It's not easy to choose the best fishing rod, whether you enjoy fishing for panfish like white perch or pelagics like wahoo. You could spend $1000 on a fishing rod, you could spend $10, or you could hack off a stalk of bamboo and make your own—and any of them can be used to catch fish. They most certainly are not, however, all going to be equally up to the task. In fact, most of the time a cheap rod and a quality rod aren’t even in the same league. With the best fishing rod in-hand you can place your cast exactly where you want it, you can detect the subtle feel of a fish inhaling your lure before it even chomps down, and you can fight it up to the net using every bit of pressure the line allows for. Added bonus: a high-quality rod can literally last you a lifetime, just as long as you can avoid stepping on the tip or slamming it in a car door. The next time you choose out a new fishing rod, consider your options carefully.
Fishing Rod Action
This describes how the rod bends. Fast action rods bend mostly at the tip and return to form quickly when pressure is eliminated. Medium action rods bend more down towards the middle and are slower to straighten out, and slow action rods flex from tip to butt. Which is the best choice depends on the type of fishing you’re doing.
When casting lures which require you to feel the bite and set the hook, a fast-action tip is usually best since sensitivity is usually better and you can set the hook in the blink of an eye. Topwater lures can be an exception, since a slight delay in the hook-set can be a good thing. And for fishing bait (when sensitivity can work against you if the fish feel something amiss), a slower action may make for the best fishing rod for the tactic you're using. The added flex can also benefit beginner anglers because all that bend in the rod makes it easier to maintain tension while fighting a fish. Trollers often like slower actions, too, since their rods will be loaded up under tension most of the time and it helps if they have some additional flex when the fish strikes.
The Bottom Line: You really need different actions for different types of fishing. So you shouldn’t be choosing a new rod, you should be choosing a new set of rods. Congratulations—you now have a valid way of explaining to your spouse why you needed to buy three new rods instead of just one.
Fishing Rod Length
Length in a rod is a double-edge sword. Shorter rods are less apt to hit things like tree branches or T-tops when you swing them, but longer rods allow you to more easily work fish around obstructions or boat parts. Shorter rods are easier to control and generally make for better casting accuracy, but longer rods make for longer casts. Shorter rods are easier to transport and stow, but longer rods are longer levers so you can apply more pressure.
The Bottom Line: This one all boils down to personal preference and which of the above factors are most important to you, personally. That said, for most all-around situations it’s hard to go wrong staying in the 6’6” to 7’6” range (excluding specialties like surf fishing).
Fishing Rod Weight and Balance
Weight doesn't come up in too many discussions about fishing rods, until and unless you’ve tried out some exceptionally high-end models which cut an ounce or two out of the equation. Rod weight is rarely even listed by manufacturers. In fact, one has to wonder if the weight of a rod matters one iota considering that the reel you put on a rod likely weighs three to five times more.
Try fishing for a full day with an uber-high-end rod matched with the proper reel, and you’ll stop wondering—yes, it does. Now, most days our arms don’t tire out from casting, but consider this: in 2004 pro basser Kevin VanDam was cast-counted by an observer for one hour during the Bassmaster Classic. Fish were tight to cover, and by VanDam’s own account after reeling for five feet he would rip the lure back in for another cast. The observer noted an average of a cast every 10 seconds, for about 2500 casts throughout the day of competition. Granted, this is an extreme example and most of us probably won’t hit half that number in a day of fishing. But if the rod VanDam had been using weighed one additional ounce, that kind of casting would equate to 156 extra pounds of slinging.
Here's the rub: it’s not a rod’s weight alone, but the balance it attains with a specific reel that makes an even bigger difference. Match a super-sweet featherlight rod with a clunky, heavy reel, and you may as well be casting with that bamboo pole. The best way to approach the combination is to always put the reel you intend on using on the rod prior to purchasing it, to get a feel for how it balances out. Holding it as you naturally would with your arm dangling straight down, it should take zero effort to keep the rod horizontal and you should be able to relax your grip without the tip or butt swaying up nor down.
