Rod Rundown: How To Choose The Best Fishing Rod

When you hear the word “technology”, your mind probably thinks of something complex like cell phones, satellites, or the internet. Unless you are a die-hard angler like us, your first thought probably didn’t land on fishing rods. While a fishing rod might not be as technologically complex as something like a space shuttle, modern advancements have given us the gift of diversity within our rod selection. So, how do you know if you have the right fishing rod for the situation?

When selecting a fishing rod, you want to consider its length, action, weight, materials, and overall design. The same holds true for ice fishing rods. Selecting a rod with the right characteristics is very important because it will help you land more fish while avoiding any broken equipment.

Let’s take a deeper dive into choosing the best rod for your particular situation. We will take a look at what makes a rod worth spending your hard-earned cash on, as well as which rods work best for popular target fish species.

Rod Weight

When in the market for a new fishing rod, you should first consider its weight. Also known as power, this is a term used to describe how stiff or strong a fishing rod is. The most common rod weights out there are:

• Ultra-light
• Light
• Medium-light
• Medium
• Medium-heavy
• Heavy
• Ultra-heavy

Different manufacturers may use slightly different terminology, but they will sound similar to the ones listed above. Rods continue to get heavier, but these are reserved mostly for saltwater fishing. Generally, the weight of the rod should correspond to the size of the fish you are trying to catch. Lighter rods are made for smaller species and heavier ones for larger and more aggressive fish that have a better chance of snapping a rod. 

Some experienced anglers like to use a lighter weighted rod than the situation calls for because it adds more of a challenge to the experience, but doing this opens the door for broken blanks and harming the fish. Unless you are a seasoned veteran, it’s probably best not to try and pick a fight outside of your rod’s weight class.

This also applies to using a rod with an overly heavy weight rating. You probably won’t be in danger of damaging the rod itself, but you will lose almost all the sensitivity needed to feel smaller fish.

Line And Lure Weight

Line and lure weight are very important when picking out the perfect reel, but they also correspond to rod weight as well. Every rod weight has a corresponding recommending line or lure weight that is usually printed on the blank toward the grip.

If you are new to the world of fishing, you may think that it would be a good idea always to use the heaviest line possible, but this isn’t a good practice. Using an excessively heavy line on a light rod will increase the risk of breaking your rod. It’s always a bummer when your line snaps and the big one gets away, but that is a better outcome than breaking your rod altogether. 

On the other side of the coin, using an underweighted line will only lead to more frustration as every fish you hook breaks the line and swims away. The correct line weight is a delicate balance between strength and sensitivity. You want enough backbone to land a lunker, but ample sensitivity so you can feel those smaller finicky fish as well.

Here are some general line and lure weights that are recommended for most rod weights. This might vary depending on the brand of your fishing rod or what materials it is made from, but it will serve you well not to stray too far from these ratings.

Power Rating	Rod Weight	Line Weight (Lb. Test)	Lure Weight (oz.)
0	Ultra-light	1-4	1/64-1/16
1	Light	4-6	1/32-1/8
1-2	Medium-light	4-8	1/32-¼
2	Medium	6-12	⅛-⅜
3	Medium-heavy	8-14	3/16-½
4	Heavy	15-25	½-1½
5	Ultra-heavy	25+	1½+

 

Rod Action

A rod’s action sometimes gets confused with rod weight, but they are actually very different characteristics. The action refers to where and how the rod will bend when you hook a fish. Faster action rods will only flex toward the tip while rods with a slower action will flex throughout more of the entire blank. Like weight, there are some variations on how companies choose to classify the action, but the most common ones you will see in stores include:

• Extra-fast
• Fast
• Medium/Moderate
• Slow
• Extra-slow

Most of the flex in a rod with a fast action will occur in the top ⅓ of the blank. These rods are best for targeting big fish species or when fishing in thick cover. Since most of the rod isn’t going to bend much, they excel in hook setting. This is important when trying to avoid line-breaking snags in the weeds and for big fish species like northern pike or muskie.

