Types of Fishing Rods
Last Updated on May 1, 2020
Landing some fish starts with having a great fishing rod. There is a huge variety of fishing rods in the market and each has its own strengths and recommended usage area.
Basically, a fishing rod has 3 main parts. These are the handle, reel seat and rod blank. Different construction of these parts, for instance, their size, length and positioning are what differentiates the different types of fishing rods.
These differences also give the fishing rods strengths in different areas, making each one of them ideal for fishing in a particular fishing environment.
Types of fishing rods
This article gives a detail of the various types of fishing rods and how they might help you as you fish in different fishing environments.
1. Casting Rods
Casting rods are designed to have the casting reel mounted above the handle. They have a simple push button for releasing the fishing line out of an enclosed nosecone when casting.
This makes them very easy to use because this simple form of casting enables you to accurately throw the bait to the exact position you want. For this reason, they are very popular among first-time anglers and are suitable for river and lake fishing.
2. Spinning rods
Spinning rods’ casting reels are mounted below the handle and this has the advantage of making it comfortable to fish for longer periods of time because the weight hangs at the bottom.
However, it requires some technique because the second and third fingers must hold onto the leg of the reel. This gives you the other advantage of allowing you to hold it with your dominant hand, enabling you to handle the rod better.
They are suitable for casting light bait and are mostly used in sports fishing for catching fish like trout and bass.
3. Telescopic rods
Telescopic fishing rods are designed to extend and contract lengthwise that makes them best travel rods. This gives you a huge portability advantage when you are traveling by foot, car or public transport to fish in a distant place for instance to the beach when you want to try out surf fishing.
One more thing that makes them suitable for surf fishing is their long length when extended. With this rod, you have to take really good care of its extension joints because dirt or sand could ruin its telescopic, an extension like property.
4. Surf rods
Just like telescopic rods, these are suitable for use on the beach. However, surf fishing rods are permanently long and have the advantage of being non-susceptible to dirt or sand.
Design wise, they resemble spinning rods but are way longer (3 to 4 meters), have a long grip handle to accommodate 2 hands and are much stronger so that they can easily hold the heavy bait required in the rough, wavy waters.
5. Fly rods
Fly fishing rods are specially designed for fly fishing in which you cast a lightweight bait that has brightly colored fur and feathers to lure the fish. This bait is attached to a weighted fishing line which sinks down to the bottom giving the fish an impression of floating food.
These rods can be used to catch various types of fish which include marlin and sharks. The important thing to note here is that the bigger the fish, the bigger and heavier the rod you will require.
6. Trolling rods
Trolling rods drag bait behind a moving boat. This means that they can only be used in large and deep water bodies, for instance, lakes and seas.
They do not have to be long because you are already close to deep water and most times, a good spinning rod will do fine as a trolling rod. Good means that the rod should be sturdier to allow for fast action which is important on a moving boat.
7. Ultra-light rods
As the name suggests, these rods have a lighter body construction, with lighter lines and a shorter blank length. Although they can catch big fish.
They are commonly used to fish for lighter catch such as trout because their lighter lines and smaller baits do not scare away smaller fish. Therefore, most of the times small fish get caught faster than large fish.
Final Words
Whether you are a beginner or seasoned fisherman, this shows you that you practically have fishing rods for any kind of fishing environment.
Be it on a shallow river, deep waters, violent waters or even beach fishing, you can easily select the best rod to help you catch fish more efficiently.
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