Pick the right stick

Why the rod you use matters

Most rational people don’t swat a fly with a sledgehammer, but the equivalent of such overkill happens every day. On the water, the sledgehammer is the rod and the fly is either a speckled trout, bass or redfish.

Using a rod that’s too powerful or stiff can deaden the action of baits, pull hooks free from struggling fish or prevent you from feeling light bites. On the contrary, rods that aren’t stiff enough don’t offer much leverage to whip big fish, lead to missed hooksets, and give less-than-desirable bait performance. However, there’s a time and a place for both styles as well as a few in between. Having your rod and reel properly matched to your bait will make for easier casting, bait manipulation, fish fighting, and success on the water.

Today’s rods have better technology built into them than ever before, and there are more actions from which to choose. You no longer have to settle for “good enough.” But choosing the right rod can be tricky. When you go to the rack at the sporting goods store, the selection can be overwhelming.

Before we dive into suggestions for techniques, a basic understanding of rod actions is necessary. Pertaining to fishing rods, the word “action” applies to how much strength and lifting power a rod has. As a matter of semantics surrounding rods, “light ” and “soft” might be used interchangeably with “slow.” The same goes for “fast” and “heavy.” A fast or heavy action means the tip is more rigid and provides faster reaction to the bait and greater strength. The stiffer a rod is, the faster it is. Medium action (moderate) rods are slightly slower, but can do some heavy lifting and finesse work as well. Slow or light action rods are generally “whippy” when you shake them and require more input to manipulate a bait. But there’s a time and place for the whole spectrum.

Now let’s see when to use which one, from fast to slow. As a note, there are scores of actions and stiffnesses, but this focuses on the three most basic.

Heavy

Heavy action rods are put to best use under three main circumstances: when you’re throwing a big bait with a single hook, when you’re after big fish with harder mouths (like tarpon) or are fishing around thick cover like docks, reefs and pilings.

Heavy-action rods are ideal when using single-hook lures because a single hook needs more “oomph” to be driven home on some species. However, once it’s home, you’ve got to be careful the rod doesn’t jerk the hook free during the fight. Think about a tarpon. When they jump, anglers must “bow to the king” or have their hook come flying back at them. This is because tarpon shake their head so violently when they get airborne that a stiff rod will yank the hook out of the fish’s jaws unless the line is slack. Properly played, a single-hook like a jighead lands just as many — if not more — fish than a treble.

One inshore technique that demands a heavy or fast-action rod is a Carolina rig. Stiffer/faster rods are ideal for this bottom-dragging technique because you generally have a lot of line out, and a fast-action rod allows you to take up a lot of line on a hookset. A heavy rod “gives” less on a jarring hookset, which offers more setting power than a slower or light-action rod.

Beefy rods are a necessity when you’re fishing around cover or structure that can break you off. Barnacle-clad pilings and docks come to mind, but submerged reefs can also cut your line in an instant unless you get that fish up and away from them. Firmer rods give you more leverage on the the fish than do moderate or light rods.

Medium

If there is a do-all or workhorse rod action, this is it. Unlike most compromises — in which no one is happy — medium (or medium-heavy) actions can do most things reasonably well. They work well for swimming pogies around docks and rigs, as well as tossing a lightweight jighead and paddletail. However, don’t just snap up any old medium-heavy rod and think you’ve got everything covered.

Medium actions are also ideal for throwing jigheads, working topwaters and jerkbaits with mono or fluorocarbon (see section about braided line), and throwing popping cork rigs.

Action strengths and stiffnesses vary from company to company, so if you know you’re going to be using live croakers with a Kahle hook, get a medium-action rod that’s a little stiffer, but not a heavy action. Mediums work for a redfish spoon and spinnerbait, too. If you’re going to be throwing rattle baits, like a Rat-L-Trap with trebles, go a little lighter; they’ll cast better and won’t rip free of a hooked fish’s mouth.

Light

Although they’re called “soft” actions, don’t mistake a soft rod for a weak rod. These rods flex and bend down most of their length, some even into the grip. These are good for flinging small, lightweight baits and using treble hooks.

It doesn’t take much pressure for a fish to get hooked by a treble because of the needle-like points of the small hooks. But their beauty is also their downfall; landing a fish hooked with a treble hook can be a challenge. A light-action rod helps keep these fish buttoned up after they’ve bit because as they shake their head and jump, the softer, more limber rod “gives” with each head shake, jump and run. A heavy-acton rod won’t give as much and will tear the fish’s mouth faster.

Light- or soft-action rods are good for throwing lightweight baits because they load better than other styles. More of the rod bends upon the cast, which imparts a whipping effect that adds distance for lighter baits.

Think of using soft or light-action rods with topwaters, jerkbaits, rattlebaits like Rat-L-Traps, crankbaits, and live bait hooked with — you guessed it — a treble hook.

A note on braid

Each of these points and scenarios about baits and appropriate rods can be magnified by the use of braided line. It’s fantastic, and I use it on almost all of my setups. Braid requires less effort to set a hook, it casts farther than any other line type, and it’s insanely strong. All of these are because it lacks any considerable degree of stretch, which can cause trouble when a fish with a treble-hook lure in its mouth jumps. If the fish isn’t hooked well, often it’ll pull free. This is why you generally need to go one action lighter with braided line.

When mono ruled the roost, you needed a rod with a little more backbone to get your hook into a fish with, say, a jighead because mono stretches so much. With braid, when a trout smacks a jighead then runs, he’s hooked already. Don’t let him get away because you’re fishing with a pool cue.

In general, it’s a good idea to have one of each rod so that you can be most effective one the water. If not, you might lose fish or not get as many bites as you might have otherwise. Plus, adding a rod of a different action is another great excuse to get back to the tackle shop.