Picking a rod?

After over 10 years of shore fishing I have grown to realise that my terminal tackle/rig/lure etc is far more important to catching fish then any fancy rod and reel combo. I have also come to appreciate that a good reel is more important than a good rod. But who doesn’t love a shiny new rod?

I remember during my first year of fishing I picked up some nasty rods (still have them though haha) but found myself admiring the 10-12ft beach casters the people around me were using to launch a string of feathers 100+ metres. Looking back now I know that most of those rods were pretty poor in quality but the length made me feel they were special. So when I finally invested in a decent rod (£80), mine had to be 13ft long.

I still have that rod. It’s some sort of Daiwa Surf and it’s in great nick. I caught what was at the time my PB bass of 6.5lb my very first cast with it down on a beach in Hayling Island.

To be honest though, it hasn’t caught me hundreds of fish, and I don’t even really enjoy fishing with it. It can cast a 6oz lead weight half way across the river Tamar on a braided line but has that really helped me to be a better angler in anyway? And lugging it around is a pain in the behind.

whilst fishing from the shore I was gradually leaning toward spinning and eventually lure fishing. The next rod I was to invest in cost only £9.99. It was an ebay jobby and at the time I knew very little about brands or lure fishing equipment in general. But I wanted a spinning rod. I wanted something lightweight I could hold all day to target mackerel and bass.

When the rod came, I was chuffed to bits with it even when pairing it with reels for a good few years that were far too big for it. Oh and I caught a lot of fish with it (and still do). Fish clearly didn’t care about the brand or price.

After investing in reels, braid, lures etc. over the next few years, I started to finally feel that this rod was the weak point in my arsenal so it has been relegated to my heavy canal fishing (it still catches fish including my PB perch!!).

My next purchase was a more expensive (Still only £40) and longer spinning rod (11ft) designed to cast lighter weights (5-25g).

The length was inspired by ‘wild fishing with Henry Gilbey’. I was in love with it. The finish on the rod was excellent. Cork handle, hook keep, lovely eyes, the action on the rod…… I can go on. And stick any lure on between 8g and 25g and you can seriously cast a long way for a spinning rod. It was a dream compared to what I was used to.

And I still use this rod to the day whenever casting heavier metals as even though I have more expensive and lighter lure rods, it is simply unbeatable when it comes to casting distances!

Since that buy, I have only bought 1 rod as new which was a lovely 0.5g to 7g LRF rod (HTO Rockfish T UL). Again its a little on the long side for what its designed for at nearly 8ft in length but makes it great at casting. But so I could concentrate on harbours, rockpools etc. I have purchased a few of the same rod (all second hand at disgustingly cheap prices) in shorter lengths such as 6ft 11 which I use for droshotting and jig head fishing in both fresh and salt water.

If you have never held an LRF rod, go to a fishing shop and pick one up…. it’s like having a magic wand in your hand. How something so light and delicate can handle big fish still amazes me to the day!

I have been lucky enough to spend two sessions with Marc Cowling from http://www.southdevonbassguide.com and got to use his lure rods designed for casting lures in the 8-28g range and have fell in love with the feel of a ‘proper lure rod’ so when I saw the heavier version of the HTO lure rods I already own available at what was also a disgustingly cheap price second hand (thanks Age!!!) I had to get it.

Wow what a difference it makes to a spinning rod in the same casting rating. Maybe you lose a little distance in casting but they are remarkably light, accurate and a pleasure to fish with for longer sessions. If you get one with the right action for how you like to fish and pair with a good braid the sensitivity is unreal!

So how do you pick the right rod for you?

First of all, where are you fishing and what for?

An 11 ft spinning rod designed to cast 5-30g is going to be no good to you if you are targeting scorpion fish between boulders, and a 0.5-7g lrf outfit isn’t going to get you patchinko out into the surf for those shiny bass.

Here’s what I think you need to cover most bases of lure fishing:

1. A medium/long length lure/spinning rod rated between 5-30g for casting metals and heavier lures out to those bass and pollock.
2. A shorter lure or spinning rod (less than 7ft) for getting into those nooks and crannies’, under trees etc. but that has enough backbone to tackle bigger fish. Perfect for wrasse, perch etc.
3. An ultra light rod (less than 8g casting weight) for when you want to target smaller fish or just have more sport with the fish you are catching. Try using an LRf rod in winter month with herring. I don’t know a way to have more fun whilst fishing!
4. A travel rod. Something that you can hide under your swim trunk in your suitcase. I have experimented with a few different price ranges of telescopic and In my opinion the more expensive ones don’t ast any longer than the cheap ones. So go cheap and you wont be as pissed off when they fall to bits (and they will!). Alternatively there are some really good 4 and 5 piece rods available now which I have read great reviews about. I even have a 5 piece 20-60g spinning rod I haven’t tried yet which I am dying to try out somewhere there are some larger predators such as tuna/bluefish/trevally/barracuda etc…. (I can dream).

If you can only have one rod, I think go for something right in the middle. An 8ft 6 rod rated between 7 and 30g in casting weight will allow you to fish most situations and cope with nearly all British fish.