For the most part, medium or moderate-action fishing rods will bend within the top ½ of the rod. They serve as a good middle ground for targeting both large and small fish species. You get plenty of power for setting the hook successfully plus some added distance when you cast.

You can expect a rod with a slow action to bend throughout the entirety of the blank, down towards the grip. These rods are a favorite among anglers that target panfish and other small species. The extra flex that these rods provide acts as a bit of a dampener when setting the hook, which is especially helpful in not ripping a fish’s lips completely off. The added flexibility also makes for a more enjoyable fight with the fish because the majority of the blank is able to bend as the fish tries to escape.

Rod Length

It may seem odd to use a rod that is much longer or shorter than you are tall, but a rod’s length actually provides a few benefits to help you bag more fish. This factor hinges more on the angler’s preference than fish species, but the latter should still be taken into account.

Shorter rods are easier to transport and maneuver in tight situations, like when you have tree branches overhead or underwater boulders where the accuracy of your cast is especially important. That being said, they will take more effort to cast long distances. 

Longer rods are king when it comes to casting distance, but they can take a hit in the accuracy department when in the hands of a greenhorn. A longer rod blank means more area to disperse force over. This means that there is more rod to take the beating that a larger fish will put on it. Basically, it has more area to spread out the strain that a fish will provide.

Rod Materials

Once upon a time, fishing rods were made of flexible woods and other plant based components, but today they are crafted with much stronger and more durable materials. They consist of a plethora of different materials, but graphite and fiberglass blends made up the majority of fishing rods for the past few decades. Nowadays, graphite and fiberglass are still commonly used but other composites like carbon fiber are becoming more popular.

As far as sensitivity goes, graphite beats fiberglass. This is also true when it comes to weight. Fiberglass tends to have more backbone, which is why it is common to see it combined with graphite. The majority of rods on the market today will fall into this category of graphite and fiberglass blends because they provide the best of both worlds.

When it comes to outdoor products that contain carbon fiber, they are almost always more expensive than the competition. That is because it is very light, strong, sensitive, and flexible. They tend to have a thinner diameter than fiberglass or graphite fishing rods because they are able to do more with less. A thinner rod with carbon fiber in it can be just as strong as a bulkier fiberglass rod without the extra weight.

Best Rods For Different Fish Species

Now that you know about all of the finer points of fishing rods, it’s time to cover the best types of rods for popular target fish species. Keep in mind that every situation is different, so you may have to tweak your setup a bit. It will all depend on how you choose to fish for your favorite species. 

For instance, jigging or casting crankbaits for walleye will call for a heavier and longer rod than if you are trolling the bottom for them. The same logic applies to bass fishing as well. Casting ⅛ oz. jigs in open water will require a lighter and longer rod than if you were casting 1 oz. spinnerbaits in and around heavy cover. If salmon is your go-to fish, then consider which type of salmon you are after since pink, coho, and chinooks have very different average sizes.

Consider the following table as a good rule of thumb for each type of fish listed.

	Rod Length	Rod Weight/Power	Rod Action
Walleye	6’-8’	Medium Light - Medium	Medium - Fast
Catfish	7’-9’	Medium - Medium Heavy	Medium - Fast
Panfish	5’-7’	Ultra Light - Light	Slow - Fast
Trout	6’-8’	Light - Medium Light	Slow - Fast
Bass	6’-8’	Medium	Medium - Fast
Pike And Muskie	7’-9’	Medium - Heavy	Medium - Fast
Salmon	7’-9’	Medium - Heavy	Medium - Fast

Final Thoughts On How To Choose The Right Fishing Rod

We have given you all the tools you should need to make your next fishing rod purchase a breeze. Knowledge is power when it comes to perfecting the art of fishing, but the best advice we can give when shopping for a new fishing rod is to remember that no two days of fishing will ever be the same. This information in this article should be used as guidelines for your next outing, but the only way to make your fishing rod setup 100% perfect is to get out on the water and test what works best for you.