Why not just get a combo rig that’s already been matched and balanced for you? The vast majority you’ll see are low to moderate quality, because most serious anglers want to match up a rod and reel to their own specifications. You’ll see some exceptions in service-oriented tackle shops that will make the match for specific local fisheries but as a general rule of thumb if you want to fish with a top-tier rod, you’ll have to buy it separately from the reel.
The Bottom Line: You really need to judge the weight and balance of a rod and reel together. That said, lighter is always better. If you have a real featherweight rod in your hand and a reel that isn’t quite light enough to balance out well, rather than putting down the rod, consider getting a lighter reel.
Fishing Rod Power
Power ratings are stamped right on the rod, ranging from ultralight to extra-heavy. These don’t always help much, however, as they’re quite broad in scope. A better move is to look at the rod’s line and lure weight ratings. All rods are stamped with a rating for the range of pound-test line they can handle as well as how many lure/sinker ounces are appropriate, and this gives you a much more accurate read on just what the rod will and will not be ideal for.
The Bottom Line: Worry less about a rod’s power, and more about the specific line and lure ranges a rod is rated for.
Fishing Rod Sensitivity
This is an absolutely critical factor for many anglers, especially those fishing lures and light tackle. However, there aren’t any standardized sensitivity ratings and if you go by manufacturer claims, every rod on the face of the planet is the most sensitive ever and the best fishing rod in the world. So, sensitivity is something you can only judge for yourself in the real world. And unfortunately, it’s very difficult to do so standing in a tackle shop.
The best thing you can do is rig up a rod exactly as you would fish it, with the same reel, line, and lure or rig tied to the end. Let it dangle and tap the floor a few times to see how the vibrations transmit through to your hand. If you have the ability, tie on a light weight and cast the rig in a parking lot. Then drag the weight and see what it feels like. With a high-quality rod you can feel a split-shot going across the pores in asphalt from 100’ away.
The Bottom Line: The more sensitivity a rod has the better, but recognize that this quality is very difficult to judge without real-world use.
Quality Components
These are what makes the difference between a rod that lasts for years, and one that falls apart in short order. However, longevity isn’t the only item to consider. In fact, rod components will have an effect on most of the features we’ve already talked about.
The quality of the blank is naturally front and center, as that will determine things like the rod’s action and sensitivity. But other pieces-parts come into play. All the components taken together will determine the rod’s weight. Cheap reel seats and grips may not transmit vibrations and can reduce sensitivity. And guide quality is absolutely critical. Cheap guides will have a dramatic impact on line wear, especially if the inserts are easily chipped—which can shred braid in no time. The feet of the guide are usually where corrosion can be an issue, and guides that are easily bent can spell doom for a rod because when you bend them back they may break.
The Bottom Line: When it comes to quality components, you get what you pay for. Expect that a cheap rod simply won’t perform nor last like a quality rod because those components will be cheap, too.
The Bottom Line on the Bottom Lines
What all of this boils down to is that different rods are ideal for different kinds of fishing, and you’ll find all levels of quality among the rods designed for specific fisheries. If you’re heading out to cast jigs for striped bass you’re probably better off with a mid-tier rod that’s designed for the task as opposed to a top-tier rod that was designed for throwing giant spinners for muskie. But when all is said and done you get what you pay for. So, what really is the bottom line? The best fishing rod is the one you have in your hands the next time you cock back to cast.
Parts for the Best Fishing Rod
We’re stoked that the folks at Angler’s Resource, who distribute Fuji parts, have partnered with FishTalk to talk rods. Two reasons: First, Fuji indisputably builds top-of-line components. And second, they do some great angler’s ed of their own. Here’s a tidbit we picked up from the Angler's Resource blog, which is crammed with excellent intel on rods, how they’re built, and what to look for in a quality rod.
When checking out a rod in the store, after seeing how it feels with your reel of choice string it up and have someone hold the end of the line. Then put a deep bend in the rod, and look at how the line sits. On spinning rods it should follow the arc of the rod throughout the bend, rather than creating a bow-and-arrow shape where larger gaps appear between the line and rod. These gaps will create a power loss and indicate that there are too few or improperly spaced guides. On a casting rod, the guides should be sufficient to hold the line off of the blank.