How to choose a fishing pole

How to choose a fishing pole. Picture this, you walk into a fishing store excited about buying your brand new fishing pole and reel. You take a quick look around the store to locate all the rods that are lined up against the walls. When you approach the rods you realize that there are 100 rods to choose from. What do you do? Well, I will be trying to help you choose based upon what species of fish you're targeting.

Trout/bluegill/crappie- When fishing for trout/bluegill/crappie you will want to use some lighter gear. You typically would choose a 6' - 7' pole. You can also use much lighter gear to have a better fight from the fish. Some trout fisherman use ultra light spinning gear. Which ever rod you choose should be paired up with a spinning reel. The spinning reels range from small to large so pick one out that matches your rod. For example, you wouldn't want to use a large spinning reel on an ultra light rod because that would be a mismatch and wouldn't feel very comfortable in your hands. I would also recommend using 6 lb test mono-filament for your line that will go on your new reel. The line will be strong and transparent enough to trick the most hesitant fish into biting.

Bass- One of the most common game fish in our local waters (freshwater and saltwater). These magnificent game fish have been hunted by anglers everywhere. They fight exceptionally well for their size and are ferocious eaters. They often eat other game fish including trout, bluegill, and crappie. The proper set up is a 6.5' - 7' bait casting rod. Understand the spinning rod and bait casting rods are two very different types of poles. The baitcasting rods have more "eyes" on the rod ( the "eyes" are the hole's where the line is threaded through) than the spinning and usually have a "trigger grip" where as spinning rods do not. However, if you are not familiar with using a bait casting set up you can use spinning gear as well. I personally am a believer in using a bait caster for more control of whatever lure you will be casting. I use a 7' Baitcasting rod with a Inshore Angler reel since I do the most of my fishing in the Newport Beach Bay. That is a link the most updated fishing report for Newport Beach, Ca as of 3/29/10. I also utilize 12lb test mono-filament for my reel. I don't use the big ocean reels for any of my rods because the reels would be a mismatch for my rod that I use. If you were planning on going out to the open ocean you would want to use a shorter, thicker rod and a bigger reel with at least 400-600 yards of 20lb test. That way you could get down to the bottom of the ocean.

Fly fishing is an art within itself.  It takes great skill and awareness to be a successful fly fisher man, but everyone has to start somewhere so why not check out my hub on fly fishing!

If anyone has any additional questions for me and what they would require gear or lure wise feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment!

Also, please click on an ad to help support our sponsors, just click it and close it. It's very simple and it only takes a second, honest! :) Thanks again for all my readers.