks/traps Shimano Crucial Cast 7' m/moderate fast tip. Have a 7' Powell Cast mh/xf for heavier jigs/t rigs/ c rigs /Senkos. Lastly have a 6'6'' Cast m/f Loomis which is all purpose great for traps/jigs/worms/small cranks. Also use the spin outfits for trout. Sometimes Im sharin these outfits ( the spin rods ) with the wife on the boat. LOL. Any more set ups than that I dont think I could sleep at night . Also consider warrantys on the rods. I just broke a Powell thru my own neglect and they said no problem and for $40 bucks their replacing the rod under lifetime warranty. Good luck

[zooker]

when i first started i focused on the baits i wanted to learn. a texas rigged worm a crankbait and a spinnerbait.. thats all i had rigged for several years. i upgraded and moved on. i still have just one t-rigged rod, but evolved to 2 blade rods,5 crankbait rods..i have since added about 12 differant rods which i use..

rods are like tools: any hammer will drive a nail. but it is more efficient to drive a tack with a tack hammer not a 3 pound sledge hammer. ya it will get the job done just not as well..


it is to bad you live way down there in sc or i'd make a trip..and ya never know i just may show up..un-annouced and un-invited-which is normal for me-

zooker

[Bassboss]

Originally Posted by Raul

L, ML, M, MH, H are power ratings

Xfast, Fast, Medium Fast, moderate are action rations.

Power is the ammount of energy you have to apply to bend the rod, the heavier the power rating the more energy you need to bend the rod. A higher power rating the stiffer the rod is, so a H rod is a lot stiffer than a L rod.

Action is where the rod bends along it´s length, the faster the action the closer to the tip it bends so an extra fast action bends very close to the tip while a moderate action bends far away from the tip ( about in the middle third of the rod lenght ).

Jig/worm/d-shot/spinnerbait rod ---> fast or extra fast action
Jerkbait/topwaters ---> fast or medium fast action
Crankbaits ----> medium fast or moderate action

Today you can find rods with a lot of combinations of power and action ratings, for example:

UL/xfast ( the kind of rod you will see by many manufacturers labeled as a dropshot rod ) or H/moderate ( as a heavy cover crankbait rod ).

You got a lot of money to spend in rods you can go bait/technique specific rods, don´t have a lot of money get one action ( Fast ) and with a couple of different power ratings ( M and MH ) you are in business to fish almost everything anywhere.

If you have more reels than rods, definately go with a new rod. I've got a couple BPS rod, but I don't like them that much... I don't care for the Powere Hump Grip, and although they aren't that heavy, they are VERY poorly balanced, making them feel heavy when you're fishing them.

Check out a Shimano Compre, Falcon Low Rider, or Daiwa Light and Tough.

check out this thread of mine. Helped me with rods!